Parents First Level 7 meet & new Leos!!

[nettyinpa]

Hi everyone, it feels like forever since I've been here. Olivia is slowly progressing at the gym. Seems the time away from tumbling, running and dismounts because of her knee injury has taken it's toll on her. She's having some major fear issues and we're only 1 week away from her first meet. There's also a bunch of stuff going on at our gym, again, with coaches and I don't know how much longer she'll be in it. Honestly, it's getting ridiculous. Enough about that....

Our first meet is our home meet next weekend. She's nervous because she doesn't have her tumbling back 100%. I just told her to go out and have fun, do the best she could, not to worry about the scores. Her coaches are going to work with her a few extra hours over the next week so we'll see if something clicks. I'm excited about the meet, all the girls have great routines and they've been working so hard.

We got our new leos and warmups this week and I thought I'd attach the pics. The warm-up is a little big on her but it will do.

 

[Megley]

I love her leo! That is really gorgeous. Sending tons of positive vibes her way for her first Level 7 meet. Lily just went through this a couple of weeks ago and it was nerve wracking for sure. I do hope that Olivia takes your advice and goes out there with the attitude of just trying her best and having fun. After all, it is her very first Level 7 meet so it's all good no matter what happens.

I will say that I think you will thoroughly enjoy the meet (at least when you aren't holding your breath for Olivia). I had the best time watching all the girls do their different routines. It was very fun to watch all the different skills.

Good luck!

 

[nettyinpa]

Megly ~ Thanks! She says it's very comfortable. The leo isn't a skin-tight fit so that's nice.

I read your post about Lily's meet. She did great! I think Olivia will do well on bars and vault. Floor and beam, we'll have to see. Hopefully the judges will be a little generous, being that it's their first meet. Well, it's our girls' first meet. Some of the other gyms that are coming have been competing for months. Almost doesn't seem fair. But, what can you do? I wanted to watch your dd's videos but for some reason I'm not able to watch them on this computer (at work ~ shhhh!) I'll have to watch from home tonight.

Thanks for your well wishes. Send some fairies our way!

 

[gymnut1]

Good luck to her. Hope she has a great time. Love love the leo and the warm up. So pretty.

 

[Swiftli]

I was wondering where you have been! Like the leos. Very original and I love that shade of blue/green.


I will send fairies your way but Kaylee will need them back next week for the Christmas on the Ches meet. Fear issues seem to be the thing this year with us as well. Maybe it is their age. It is so hard because we know and their coaches know they can do things but that fear bug is controlling them.

Bars and Beam are our nemesis this year. Beam is coming along much better but that giant still eludes her.

 

[Ingwe]

Love the Leo!!!

Good luck next weekend!! I hope Olivia has lots of fun.

 

[Megley]

Megly ~ Thanks! She says it's very comfortable. The leo isn't a skin-tight fit so that's nice.

I read your post about Lily's meet. She did great! I think Olivia will do well on bars and vault. Floor and beam, we'll have to see. Hopefully the judges will be a little generous, being that it's their first meet. Well, it's our girls' first meet. Some of the other gyms that are coming have been competing for months. Almost doesn't seem fair. But, what can you do? I wanted to watch your dd's videos but for some reason I'm not able to watch them on this computer (at work ~ shhhh!) I'll have to watch from home tonight.

Thanks for your well wishes. Send some fairies our way!

Definitely sending fairies, though I'm not sure you want her bar fairies! I'm sure Olivia will rock bars, though.

 

[flipper's fan]

Love the leo and warm up! Best of luck at the first meet. It always takes a bit of time to come back after injuries. Go rock the gym!

 

[cathiann]

Leo is so pretty! Love it. Good luck to her at her first meet! Your advice to her was perfect--I hope she takes it to heart

 

[gymjourneymom]

Love her new leo!!! Sending lots of "you can do it!" fairies to help her with her fears!

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

The new leos are really nice my daughter just go her new one last night. When I figure out I will post a pic. Hang in there I am sure she will do fine. My daughter did not think she was doing floor in her 1st 6 meet and she ended up doing it. She did horrible but surprised me that she was not that upset scored 6.85 and said to me she was glad she competed it and will do better next time. She just said to me last night Mom I do not know what I was thinking when I said I wanted to quit a couple month ago. I think these kids are more resislent than us and I think just getting that first meet out of the way helped. Good luck next week. I hope your gym issues get better.

 

[NOG]

I love the leo!!! Very pretty. Tell her good luck at her 1st meet next weekend .

I'm sorry to hear that you/she are having issues with the gym. I thought that everything was going so well with the gym. It had sounded like you/she had found the right fit for her. Not sure what you're all dealing with, but I hope that things improve on that front very soon.

 

[Crystalflipz]

Love the leo and the warm up! Good luck to Olivia at her meet next weekend, and good luck to you getting her to relax a bit this week and not stress too much about things. Coming back from an injury always is tough and sometimes it's tougher than others. Sometimes I think the girls feel they have more to prove to themselves and to everyone else when they come back from and injury - they really need to show the world "see I can still do this!". Em's first meet back is tomorrow and she is a nervous wreck. I reminded her that if she falls flat on her face it will not be the first or last time that happens during a meet. To which she replied "it's different this time Mom!". I suspect your Olivia is feeling pretty much the same thing. I'll be sending lots of good luck wishes her way! Where is your meet?

