Hosts Sweet Hosts

Dressed in shorts, summer tops and flip-flops, their hair pulled back in ponytails, the young women scattered around the spacious living room of Colleen and Buck Yedor’s Thousand Oaks home appeared to be typical teenagers pausing for a rare quiet moment on a sunny summer afternoon.

A few sprawled on chairs or sat on the snow white carpet, leafing through a catalog. One slipped out to the patio and slid into the pool. And when Colleen Yedor hooked up a “Dance Dance Revolution” interactive video game to the TV and a techno-infused version of Olivia Newton-John’s “Have You Ever Been Mellow” filled the air, they giggled like typical kids -- until the game’s instructions popped up on the screen.

Standing on the game mat and staring at the TV, Marina Proskurina was visibly puzzled. The instructions were in English, a language she and the other girls don’t speak because they’re from Ukraine, once part of the Soviet Union but now an independent country that has sent her and the others to the World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim.

Thanks to a combination of gestures, smiles and vigorous demonstrations by Colleen Yedor, Proskurina and the others soon figured out how to play and were happily stomping on the mat in time to the music. One more gap bridged on a visit that enriched their hosts as much as it helped the gymnasts prepare for their competition next week at the Arrowhead Pond.

The Ukrainian team and its entourage, which included three coaches and a masseuse, spent its first week in the U.S. training at Monarchs Gymnastics in Newbury Park and living in homes of members of the gym’s booster club. The visit was arranged by Yelena Urusova, who emigrated from Ukraine to the U.S. 14 years ago and owns the gym with her husband, Vitaly. To her delight, it became a community effort that will be fondly remembered long after the medals are awarded in Anaheim.

“There is no borders for the friendship,” said Urusova, once an elite competitor in her homeland. “We are so happy this is happening. We are all simple people, not politicians.

“Some of the kids were scared to come here because of all the talk about America in Europe, and about security. Now, they’re very happy they are here. Warm and happy and comfortable.”

Three families took in gymnasts or coaches, but others contributed however they could.

Some chauffeured the group to practices at Monarchs Gymnastics. Other parents donated tickets to send the Ukrainians to Universal Studios, the girls’ unanimous choice as the highlight of the trip. Still others funded a shopping spree.

Beth Ziegler, who was host to two girls, bought Alyona Kvasha a bathing suit when she realized Kvasha had nothing but a gym leotard to wear on an excursion to Zuma Beach. Waiting for the girls to finish an afternoon workout one day last week, Ziegler proudly displayed a picture of Kvasha in a vibrant bikini, enjoying the white sand and aqua water with her teammates. The girls’ sunscreen and beach towels also were provided by booster club members.

“We didn’t expect as much as this. We couldn’t imagine what we could see,” Kvasha said through Urusova’s translation. “Every day there is something different. It feels like they want to help us so much.”

The Yedors had a spare room while their daughter, Leslie, was away at a gymnastics camp and opened their home to Kvasha, Irina Yarotskaya and coaches Viktor Lutayenko and Nadia Koryakina. The Yedors also provided a bountiful barbecue lunch nearly every day so the group could eat its main meal together.

“They’re just normal kids,” Colleen Yedor said. “You see them at the gym working so hard, but at home they’re relaxed and just like any other kids. They could be my daughter.”

The language barrier kept the gymnasts and their hosts from conversing in depth, but Yedor quickly learned her guests wanted strong coffee, lots of vegetables and fruits but little bread, and that they loved guava juice after she gave them their first taste.

Pantomime came in handy: When one girl wanted a pair of scissors and didn’t know the word, a cutting gesture conveyed the message; when Yedor offered to do some laundry for them, she got her point across with improvised hand motions.

“They’ve learned more English since they’ve been here than we’ve learned Russian,” Yedor said. “They’ve started saying, ‘Thank you,’ and ‘Good morning.’ They’re so polite. They’re very easy house guests and they really seem to appreciate it. It’s just such a great culture experience.”

That goes for both sides. “The people we have met are always smiling,” Alina Kozich said through a translator. “I don’t feel any differences.”

Irina Krasnyanskaya, 15, loved the Yedors’ heated pool and was touched by the Americans’ generosity. “Any wishes, whatever we ask, they have,” she said.

Before the team’s arrival, Lutayenko feared the living arrangements might disrupt the girls’ routine and adversely affect their training. He also feared the activities planned for them might exhaust them before the competition, which begins Friday with the opening ceremony and Saturday and Sunday with team preliminaries.

Instead, he found the sightseeing invigorating and was dazzled by the ocean and the trip to Universal Studios, which was preserved on tape and has already been replayed several times.

“This is better than staying in a hotel. They are resting a lot better,” the Kiev resident said with Urusova’s help.

“Before, at other competitions, they would stay at a hotel and just go from the gym to the hotel and back to the gym. Here, there is more. These are not distractions, they are attractions. It helps them get their minds away [from the gym].”

With the start of official training Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center, the team moved over the weekend to its competition hotel in Anaheim. While in Newbury Park, the girls had three two-hour sessions a day at Monarchs Gymnastics and never wasted a moment. From warmup to cool down, while toddlers tumbled on nearby mats and local youngsters chattered through their lessons, the Ukrainians worked seriously and precisely, displaying world-class skills on every apparatus.

The women have an outside chance at a team medal and might win some individual honors at Anaheim. Yarotskaya was a bronze medalist on the balance beam at last year’s World Championships, and Kozich, 15, is considered promising enough to compete in all four events.

But it was the girls’ work ethic that most awed 11-year-old Brendan Williams of Thousand Oaks, a gymnast and member of one of the host families. He gave up his bedroom to the visitors but considered the sacrifice outweighed by the chance to learn from them.

“If they get hurt or something, they just get back up and don’t complain,” he said. “If they fall, they get up and keep working until they get it right. It’s been very interesting and fun to have them around.”

Long before the Yedors agreed to play host to the gymnasts, they had bought tickets for the World Championships for themselves, their son and their daughter. Now, they have a compelling rooting interest.

“What’s nice is hopefully we can make differences in their lives,” said Buck Yedor, a semi-retired fisheries biologist. “Anybody can stay in a hotel, but to go to a foreign country and stay in a home and have it feel like it’s your own home, it makes you feel different and you get to see people on a different level.

“Why did we do it? Because we can. We’ve been blessed with a beautiful home and the time and ability to do this, so we’re glad to.”

Said Lutayenko: “Everything works for the best. We saw a lot of different attractions, so we were still together and with American kids. Every day we see so much, but we are still focused and we feel very warm and welcome.”

*

World Gymnastics Championships

When: Saturday through Aug. 24.

* Where: Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

* Event: The qualifying event for the 2004 Athens Olympics, the World Championships will feature more than 700 athletes from 80 countries vying for team, all-around and individual world titles.

* Competition: Begins Saturday with the men’s team preliminaries and continues on Sunday, when the U.S. men will compete. Women’s team preliminaries start Sunday and the U.S. women will compete that evening. The top eight men’s and women’s teams advance to the team finals.

* Tickets: $22 to $75 depending on the date and session. Tickets are available at the Pond box office, at www.worlds03.com, or through participating gymnastics clubs listed at www.usa-gymnastics.org.