ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS FOR ALL BODIES: REPRESENTATION THROUGH THE COACH

In every sport an aesthetic ideal of body can be seemed. In Artistic Gymnastics this is even more apparent. As a sport where the body is in constant focus there is a usual demand on the athletes about the aesthetic model disseminated by the general media. Due to this aesthetic pressure, silent or explicit, it is common, among the sport practitioners, a search for the “ideal body” - the one that will be accepted by the coaches, the judges, and the rest of the society. But what are the consequences when the objectified body aesthetics are not achieved? How does the process of accepting one's own body occur and how do the presence and actions of the coach influence this process? In this sense, we point out the extension project of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), EcoGym, which seeks to teach gymnastics through an integrative vision between body and environment where the practice of gymnastics is made possible by all bodies. Through this writing, we sought to reflect on how the presence of different coaches, with different bodies, can contribute to the construction of representativeness and body identity of their athletes. In addition, looking from another perspective, we wonder how the student-coaches' planning are affected by this representativeness and body identity’s notion. Thus, in this experience report we analyze the student-coaches' work with children in the project EcoGym-UFPR and their relationship with different kinds of bodies and belongings within the practice. The project count with 2 groups of children from 3 to 6 years old and 2 groups with children from 7 to 12 years old, in the morning and afternoons. There are 12 academic students working as coaches, with a variety of bodies, that plan and run the activities inside the university facilities. When observing the practices, it was noticed a concern on the part of the monitors/coaches about the possibility of gymnastics experimentation for all the present bodies, mainly through the planning and adaptation of activities in order to allow free execution and creation based on what is worked on, thus strengthening the discourse that Artistic Gymnastics is a possible practice for everyone, regardless of body phenotype or any other physical characteristics. We can also note that the student-coaches understand that they influence the children inside and outside the gymnastics environment. The representativeness through the student-coaches proved to be a key point for the children in the project, helping to create bond, adhesion and popularization for the gymnastics practice, making possible that all kinds of bodies enjoy the benefits linked to the modality. In this way, it is essential to reflect on how children perceive their corporeality within gymnastics and what is their vision in front of the coaches' bodies, what degree of corporal representation these coaches bring to the most several bodies present in practice and how this context affects the work in Artistic Gymnastics with children and teenagers.