Hi! I am new here. I have been lurking around to get a feel for the site and thought I might as well jump in and participate. My daughter is a level 4 gymnast. Our trip down "gymnastics lane" started with cheering and a friendship. Two summers ago she decided to cheer for the town pop-warner football with a friend of hers. She saw that her friend (who has been doing gymnastics since 2, pre-pre-team then pre-team) could do "cool" things. So she asked if she could take gymnastics lessons to learn to do some of the things her friend could do.
We signed up for recreation classes at the end of October, 2007. The next week, they posted signs for open-tryouts for their team program (in the past they primarly hand-picked the kids for their competitive programs). She decided she wanted to tryout, but the tryouts were in less than 6 weeks and she could not do anything (and trust me when I say she couldn't do anything). She did not have one bar skill (not even a pull-over), couldn't do a cartwheel, handstand, nothing. But, we felt it was our job to encourage her choice while at the same time preparing her that most likely should would not be chosen.
Well, much to our surprise in Jan 2008, we received word that she had been chosen for level 4 team. She was over the top-thrilled and we were apprehensive. The only reasons that I can think they took her were
1.) She showed no fear when they asked her to do anything at tryout
2.) They knew she had supportive parents.
I think initially some of the other parents were not too thrilled as their daughters had worked their way up the ranks so to speak and along come new kids taken right from "rec" classes to join them. On the first day of practice (Feb 2008), I could see why. Emma was SOO far behind them. I didn't think she would ever catch up or be ready to compete. She was fairly strong but as inflexible as they come.
Their first meet was September 2008 and she competed everything but floor (her ROBHS was still shakey). By October, she was competing all events. Initially her scores were low, but started to improve as the season progressed. They held her back to compete level 4 again (she is now 8 yrs old) which I think was a wise choice. She really needed this year to clean up the newly acquired skills. Her best and favorite event is bars (she ended and started the year with a 9.45). She is currently struggling with vault and got her lowest score ever last meet YIKES!
Anyway, thanks if you have stuck with me this long. I have some video of her last meet but am not sure if I am allowed to post it just yet.
Thanks!
We signed up for recreation classes at the end of October, 2007. The next week, they posted signs for open-tryouts for their team program (in the past they primarly hand-picked the kids for their competitive programs). She decided she wanted to tryout, but the tryouts were in less than 6 weeks and she could not do anything (and trust me when I say she couldn't do anything). She did not have one bar skill (not even a pull-over), couldn't do a cartwheel, handstand, nothing. But, we felt it was our job to encourage her choice while at the same time preparing her that most likely should would not be chosen.
Well, much to our surprise in Jan 2008, we received word that she had been chosen for level 4 team. She was over the top-thrilled and we were apprehensive. The only reasons that I can think they took her were
1.) She showed no fear when they asked her to do anything at tryout
2.) They knew she had supportive parents.
I think initially some of the other parents were not too thrilled as their daughters had worked their way up the ranks so to speak and along come new kids taken right from "rec" classes to join them. On the first day of practice (Feb 2008), I could see why. Emma was SOO far behind them. I didn't think she would ever catch up or be ready to compete. She was fairly strong but as inflexible as they come.
Their first meet was September 2008 and she competed everything but floor (her ROBHS was still shakey). By October, she was competing all events. Initially her scores were low, but started to improve as the season progressed. They held her back to compete level 4 again (she is now 8 yrs old) which I think was a wise choice. She really needed this year to clean up the newly acquired skills. Her best and favorite event is bars (she ended and started the year with a 9.45). She is currently struggling with vault and got her lowest score ever last meet YIKES!
Anyway, thanks if you have stuck with me this long. I have some video of her last meet but am not sure if I am allowed to post it just yet.
Thanks!
