Parents Level 2 doesn't know her routines

[Dad1234]

What happens at a competition if a child doesn't know her routine or forgets a routine? Can a coach talk them through it? What about missing skills? Can a coach spot them? My daughter is almost five and is supposed to compete level 2. She is missing a few skills and doesn't know her routines yet. Her first competition is the beginning of December. She is worried that she will forget her routines and I think it is a very valid worry as they have not even learned their whole routines yet. They haven't practiced with the floor music at all yet. We were given the routines to practice at home but I'm not interested in forcing her to practice at home. In comparison to the rest of her team, she fits right in. Many don't know the routines and at least half of her team is missing quite a few level 2 skills. I have already paid for competition fees, coaching fees, leotards, etc for the year. I know that they can scratch events, but she is missing skills on each of the events. If competition wasn't until February or so, I think she would be ready. I don't want her to get out there and not know her routines and then be upset. She should have stayed a level 1 for one more year and had another year to mature before competing. Do I run through the routines with her at home or just let whatever is going to happen on competition day happen? I hate for her first ever competition to be a bad experience where she isn't prepared and then gets upset if she forgets what she needs to do.

 

[MuggleMom]

They have plenty of time before the first meet to finish learning and get comfortable with the routines. They do better than you would expect in respects to that. Don't force her to go over it at home if she doesn't want to. The coaches can spot certain skills but if they do there is a deduction. At that level from what I have seen/heard they keep it pretty low pressure so I wouldn't worry too much. Just keep telling her not to worry about it the coaches will help her be prepared and just keep having fun!! The less she worries about it the easier it will come to her. If she forgets something just keep going---you have more than one meet and plenty of chances to improve!

Just for some perspective DD's first year on level 3 she didn't do her Back handspring on floor the first two meets just took the deduction. There were girls that didn't have the skill the whole year. Others were missing bar skills. You just do what you can and your score is what it is but that first year they don't pay much attention to the scores they just like the cool ribbons for each event. We set meet goals like improving at least one score each meet and being a good sport--that was it so her focus wasnt on placement etc.

 

[John]

It is Level 2 tell your DD to go compete and do not worry. Have fun showing what you have worked on.

 

[twinmomma]

A) She has plenty of time
B) Level 2 is just for them to get used to performing in front of the judges and the pomp and circumstance of it all
C) If she forgets, she smiles, salutes and walks to her coach.

 

[3rd_time_around]

The coach can actually do the routine on the sidelines, as long as she doesn't speak to her. They can also be spotted with a deduction for a spot -.5. But she will be fine, tell her to just have fun.

 

[Dad1234]

To follow up, for the most part she ended up remembering her routines with an occasional slip up. I realized that it is a lot for a five year old to remember and if she forgot something, I never even mentioned it to her. She had fun competing and ended up loving her first season of gymnastics.