Parents hello and hopes for our hosted meet

[profmom]

Hi, everyone. I'm a new CB member, though I've been lurking for a while. It's been really interesting and I've learned a lot from all of you! I'm the parent of two gymnasts, a daughter competing level 6 and a son competing level 4, both for the first time at these levels this year. (The other one is a soccer-holic.)

As my first post, I want to express my hopes for the meet my kids' gym is hosting this weekend.

I hope, first and foremost, that no one gets hurt! It's so heartbreaking when a gymnast incurs a serious injury, and I think it's worse when it happens in front of a crowd of family and friends who are there to cheer her/him on.

I hope all the girls competing have at least one thing that goes better than they or their coaches had ever dreamed it would.

I know not everyone can win, but I hope that everyone meets some goal she's set for herself.

I hope that every competitor has a parent, guardian, or loved one there to cheer for her. And I hope that all these supporters find something in her performance to cheer, whether she wins all around or falls on every apparatus.

I hope each competitor is honored by her coaches and family for the hard work she's done to get to this point.

Personally, of course, I hope my daughter survives her first L6 meet and her flyaway comes back for her scored routine (oh, my, is she frustrated!). But mostly I hope that she and all the other competitors take the lifelong values the meet has to offer about winning and losing with grace and serenity.

 

[cher062]

Welcome to the wonderful world of competitive gymnastics and welcome to the CB We hope you will post more often and welcome out of lurkdom

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

hello and welcome to CB. good luck to your DD @ her first L6 meet. sending the flyaway fairy!

 

[MaryA]

Welcome, Profmom! I like you already. My DD is also a level 6 and also lost her flyaway right before her first meet (hit her toes and got scared). Coach went back to basics and she got it back in the nick of time. Good luck to your children and to their gym. Here's to hopes for a safe, fun, and crisis-free meet!

 

[Deanna]

Welcome to the CB. Good to have you on board. Looking forward to getting to know you better and hearing about your kiddos first year of comp at their new levels

 

[profmom]

Unfortunately there was an injury -- a Level 8 collided with the vault table headfirst. Thank goodness she seemed to be OK (though they did take her to the hospital for an assessment). The worst part about it was that, while she was surrounded by our coaches and the EMTs, she said, "oh, it really hurts because that's the same place I hit my head in practice this week!" ARGH!

But the saddest moment in the entire portion of the meet we saw was a L9 who had a horrendous bars routine and bailed close to the end. The girl stood there between the bars for a heartbeat, stunned, and then started to cry. She walked slowly past the chalk bucket, still crying, and made her way back to the chairs where she continued to cry by herself. At no point did one of her coaches or a single one of her teammates approach her to comfort her or tell her something like, "you'll get 'em next time!" She finally wandered out of the competition area and got a hug from her mom. My daughter and I were appalled, though I suppose it's possible there's some back story here that explains everything.

Still, it was a really nice meet and a lot of our team girls did very well. Thanks for the good wishes!