RME | Elite Performance Sports

Social Media Terrorism

Recent events here at home and abroad have served to underscore what I hope is one of the hallmark values of a polite, adult society, particularly the United States. Innoncent until Proven Guilty. It seems that in this era of social media, it is easy for anyone to throw accusations around. Those accusations take on a life of their own via the viral network that is the Internet, and become “fact” without ever having a dose of truth added in. We have seen this happen abroad with recent world events, and at times, similar situations have affected Elite Performance Sports here at home. Social media allows cowardly people to undermine the values of our society by pushing their false version of events when it is discovered that they have no actual legal standing.

It is not the policy of our company to comment publicly on ongoing legal matters, but suffice to say, as many recent high profile cases have shown, false accusations do not always bear out once the details become public. Our company vigorously defends itself when necessary.

Please remember that the accuser is not necessarily the victim, or the plaintiff.

Scott Nattrass
Go Buffs!

Posted by darkstar, September 24, 2012, Tagged as , With 0

GBAT Part Two – Physical Fitness

Tumbling is one of the most physically demanding athletic pursuits that a human can perform. Unfortunately, too many of the athletes that choose to pursue tumbling skills do not treat it as such. If your body is unable to physically perform a particular tumbling skill, it does not matter how much work you put in, you will be physically unable to perform your desired skill. Many of the people that I have worked with over the years come in out of shape and unwilling to commit to the athleticism of our sport. If you cannot become more athletic, you will find your skills limited at some point. This has nothing to do with weight or body image, as is popularly reported in the media, it is simple physics. If you are not strong enough to perform a skill, it will not happen. If you are not flexible enough to withstand injury, you will get injured. This is a sport. Treat it like one.

The CDC has a definition which is of value in defining Physical Fitness: The ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies. Physical fitness includes a number of components consisting of cardiorespiratory endurance (aerobic power), skeletal muscle endurance, skeletal muscle strength, skeletal muscle power, flexibility, balance, speed of movement, reaction time, and body composition.
In the next sections we will discuss the components of Physical Fitness.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness

A quick search of Wikipedia shows us the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiorespiratory_fitness

“Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to the ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscles during sustained physical activity. Regular exercise makes these systems more efficient by enlarging the heart muscle, enabling more blood to be pumped with each stroke, and increasing the number of small arteries in trained skeletal muscles, which supply more blood to working muscles. Exercise improves the respiratory system by increasing the amount of oxygen that is inhaled and distributed to body tissue. Cardiorespiratory fitness is also sometimes referred to as Aerobic fitness. There are many benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness. It can reduce the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and other diseases. Cardiorespiratory fitness helps improve lung and heart condition, and increases feelings of wellbeing. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends aerobic exercise 3-5 times per week for 20–60 minutes per session, at an intensity that maintains the heart rate between 65-90% of the maximum heart rate.”

For long term health, cardiorespiratory fitness is very important. For the purposes of tumbling, cardio fitness allows athletes to work hard during the extended practices and workouts necessary to Get Better At Tumbling.

Muscle Endurance, Strength, Power

There are a variety of opinions on strength training for young athletes. In my opinion, if you are going to Get Better At Tumbling, you need to be athletic. If you are going to be an athlete, you need to be strong. The best way to get stronger prior to puberty is body weight exercises. When you are done growing, you can get into weightlifting. The most basic set of bodyweight exercises that we use are the following:

Sit-ups – The most basic level of abdominal fitness. I like to see athletes be able to do at least 125 crunches in one set.
Push-Ups – 25 push-ups. If you cannot do good push-ups, start with negative only push-ups (starting at a good tight push-up position, and lower to the ground with a count of 5).

There are a lot of things we can do to improve physical strength, and a lot of different opinions. Do some research, and get stronger so that you can Get Better At Tumbling. Here a few places to start:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/424495-bodyweight-exercises-for-kids/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/HQ01010

Next time we will continue examining the physical aspects of Getting Better At Tumbling:

• flexibility
• balance
• speed of movement
• reaction time
• body composition

Posted by darkstar, March 1, 2012, Tagged as , With 0

Getting Better At Tumbling – Part One

For the better part of fifteen years, I have been helping people get better at tumbling. In that time I have seen a lot of different tactics, a lot of different systems that people have used to get better at tumbling. I am starting this series of articles to help you get better. There are three main aspects to tumbling:

Physical – If your body is unable to physically perform a particular tumbling skill, it does not matter how much work you put in, you will be physically unable to perform your desired skill. Tumbling is a very physical activity. Many of the people that I have worked with over the years come in out of shape and unwilling to commit to the athleticism of our sport. If you cannot become more athletic, you will find your skills limited at some point. This has nothing to do with weight or body image, as is popularly reported in the media, it is simple physics. If you are not strong enough to perform a skill, it will not happen. If you are not flexible enough to withstand injury, you will get injured. This is a sport. Treat it like one.
Mental – Tumbling is a very mental activity. You need to know how to perform each skill, and for many people, you need to know why as well. Every athlete has a different set of “need to know” items about each skill. As an athlete, you need to figure out what those items are, and learn them. Everyone has a different way of learning. Tumbling is no different than history, or math. If your tumbling instructor is not coaching you the way that you learn, then your chances of success are limited. If you are a coach, and you are unable to adapt your coaching techniques, then you will find your coaching success similarly limited.
Emotional – Many of you have probably heard me say “You cannot tumble with emotions.” Emotions are our biggest enemy when learning a skill. If you are feeling the emotional pressure of tryouts, or if your coach is pressuring you to perform the skill (have you ever heard the phrase “I don’t know why she can’t do the skill”) – it will be next to impossible to learn new skills.

