• Very young gymnasts may find gifts particularly motivating.future gymnastics champion image by Cherry-Merry from Fotolia.com
  
  While the thrill of gymnastics competition and the satisfaction of gaining hard-earned skills are their own reward, sometimes people benefit from a little extra motivation in the form of a gift. Whether you are searching for ideas for incentive prizes (for example, for the gymnast who attends the most optional extra workouts) or for gifts to reward and motivate a gymnastics team after a competition, focus on gifts that athletes can actually use.
  
  

Books

• Choose an age-appropriate book that is positive about gymnastics.reading image by apeschi from Fotolia.com
  
  Give the gymnast--or the entire team--a book focused on gymnastics. Possibilities include picture books, gymnastics how-to books, inspirational fiction like Sheila Haigh's classic book "The Little Gymnast," gymnast memoirs like Kim Hamilton Anthony's "Unfavorable Odds: The Story of UCLA's First African-American Female Gymnastics Champion," or a book on stretching, nutrition, strength training or cross-training. Choose books carefully. Some gymnastics memoirs, in particular, contain frank accounts of eating disorders, abusive coaches and other unhealthy situations that would be anything but motivational to a gymnast reader. DVDs of gymnastics-themed films can also be inspiring.
  
  

Inexpensive But Personal

• Select a gymnastics-themed T-shirt as an inexpensive gift that will allow the recipient to take public pride in her love for gymnastics. If you are searching for a team gift, T-shirts make an excellent choice because matching apparel creates a visible sense of camaraderie. Or pick a very low-cost gift that also showcases a person's passion for gymnastics, such as a wall applique, vehicle window decal, notebook, folder, bumper sticker or regular sticker.
  
  

Equipment

• Bestow a piece of gymnastics equipment on a lucky gymnast as a large motivational gift. The Gifts.com website suggests an array of gymnastics-related sports equipment gifts, such as a tumbling mat, an adjustable, padded tumbling belt, a weighted exercise ball or even a vaulting board. A pricey piece of equipment would make an excellent team raffle prize (with tickets handed out to reward exceptional effort or improvement). Even less-extravagant pieces of equipment serve to motivate a gymnast to train harder and perform better because the equipment can be used in training.