WAG Tips for competing alone?

[gymmom1443]

My DD is competing at states in about a month, and we believe that she will be alone. I know that this is pretty common, but my DD has never done it before, and if anyone who has competed alone has anything to share, let us know!

 

[NutterButter]

My DD competed alone several times. The other gymnasts were always friendly and encouraging and adopted her as a teammate for the session. My DD and teammates would reciprocate when there were 'onlies' in their sessions too. It is intimidating to compete alone but I'd talk it up with your DD as a fun way to meet other girls. In some cases, the girls started following each other on social media and even years later would give a smile or wave if they saw each other at meets.

 

[gymmom01]

My DD competed alone all year this year and I have to say for the most part it wasn't too bad. At almost every meet that she competed at the gymnasts from the other teams as well as the coaches were extremely nice and encouraging. My girl is on the shy side and I think in some way it has helped her come out of her shell a little bit! At our State meet every year I have always felt such a postive supportive vibe from the other gymnasts and coaches. I hope that this will be your daughter's experience as well.

 

[JBS]

She will get the full attention of the coaches... take advantage of that.

 

[RTT2]

She will get the full attention of the coaches... take advantage of that.

Yes, this is a great aspect of competing alone! My daughter was the only one in her session for States last year and was initially really stressed out about that, but it ended up being a great competition and she really loved having so much coaching support focused on her.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

We are from a small gym so my daughter has competed as the only gymnast at a session for her club since L7.
She is not alone, she is with her coach.

 

[CuriousCate]

My DD is competing at states in about a month, and we believe that she will be alone. I know that this is pretty common, but my DD has never done it before, and if anyone who has competed alone has anything to share, let us know!

My kid just did this last weekend. She was in the first session of the day so only one teammate even came to watch. She started out looking terribly nervous as she usually is calmed by the presence of her teammates. But honestly, once underway, she was all business. I think, competing alone makes the warm-up in the waiting more challenging, but actually seemed to make her be able to focus better while competing.

Some tips I would suggest are asking a coach to meet you at the athlete check-in so that she does not have to walk down herself. At our state meet, parents went to their seats, and the kids had to take an elevator to a different level and find their coach there. Our coach met my daughter at the check-in table and I could sense instant relief from her that she didn’t have to navigate everything on her own.

My older daughter had to do this twice before, and suggested to my younger one that she bring music and headphones just in case the coaches were not engaging with her in between events. It turns out that they truly kept her entertained and all of the other girls in her flight were so kind and amazing, and cheered her on as though she was one of their own teammates.

Good luck to your daughter!

 

[LPmom]

From our state meet, it looked like the hardest part of competing alone was coach’s ability to command space for the athlete during warmups. Our coach gently chastised another coach for letting a giant team take over her solo athlete’s space. And then our coach basically elbowed that team out of the way to get the girl back on the mat.

Every state session I saw had more than a few single or 2-athlete teams. Tell the people you’re sitting around who your daughter is- sessions are so long and big that no one can cheer for only their team/child the entire time. 99% of other parents will be excited to give your athlete some extra support.