First meet with new gym and daughter is a wreck...adviceneeded

[flip4fun]

Okay my dd is a wreck...she has her first meet with her new gym and is really stressing out. She had a decent first L5 meet before switching gyms...now she's afraid of vault. May I add, she had a great practice earlier in the week doing wonderful...last practice she wouldn't do the vault at all....not sure what's going on... She told the coach she didn't want a yellow ribbon (meaning scoring btwn 7.0 and 7.5)...which happened for the first time at her last meet. This is a new behavior for her and I am not sure how to calm her down to let her know that she'll do just fine. How can I tell her it doesn't matter what she scores, what matters is that she does her best...she's stuck on doing poorly and doesn't want to do it b/c it will be a bad score....any advice? There's a long story behind gym switching, but she loves the new gym and the new girls...I thought maybe it was just nerves about competing in new surrounds with new girls...but up til the last practice she was doing great and having fun..not until the last practice before she competes did she melt down (not like crying or anything...just nerves and fear of doing bad...to the point she couldn't do it).

I am lost b/c I have never seen this behavior or stress in her before...thanks for any advice.

 

[momocay]

Is it possible she is afraid to let the new gym down, if her score isnt great? If she loves it, she may want to impress them as much as they impressed her. I would explain the situation to the coach and ask the coach to talk to her. Good Luck!

 

[flip4fun]

Momocay...it was the coach who told me about the situation. He talked to me and was wondering if this was how she got before each meet and all. He was wonderful about it and tried to tell her it didn't really matter b/c ribbons weren't going to be given..trying to let her know she wouldn't have to see a yellow ribbon. And all the meet would do was help him help her fix whatever needs fixed. He was caught off guard b/c her previous practice he told me how great her vaults were and how she did them without anyone near by and all....so I agree I think she's afraid of disappointing them...but I can't figure out how to tell her it's okay...b/c she doesn't want to talk about it...she's in 3rd grade. I just want her first meet with her new gym to go well so she feels good about herself..which is really needed Thanks!

 

[cathiann]

Poor kid is only in 3rd grade and she's that stressed out about scores? Sounds like she just needs reassurance that they love her no matter how she does at this meet!