Dear Friends,
it is our great pleasure to invite you to attend an International Invitational Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition, FIG KOOP CUP 2018.
CANDADA, APRIL 26-29, 2018
Preliminary and Nominative Registrations by telephone or fax or verbally will not be accepted. If you need to make any changes to the registration after registration has been submitted, please email the changes to the above address.
REGISTRATION DEADLINES:
PRELIMINARY: February 28, 2018
NOMINATIVE: March 28, 2018
VENUE
MARKHAM PAN AM CENTRE
16 Main Street, Unionville
UNIONVILLE, ON, L3R 2E4
CANADA
FORMS TO DOWNLOAD
TICKETS
We would like to offer you the opportunity to pre-order your tickets for both events. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the event or ordered in advance. You can order directly through a Kalev Estienne representative for your convenience.
SPONSORS
Help us develop the beautiful sports of Rhythmic Gymnastics and Aesthetic Group Gymnastics in Canada. If you are interested in supporting Canadian athletes and FIG Koop Cup International Invitational, please email us at sponsors@koopcup.com
The 2018 FIG Koop Cup International Invitational RG Competition and the International Invitational Aesthetic Group Gymnastics Competition for 2018 Four Continents Championships provide a wonderful opportunity for our Canadian gymnasts to see, compete and perform with, and be inspired by the best gymnasts in the world.
We would greatly appreciate your support to help make these competitions a success for our Canadian girls and all the visiting international delegations. As you can imagine, the costs of running such an event are high, and any help you could provide in the form of donations or advertising support would be greatly appreciated. In return, depending on your level of sponsorship, we would be happy to offer you seating for the competition, advertising space in the event program and an opportunity to display your banner at the event and/or on our websites.
We hope that you will help support our competition and our efforts to bring the best of the world here where we can enjoy their talents first hand and be inspired by them. We’re looking forward to seeing you on APRIL 26 – 29 at the Markham Pan Am Centre,16 Main St, Unionville, Ontario, Toronto.
We appreciate your support!
KOOP CUP 2017 GALLERY
HISTORY OF KOOP CUP
Koop Cup International was first presented in 1991, as a bi-annual event. Two decades later, we are not only celebrating 27 years of Koop Cup, along we are proudly honouring 67 years of Rhythmic Gymnastics in Canada.
Rhythmic gymnastics in Canada simply would not be if it weren’t for the efforts of Evelyn Koop. Known as the “God Mother” of rhythmic gymnastics, and recognized as the one who introduced the sport to North America. In the forties and fifties, there were many ethnic groups in Toronto who started rhythmic gymnastics movements. Among them was the Kalev Sport Club, which included women’s, men’s gymnastics, folk dance, known as “Modern Gymnastics”.
Founder of the Ontario and Canadian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federations in 1968, the creator of the Four Continents Championships, and the crusader behind the sport’s acceptance into the Olympics, Evelyn Koop’s story is highly accented with experiences that originate in Sweden and across the world. Trained at the Idla Institute of Physical Education in Sweden, under the direction of one of the international founders of the sport Ernst Idla, and armed with a Canadian Dance and Arts Degree. Mrs. Koop became a member of the Estonian Sports Club, Kalev, first as a gymnast, then as a coach. Out of this club, she organized the Kalev Estienne Rhythmic Gymnastics Club. The other “Modern Gymnastics” programs no longer exist, however Kalev Estienne, is marching on.
Evelyn Koop has taught Physical Education courses in Rhythmic Gymnastics, previously called “Modern Gymnastics”, at the Universities of Toronto, McMaster and McGill. Mrs. Koop authored the books of “Basic Modern Rhythmic Gymnastics” and “Judging”, she developed Technical Manuals, By-Laws, and Constitutions for Rhythmic Gymnastics. Evelyn has trained nearly a thousand teachers and instructors in Ontario, and created awareness of the sport by endless touring with her gymnasts across Canada and the United States. It was a great honour for Canada when Evelyn Koop was given the task of introducing the sport to China.
In May 1968, Evelyn Koop was able to form both the Provincial and the National Canadian Federations for rhythmic gymnastics and she was elected president of both Federations, remaining in that position until 1980. Evelyn Koop initiated the “The Maple Leaf” international meet in 1976, which was held four consecutive years. In 1978 she created the Pan-Pacific Championships, which later transitioned into the Four Continents Championships. During this competition in 1997, Kalev’s Emilie Livingston won silver overall (2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, and the only Canadian with an overall medal). This event was created to give Canadians an opportunity to achieve higher honours than possible at the World Championships. In 1991 “The World’s Best” international invitational competition was created, where Evelyn Koop was honoured by the Canadian Gymnastics Federation, naming the competition “Koop Cup”. Evelyn Koop was the choreographer for the opening ceremonies of the 1976 Olympic Games, demonstrating rhythmic gymnastics, which opened the doors for the sport to be a part of the Olympic Games. The first Olympic competition, in 1984, was won by a former Kalev athlete, Lori Fung. Evelyn Koop has had the honour of being selected as a world level judge, attending many international competitions, including the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Evelyn was honoured to send Camille Martens from Kalev, as Canada’s only competitor in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1996 Games. In 2000, Kalev’s Emilie Livingston represented all of the Americas at the Olympic Games in Sydney!
Kalev Estienne is now the umbrella organization for eight different rhythmic gymnastics clubs. One of the most recent is the “Kalev AGG Academy”, which began in 1995 as a rhythmic dance company. When Evelyn Koop realized an old dream: to create a company that could lift the sport to levels where it would be recognized as one of the most ihe mpressive of t performing arts. It would also mean returning to the roots of the sport: the rhythmic group performance, now called aesthetic gymnastics. Kalev has the most successful AGG teams in Canada. Evelyn Koop will continue to expand and develop her beloved rhythmic gymnastics in ever-new directions.