Aladine Naamou

I was born in Syria in . I come from a large family. I have eleven siblings. At the age of five I fell in love with the sport of gymnastics. I trained very hard with the goal in mind of becoming a world class gymnast. In 1975 I became the youngest National Champion of Syria. My coach at that time was the legendary Soviet coach Hrant Shaganyan. He also coached two of my brothers Nour and Samir We were all on the Syrian National team together. Our goal was to compete at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. We trained together in the Soviet Union in order to get the best training available. The facilities in Syria were not as good as they were in the Soviet Union so we spent a lot of times between Damascus and Moscow to prepare for the coming Competitions. When I was 16 years old, right after coming back from my first world Cup in the Bulgarian city of Varan I suffered a terrible accident while I was trying to help a friend who was working on a water pump. While I was helping my friend with the water pump, I seriously injured my back. There was a possibility that I would be paralyzed the rest of my life, and my dream of competing in the Olympic Games was shattered. However, my faith in God gave me the strength to overcome the injury. I returned to full health after two years of rehabilitation, and having faith that I could recover. I was able to walk again, and began regaining my skills in gymnastics. I managed to recover fully, and I went on to win the Syrian National Championships again. In the year of 1982 And the same time I was Mandatory Drafted to the Military and chosen to be in the presidential security Services I served for 3 and half years I finished my Military service in the year of 1986 I was training for the Goodwill Games. This competition was hosted by the Soviet Union. I finished 36th All Around. This was a very prestigious competition that included many of the top gymnasts in the world. During the next two years I trained for the Mediterranean Games. I worked extremely hard and was competing internationally in numerous World Cup events around the world. Finally at the Tenth Mediterranean Games I became the first Arab national to capture a gold medal at the prestigious International the10th Mediterranean Games. After the competition, as I was preparing for the World Championships in Holland, the Syrian Gymnastics Federation informed me that I would not be participating in the World Games or the Olympic Games. At that time, while I was competing in the Goodwill Games, I got in contact with Mr. Robert Cowan who was the President of the United States Gymnastics Federation. invited me to the United States in order to use my technical knowledge to help American youth reach their goals in the sport of gymnastics. My goal was to help young athletes realize their dreams.

I have been on the journey of a lifetime here in the United States of America. I have been honored to help many American athletes achieve their goals in the sport of gymnastics. Since I have been here, I have owned a private gymnastics training facility for ten years. I have coached members of the Junior National Team the Future Stars program. Currently, at Coach Patty's School of Gymnastics, I also coached for the Pennsylvania State University as an assistant coach for the head coach Steve Shephard. Together, we enjoyed a great deal of success. In 2005 our team qualified for the NCAA championships. I have included a link to an article that was on the Penn State web site detailing the event.

One of my other dreams was to become a stuntman and work in the film industry. I moved to California after my time at Penn State and became an actor and a stuntman. I was featured in many movies including, The Kingdom and "Body of Lies". The Office.

I am Coaching at Action Academy. I have coached many successful youths during this time, including State Champions, Regional Champions, I am fluent in Arabic, English, and some Russian.