Stay tuned! We will be examining each of the three aspects in depth.
If you have any questions about tumbling, do not hesitate to ask – scott@epscheer.com

Posted by darkstar, February 22, 2012, Tagged as , With 0

Old Bears

Cheerleading has been an important part of my life since the fall of 1994. For whatever reason, my friends and I became involved during our senior year of high school at Heritage in Littleton. Our choreographer invited me to CSU for tryouts. I became a JV college cheerleader the next year.

During my time at CSU as a cheerleader, my partner and I competed in partner stunt nationals (we were the first ever couple from Colorado to successfully compete) and our teams competed in UCA and NCA college nationals. As a coach, we successfully competed at UCA nationals until 2006 when I moved on to begin the process of starting RME – the gym that has evolved into Elite Performance Sports (RME,MHE and HCE in Fort Collins).

I became a UCA staff member in 1998, and as an instructor I have had the opportunity to work with literally thousands of cheerleaders all over the world.

The thing that is most striking to me about all of these experiences is that they have led to a strong, close knit group of people whom I consider my lifelong friends. In addition, the most rewarding thing for me as a coach after all these years is to watch my former athletes grow into productive adults with careers and families of their own.

If you would have asked me in the fall of 1994 if this was going to be my path, I would have probably laughed at you and dismissed the whole notion. I am glad that I did.

To all of you former athletes out there, I hope that your close knit group of lifelong friends includes some cheerleaders. I hope that I have contributed in some way to your success, and that if nothing else, you are as proud of your time as a cheerleader as I am.

Scott

Posted by darkstar, October 12, 2011, Tagged as , With 0

ALUMNI FIND THEIR PLACE

SHAYNE, CSU

KELSEY, CU

At the end of every season, the Staff gets to a point where they have to bid ado to graduating seniors. Most will head off to college and if we are lucky, they’ll grace us with their presence when they return home for the handful of breaks that they receive.

COURTNEY, IU

Over the past few years however, we have had the opportunity to watch as our departing seniors made the transition not only to college, but also to a College Cheerleading Teams, a dream for many elite athletes who aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel. And while this type of athlete is not the norm, even more rare does the instance arise where we get the opportunity to invite a graduating senior or alum to work along side us as summer instructors…in 2011 we had 6 such cases!!

ALLY, KU

Let me clarify an invite for UCA Staff or an APP as we refer to it. It does not guarantee a job as an instructor, rather it is literally an invitation to tryout. Each year roughly 40-50 people attend tryouts in hopes of making Colorado’s Instructional staff. Out of these about 20 are returning instructors, so the odds of making a staff that will only add about 10 more are very slim. All 6 of these ladies attended tryouts, and as impressive as they were as highschool/allstar competitors, the tryout process for each was equally impressive!

JULIA, XAVIER

As each of these young ladies progressed through RME’s training programs over the past 5 years, they have exemplified what it means to be a competitor, a leader, a mentor and a teacher. This past summer, as they stood on the other side, sharing the knowledge that they’ve accumulated over the years, our suspicions about each of these young ladies were confirmed… Not only are they great athletes, but they are great leaders and coaches. They are what every coach wants for his/her athletes. And as they put their rookie years behind them, we are excited that we get the opportunity to continue to watch them excel not only as athletes, but also as Instructors.

CALLEA, CMU

Posted by Shaun Jones, August 22, 2011, Tagged as , With 0

COLORADO MESA CHEER: DIFFERENT NAME, SAME DRIVE FOR SUCCESS

When RME first opened its doors in 2007, it mission was simple: to train athletes to reach their maximum potential and to put them in the best possible position to be successful. With a handful of allstar teams and highschool athletes to work with, RME’s staff hit the ground running. Just 5 short years later, Rocky Mountain Elite boasts one of the largest highschool training programs in the Country! And while its goals have remained the same, its reach has expanded.

As athletes passed through the instructional systems at RME, its Directors started to realize the impact that these athletes could have even beyond highschool. Having prepared countless athletes for the rigors of highschool and allstar cheerleading, they understood that these same athletes wanted/needed somewhere to continue their growth following graduation. Kentucky, Morehead State and countless other big name programs always came to mind when the conversation of big name cheer schools was mentioned, while Colorado State, Colorado University and Northern Colorado drew the attention of those looking to stay in state for Higher Education and successful cheer programs. But that was 5 years ago… Today we can officially add one more in-state university to the list: Colorado Mesa University.

Formerly Mesa State, the newly named university not only has higher standards for education, but also for its Spirit Program! Directed by Athena Whaley, the Colorado Mesa Cheerleading program has grown from a fledgling squad in Grand Junction, to a full blown Spirit Program thats as impressive as the mountains that surround it.

While the Colorado Mesa Spirit program boasts over 50 athletes across both its Allgirl and Coed programs, the group seems as tight-knit as I have ever witnessed. And, following a successful choreography weekend with the program, I have little doubt in my mind that if you dont know who these young athletes are, you soon will!

Don’t miss their performance at the CHSAA High school State Competition in December

Posted by Shaun Jones, August 15, 2011, Tagged as , With 0

Welcome to RMECHEER.COM

Since Rocky Mountain Elite opened in 2007, we have tried to keep up with the times and stay at the leading edge with technology. Our previous incarnation for RMECHEER.COM was beginning to become a bit dated, and hard to maintain. Welcome to the new RMECHEER.COM – please check back often for new information and articles about cheerleading in general and the RME Bears in particular! Also – if you are a team member, please look at the member login widget on the right sidebar – make sure you have a login so you can get access to the Members Only Area!

Posted by darkstar, July 25, 2011, Tagged as , With 0