Archive for College Sports
What Colleges Look For in a Recruit
Posted by: | CommentsGot your sights set on doing your sport at a college level? How do you know what a college is looking for in a student-athlete? The super gymnastics resource site, Gymnastike, has loads of interviews with college gymnastics coaches from across the nation on what colleges are looking for in a recruit, the college recruiting process and the process from the perspective of a parent.
Gymnastics Videos on Gymnastike
Whether you are a prospective college gymnast or other prospective college athlete in another sport, these videos will help you start getting organized, give you some insight into the college athletics experience and let you know what coaches are looking for.
Courtney Kupets Top Female College Athlete of the Year
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University of Georgia gymnast, Courtney Kupets was named the NCAA Female Athlete of the Year today winning the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup. Courtney came back from a torn Achilles tendon in her junior year to lead the Gymdogs to a fifth straight NCAA team title and she won the all around, bars, beam and floor titles as well.
Additionally, Kupets is the all-time NCAA leader with nine individual championships and was named SEC, AAI National Senior and NCAA Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year.
The other finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup were:
- Connecticut’s Renee Montgomery (basketball)
- Colorado’s Jennifer Barringer (track and field)
- Penn State’s Nicole Fawcett (volleyball)
- Washington’s Danielle Lawrie (softball)
Courtney is one of the many gymnasts appearing in as characters or stunt doubles for the new TV series, Make It or Break It which has a gymnastics drama storyline. The series premiers June 22 on ABC Family.
Former Gymdog Ashley Kupets Flying High in Vegas
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After putting in years and years of gymnastics training, many gymnasts wonder what they will do with their lives. Former UGA gymnast and USA National Team Member, Ashley Kupets is done with her competitive gymnastics career, but has found a way to take all her training and skills to a new level as a member of the cast of La Reve at the Wynn Theater in Las Vegas.
Ashley, the older sister of the newly crowned 2009 NCAA All Around Gymnastics champion Courtney Kupets, wasn’t sure what to do job-wise when she graduated from UGA. Even with a degree in graphic design, she just felt the need to act or perform – something she had been doing since she was a little girl in the gymnastics arena.
According to the Online Athens story,
When Kupets told Suzanne Yoculan her aspirations, the Georgia gymnastics coach put her former athlete in contact with a casting director, who had e-mailed her the day before.
Two weeks later, Kupets was on a plane to Las Vegas for her first audition.
“I didn’t know what I was getting into,” she said.
Kupets was put through a series of tests – strength, choreography, improvisational dance, tumbling and trapeze work. But the most grueling part was the swimming portion.
She had to swim 250 meters without stopping, swim 65 feet underwater without coming up for air, drop 30 feet from a trapeze into the water and tread water for 10 minutes.
“It was just crazy stuff that I’ve never done before,” Kupets said. “It was exhausting, but it was so much fun.”
A week later, the 24-year-old was told she had the job. She picked up and moved to Las Vegas in November to begin training for the show.
“It’s not a place where I would have thought I would ever move,” she said. “I didn’t know anybody here. I didn’t know where I was going to live. It was really scary. But I felt like it would be a really good time for me to grow and become the person who I’m going to be for the rest of my life. It’s an incredible experience to be on your own so far away from home and not know anyone.”
Kupets’ sudden move surprised her former coach.
“I’m very proud of her because she’s very introverted. She’s very shy,” Yoculan said. “For her to just break out and go out there, it’s not something that you would have expected Ashley Kupets to do.”
After two months of training, including scuba diving certification, Kupets performed in her first show in late January. She dances, does aerial acrobatics, tumbles and swims in at least two major acts in back-to-back shows five nights a week.
Its neat to see the different career paths collegiate athletes take, and this one seems to be such a natural fit for Ashley while still challenging her in many ways. I can only wonder if little sister Courtney will follow again in her footsteps, return to Elite competition or forge a completely different path all together.
