Integrity, Courage, Commitment, Leadership and Teamwork

We, as a nation, pride ourselves in our spirit of fearless idealism, our breadth of vision, and our protected opportunity to pursue and achieve our individual dreams. Our country was founded on the values of Integrity, Courage, Commitment, Leadership and Teamwork - all principles that guide our daily decisions and encourage each of us to embrace a higher standard.

Through gymnastics, young women are empowered with the essential qualities of pride, competence and dynamic leadership that will attract and develop the nation’s finest professionals, committed to multidimensional services and sincere community partnerships.

Decades of research confirms that sport and physical activity provide conditions that help to assure girls’ health and well-being. Some findings identified include:

Breast Cancer Risk: One to three hours of exercise a week over a women’s reproductive lifetime may bring a 20-30 percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer and four or more hours of exercise a week can reduce the risk almost 60 percent. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1994)

Smoking: Physical activity appears to decrease the initiation of high-risk health behavior in adolescent girls. According to a 1995 survey of boys and girls ages 12-16, female adolescents high in leisure time physical activity are significantly less likely to initiate cigarette smoking that those in moderate and low leisure time activity groups. (Aaron, et al, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 1996; 27, 1639-1645)

Illicit Drug Use: Two nationwide studies found that female school or community athletes were significantly less likely to use marijuana, cocaine or most other illicit drugs. (Miller et al; 2000; Pate et al, 2000)

Sexual Risk: Teenage female athletes are less than half as likely to get pregnant as female non-athletes, are more likely to report that they had never had sexual intercourse than female non-athletes. (The Women’s Sports Foundation Report: Sport and Teen Pregnancy, May 1998)