First meet for us!

[Blackie6]

My daughter had her very first meet this past weekend. I am afraid she didn't do very well score wise, but I was very proud of her anyway. She is only 6 and missed tons of practice due to our late Summer vacation. She actually missed her first team meet because she just wasn't ready. Almost all the girls qualified for sectionals at that 1st meet so my daughter & another L4 went to another local meet together to try to qualify. She had floor first and got a 6.8. She had all the skills but was just sloppy & hadn't practiced enough on the floor to know how to go corner to corner. She did ROBHS by herself though (yeah!) On vault she got 8.6 which was nice. The bars were ugly. The whole family was seated right next to the bars (limited seating and couldn't move if we wanted to)& when she went, she was laughing almost the whole time and needed a boost for the mill circle. Then she messed up something else, a hip circle I think, and repeated it and I guess got more points off for adding a skill? Got a 5.8 on that. The beam was last. She was doing OK but not too sure about the whole routine yet and missed something & then fell off which resulted in a 6.9. So it totaled 28.1. Her teamate did a little better and did qualify, so my daughter is feeling a little left out tonight. I have been telling her all along that you have to start somewhere and that we didn't even think she would be doing any competitions yet this year and that she is the youngest on the team, but she is so sad I am feeling pretty sad too. Anyone have any words of wisdom for the team caboose??? She loved the meet and had a blast, wasn't nervous at all, but this sectional score seems like alot of pressure.

[Rainee100]

Just keep cheering her on and pointing out what she did well. My daughter didn't even know what the scores meant at her first meet! She couldn't get over the vault until the end of the first year at level 4. One time she didn't see the judge salute her and the music started. She ran off the floor crying and wouldn't go back! Took a big zero for that. She fell off the beam 3x at one meet. I realized at some point to let the coaches do the coaching. For me it's best to smile, hug them and tell them how great they did. When they are bummed about their own performance we go out for ice cream. Good luck at the next meet.

[gymnomore]

I'm a long time gym mom so I'll give you some words of advice. You mentioned two things in your post that puts it all into perspective. First of all, your daughter is only 6 years old. To be 6 years old and to be able to do a round-off backhandspring among other skills, and go out there and compete is phenomenal, no matter how she did! She (and you) should be very proud to be able to experience that. My daughter didn't even start learning gymnastics until she was 6, became very good at it, and she went on to win several state championship all-around titles. So your daughter is way ahead of the game.
The other thing you mentioned is that she was laughing the whole time. OK, that might sound detrimental to a routine in competition, but it meant she was having fun out there! And that is THE MOST important element in a 6 year old child's participation in any sport. That's what it's all about and I'm sure before long she'll be carrying home some really big trophies. Good luck, and enjoy this time, as it goes by way too quickly.

[bogwoppit]

She did a great job.

My now 11 year old dd's first comp when she was 6 was just the same. She actually got a 3.5 on the bars and other equally awful scores. She went on when she was 7 to win lots of medals. It takes time and a lot of practice to bring in the scores.

Sounds like she had fun on bars.

[Ingymmom]

S your little one did AWESOME for her first meet! She needs to be super proud of herself - because getting in front of that crowd for the 1st time is SCARY, and she still managed to go out and have a great time... remind her that practice makes perfect & that every meet she will learn a little more... I can't wait to hear how her season progresses - HOORAY to her for doing her bhs at the meet!!!!

*repeating a skill is a big deduction (even though I think it would make sense to actually show that you can do a skill - but they do consider it as adding an extra skill to the routine)

nic

had to add a note... there was a little girl in our gym that was so nervous when she did her first meet... she was afraid she would not hear the music cue to start her fx routine, she listened so hard so that she would not miss it - then started doing her routine to the music she heard.... which happen to be coming from an entirely different room!!! - it was not even the same music years later she is now 12 yrs old and competing L10 this year... but she and her parents have some great memories to enjoy and that is one of their favorites! Enjoy those great memories!! ;-)

[nettyinpa]

Congrats to dd for getting through her very first meet. That in itself is a big accomplishment and she should be proud of herself! My dd's first meet isn't until December. I think she's more excited to wear the new leo! Bars and vault are her week points right now. I'm looking forward to going through her first meet season and sharing it here!

High fives to her!

[Blackie6]

Thank You! All of you! I knew you would have great stories and advice. I am happy she had a good time, I never let her catch on how nervous I was. Little does she know I hit the bathrooms before each event, LOL! And as one mom mentioned she really doesn't have a concept of the score, she only wondered why what she did wasn't good enough to go on with the team to the sectional meet. But now that she had to do another meet by herself, she feels funny not having that team support I guess & I feel the pressure in that I hope she does well enough to join them. She will be with the team at the end of the month for an Invitational though so she is excited about that. I'll keep you all posted!

BTW, I LOVED that she LOL during the bars, the judge looked soooo mad though, like we disrespected the event or her.

[gym law mom]

So glad to hear that she had a blast at her 1st meet. This is the way it should be for a 6 yo. She won't have a real concept of scores and all that for a couple of years and that's fine because once they do they are putting pressure on themselves during the meet knowing what kind of scores they need. Just focus on the positive for her next meet--don't mention numbers at all. We found that once we could get my daughter to not think about getting a certain number for an event and just concentrate on doing a better routine than the last meet, the scores just go right up.

Ok, here is my story of our 1st meet. My very stubborn daughter would not tell anyone how nervous she was. Kept it all inside. Well, it showed once they started the meet(which was run terribly btw). They started on beam----oh yeah wonderful to start on beam. Heck, she fell off on the mount!!! Not much went right for her that day, but keep the faith because 2.5 mos later at L5 states she tied for 1st on bars(had a low 7 at her 1st meet) and had raised her AA score 8 points from that 1st time out. Part of it is simply learning how to compete. I would think your dd's coach has told her not to repeat a skill now----if you mess it up, just keep going.

One more 1st meet story. This was from our team mom at L5. At her own dd's 1st ever L4 meet(in another state) they only warmed up part of the beam routine. Mom was sitting there glowing because dd had looked great in warmup. Then dd was up 1st for her team. Coach said, "do it just like you did in warm up." So her dd got up and did the part of the routine she had done in warmup and got off. Needless to say a low score, but the coach also learned to be very precise in how to give directions to 6-8 yos!!!!

Love it that she laughed through her bars!!!! The judge should have smiled too.

[melmonette]

she did great It is all uphill from here
My daughter was just 7 at her first meet and she too had a shakey first meet 30.2 in the all around... She improved to a 33.875 at her state meet with a fall on beam

[Monkeygirlsmom]

sounds like she did great!! and had fun!! my dd who is 5 really wants to compete!! (she likes the medals you get!! LOL)
anyhow I can only imagine what her swill be like when she gets there!! HEHE!!
sounds like you are right there for her keep it up!!