 

[nettyinpa]

Love the leo and the warm up! Good luck to Olivia at her meet next weekend, and good luck to you getting her to relax a bit this week and not stress too much about things. Coming back from an injury always is tough and sometimes it's tougher than others. Sometimes I think the girls feel they have more to prove to themselves and to everyone else when they come back from and injury - they really need to show the world "see I can still do this!". Em's first meet back is tomorrow and she is a nervous wreck. I reminded her that if she falls flat on her face it will not be the first or last time that happens during a meet. To which she replied "it's different this time Mom!". I suspect your Olivia is feeling pretty much the same thing. I'll be sending lots of good luck wishes her way! Where is your meet?

You are so right. Olivia is always out to please everyone and is very hard on herself. Our meet is at home and I think that's another reason she's so concerned. Her coach and I sat her down on Friday night and basically gave her the option to either compete 7 with watered down routines, not even considering scores or to compete Level 6 for this meet, do pretty well and come out of it with some sense of accomplishment. Well, she ended up crying the whole way home. She doesn't want to do 6 again but she also doesn't want to attempt her 7 routines without all her skills. I explained to her that doing level 6 again doesn't mean she's a failure at 7, it's just something that might build her confidence again. And if she competes 7 she could always scratch on floor and beam, focus more on bars and vault. No big deal, it doesn't mean she can't do it, she's just not ready. I just don't know what to say to make her relax about it. I'm ready to cry, too!! :bawling: She's only 9 years old.....what do I do?

 

[Swiftli]

I am RIGHT with you. Kaylee had to scratch bars and beam first meet this year. We knew this would be a tough year jumping from 6 to 7 (with the way our gym works there isn't much uptraining). I have given into the fact that this year is a growing year and to surely not look for top placements just for small improvements every week.

I would say let her do her watered down events and let the chips fall, she will get her skills back just not by this weekend. To me, stepping back a level seems so defeating and probably will just upset her more because in her mind she had successfully completed that level already.

and because they are 9, they do have the luxury of some time on their side.

<<hugs to Olivia>>

 

[Megley]

Netty, what skills is she missing on floor and beam? I guess it would depend on this. If it is just the layout on floor and bhs on beam, she should go ahead and compete with the watered down routines. She could always do a round off on beam for flight and just a tuck instead of a layout on floor. On the other hand, if it is several elements missing on each then it might be demoralizing to compete watered down routines and perhaps it would be better to scratch and just compete what she can. I agree that going back to Level 6 is probably not the greatest idea, but then again it depends on how she feels about that. Good luck with whatever you both decide!

 

[flipper's fan]

It really depends on what kind of kid your daughter is. If it were my daughter, I know she would have a greater feeling of accomplishment competing the watered down level 7 and be happy about how well she did at that. She would not feel accomplished even if she took first in every event at six. But's that the kind of kid she is. Other kids would feel a lot better doing the opposite. My dd gets excited even about a mediocre score if she did her very best, and she gets even more excited as she improves in the future.

Best of luck whatever you ( she) decide. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Crystalflipz]

(((((Hugs to both you and Olivia))))) It's so hard sometimes to have to watch our kids struggle with these decisions, but at the same time if you make it for her you may always wonder if you did the right thing. Can you talk to Olivia's coach privately and see how he/she feels about what is the right thing to do? I have made it very clear to both Em and her coach that decisions on which, if any, events Em competes at a meet are up to Em and Tammy ONLY and we will respect that decision. I think that coaches sometimes feel stuck between an rock and a hard place because with meet fees for optionals at around $90+ per meet, parents are often unhappy to see their child compete only 1 or 2 events for the $$ they have paid. If you are OK with that and the coach is clear on how you feel, it might make it easier for them to steer Olivia in one direction or another.

 

[nettyinpa]

Netty, what skills is she missing on floor and beam? I guess it would depend on this. If it is just the layout on floor and bhs on beam, she should go ahead and compete with the watered down routines. She could always do a round off on beam for flight and just a tuck instead of a layout on floor. On the other hand, if it is several elements missing on each then it might be demoralizing to compete watered down routines and perhaps it would be better to scratch and just compete what she can. I agree that going back to Level 6 is probably not the greatest idea, but then again it depends on how she feels about that. Good luck with whatever you both decide!

Megley ~ She's missing the FHS-FT on floor, and is iffy on the layout. She's doing her BHS-BT again. Not sure what she can do for a front tumbling pass without getting like a whole point deducted! Beam she just doesn't have the BHS yet. Everything else is okay. So, I'm thinking maybe she'll just scratch floor. Who knows? I kind of agree with what Crystalflipz said, I should just leave it up to her and her coach.

 

[LizzieLac]

Love the leo and you DD is adorable! I hope she doesn't put too much pressure on herself. It is the first meet of the year so maybe she can look at it as just baseline setting so she knows where she stands and then she can look forward. Also, maybe she will be more at ease if she is able to identify a couple of immediate goals she could achieve like stick xxx skill, remember to keep legs straight during xxx, score at least xx on xx event.

Hope that helps! Best of luck to her!