Santa Monica Gymnastics Center Comes to an End

*Update*

02/15/08:
Carol gives a reminder of our reunion celebration, Saturday February 23rd, from 3pm to 8pm. She also gives some personal reflections on her time at SMGC and her future goals.

From the SMGC website:

Santa Monica Gymnastics Center, Inc. was founded in 1973 by Al and Linda Luber. Our first gym was in downtown Santa Monica. SMGC moved to West Los Angeles for 17 years and has been located in Culver City for the past 15 years. It is with great sadness that we announce our closing as of March 1st, 2008.

The building that houses our facility is in the process of being sold and and after 35 years and three different facilities we do not have the energy both physical and financial to contemplate another move. Please drop in anytime on February 23rd for our 35th year anniversary celebration from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. We would love to see everyone and reminisce.

It has been fun!

Warmest Regards-

Al & Linda Luber and the SMGC Staff

01/25/08 Note that this will remain up until February 23rd. If I make any new posts, between now and then, they will be published underneath.

____ is pretty upset by the news; she spent last night and this morning crying off and on. She really feels at home there and in your class. Any recommendations on a gym would be helpful. She's really bummed about not being able to make it to team at SMGC since they are closing down; she kind of had her heart set on it, I think...

That is from an email from one of the parents, and sums up the heartbreak feeling that many have been expressing.

Carol Luber, daughter of Al and Linda, writes:

After 35 years of dedication to the sport of gymnastics, Santa Monica Gymnastics Center will be closing it doors. The culmination of years of hard work, blood, sweat and tears is not strong enough to take on the new breed of gymnastics schools that are opening everywhere. Mega-schools that run as many diverse programs as YMCA's are popping up everywhere. My family did not want to change with the times. Al Luber wanted to coach gymnastics. He could of chosen an easier road. If it was about money he could of stayed on his old career as an engineer. He opened the gym with my mom Linda in 1973 to follow his dreams of bringing gymnastics to everyone. His coaching roots sprouted at Venice High School back in the 1960's. As a gymnast who looked up to more senior gymnasts, he learned how important having mentors was in this sport. He absorbed the history of gymnastics, the technical side of gymnastics and everything else that comes with it. He would bring people under his wing the same way older gymnasts guided him. When it comes to gymnastics he is all knowing.

Read the rest. And while you are there, check out the wonderful photos that Carol's been scanning and uploading.

February 23rd is the date to keep in mind. We invite everyone and anyone- especially all of you who have ties to SMGC over the last 35 years- to come by the gym and help us celebrate 35 years of history. I do believe the hours will be 3pm to 8pm. Call the gym for more information: 310 838-4228.

My own observations: It's been a difficult, stressful time for the Lubers. Nor has it been easy on the kids, who specifically chose SMGC as the place to be nurtured at, over its competition (there are about 3-4 other major gymnastics club within a mile+ radius).

For myself, I'd like to thank all of the wonderful coaches who I've worked with over the years at SMGC. I can't believe I lasted there, for as long as I did. This is certainly not how I planned out my life; but somehow, teaching gymnastics became a big part of my life for the last 10 years, at least- probably longer.

I learned so much from Al, from my fellow staffers, and from the kids themselves.

Without jumping the gun, it would appear that Al will probably migrate over to Los Angeles School of Gymnastics; and the team girls will go with him. He isn't ready to retire just yet; and I think our team would be lost without him. If this is the case, LASG has my endorsement as the place to be for all of our SMGC students. It'd be nice to see all of our SMGC family continue, in one place.

I've been asked by parents and the children "Where will you go?". I've given the answer to some; for others, I've tried putting off answering the question. In part, because the answer is not crystal clear to me yet; but more significantly, because I do not think they will like hearing the answer.

What I've had a mind to do, is to enlist in the military.

Even before there was news of the possibility that SMGC would close down at the end of its lease (the landlord ended up selling the property to the private school next door, making the issue a mute point) in March, last February I tried to enlist in the National Guard. Military service had been something on my mind for the previous 6 years. I love being at SMGC, watching the kids grow up and how they are cultivated and transformed by their experiences in the sport. I figured serving in the Guard would be a way for me to serve my country, and still at least try to retain a civilian life. I scored high on the ASVAB, but hit a snag when I took my physical and medical exam. It would seem that my eyesight falls .5 below the allowable refractory limitations to get in. The doctor there is not part of the military, and does everything possible to find something wrong with you. One recruiter got held up for months, because he failed to tell his recruiter about a jammed finger or write it down; but during his oral examination with the doctor, he just happened to mention it on a whim. So the doctor didn't pass him. All because of a jammed finger.

At least, if nothing else, there is an attempt to keep the quality standards to a certain level. My recruiters and counselor had me take two more eye exams, in an attempt to get me through. To no avail. The doctor said I would need a medical waiver. Everyone, including the doctor, said it was very likely I would get that waiver. My original plans were to possibly do boot camp before summer, or in the fall. And then hopefully be back to teach. But that waiver never arrived. My recruiter at first told me to just be patient; but after a while, she quit responding to my inquiries. My dad, who served career military for 33 years, said it took 3 months for his waiver to arrive. I guess mine just got lost somewhere in the bureaucracy.

In August I went to the Marine recruitment station in Culver City, to try another shot. I knew I was too old (I turn 40 next month) for the Marines, but I had been talking to Jared, who works for Big Fun and who served in OEF, and he encouraged me to look into it. I figured on a case by case basis, they could make an exception. I even went down toward the end of the month, when quotas need to be met. But the recruiters there flat-out said they could not take me, and referred me back to other branches of the military, where the age requirement is not so stringent.

Life has been so hectic for me, that I've been sidetracked by the daily grinds. But by February, I will make the call to an Army recruiter. Since the news of the gym closing down, I figured I might as well go regular full-time Army, instead of Army Reserve. It will mean, I will in all likelihood, be moving around a lot. It will mean no longer growing up around all those kids and their families I've come to adore.

But this is something I've wanted to do, and to which I've given a great deal of thought. I can't help but think of the men and women serving in our Armed Forces, who are making the big sacrifices, with long deployments. And they have wives and children who need them to be at home, rather than to be out, answering a higher calling for their country. I have none of those obligations, and wish to ease the burden and share the workload, of an "over"stretched military.

It may sound pretentious and idealistically naïve; but military service is the highest expression of my patriotism, that I can think of providing for my country.

I want people to understand that I'm not doing this because I have no other options in life; I do it because I believe in this country. I believe in our military. I believe that all the people I have come to know and love are worth protecting and defending. Your kids have been like family, to me; and it has been a privilege working with them, and on occasion, spoiling them. Thank you for that opportunity.

It's very likely that if I do get sworn in, this time, I will request not to ship out to basic training, right away. I need to get my knee checked out. So, there is some chance that I might find work for a short time, at LASG. I don't know.

I might also go spend some time with my parents, who just moved back to the States last year. Since around 1988, they've been living overseas. I think I've seen them less than a total of 2 months time, in the space of 20 years. So there's some guilt factor there.

Decisions....and change.


Also blogging:
Gymnastics Coaching
Sparklehaus
Teri Genovese Photo Blog