• The Wall Street Journal , Tuesday, August 5, 2008 10:16 AM

With the country's 2,200 local gymnastics clubs facing the double whammy of intense competition from sports like soccer and cheerleading and increased belt-tightening by families, USA Gymnastics' new campaign is designed to convince moms that the sport isn't just for those who go on to international fame and glory.

The overall brand initiative is called "Begin Here. Go Anywhere" and includes print, radio and a Web site. In one ad, a five-year-old girl, arms stretched wide, walks on top of a concrete ledge. "Life needs balance," the ad reads. In another, a five-year-old boy hangs from a tree, riffing off the theme "Life needs strength."

USA Gymnastics -- along with AT&T, Tyson Foods, Procter & Gamble's Cover Girl and the National Gymnastics Foundation -- helped pay for the campaign, which includes an eight-page insert that will run in the Aug. 15 issue of USA Today. Several of the pages in the insert list more than 2,000 USA Gymnastics member gyms. The clubs will also receive advertising materials like radio spots and posters, and USA Gymnastics will launch a micro-site.

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