Parents Suggestions on cheering teammate up?

[mom2newgymnast]

One of my dd's teammates has a small fracture in her heel. She trained and competed on it for 5 weeks (wrapped and in some pain, but not realizing it was actually a fracture) before an MRI finally identified it. She was told boot and crutches for 3 weeks, but her recheck just happened and they said it will be another 3 weeks at least. Which means she'll miss the last regular season meet and the state meet (she already missed a meet last weekend too). Last year she was the highest scorer on the team and by far the best on the team (and also the nicest!). She's very upset right now. She's still been coming to practice and doing at least 2 hours worth, mostly conditioning and some bars. Any suggestions on things my dd or the rest of the team can do to cheer her up? She's really just the sweetest girl and her mom said she's been crying all day. I feel bad for her. I know that this is part of gymnastics life and is very common, but they are only level 3's and still quite young. Just wondering if anyone who has been there can remember what helped them feel better? Thanks!

 

[cadybearsmommy]

That's a tough one....my first instinct would be to have them all make her a card, or go in on some kind of small cheer me up type gift (flowers, teddy bear, etc)...but then again I wonder if it would make her feel worse? I think the best thing is for them to just make sure she knows how much they will miss her at these last few meets and to still make her feel included/part of the team as much as possible!

 

[JMACAZ]

Same thing happened to one of DD's team mates last year. They made her a big card and got her a stuffy. She was older and liked it a bunch. She even came to cheer them all on at State

 

[KnitNinja]

Oh that's so sad! I think the most important thing is that she still feels like part of the team. Can the girls take turns doing conditioning with her so she's never alone at practice? Can she still attend the meet as part of the team, maybe as "scorekeeper" or something? (Not sure if she's allowed on the floor if not competing?) good luck to the team!

 

[profmom]

Encourage mom to keep bringing her to practice and encourage your DD to spend some time with her during breaks between events. It's tough to be the only one stuck conditioning when everyone else is doing events. However, in my experience an injured gymnast might be frustrated coming to practice and just conditioning, but s/he is less likely to be depressed than if pulled out entirely.

Be sensitive about whether or not she wants to come and be a spectator at meets. This cheers some kids up and depresses others.

Tell mom to tell her that female gymnasts with longer term leg injuries end up rocking bars when they come back.

 

[leotardmakermum]

My daughter has been the one who was injured, coming to training for fewer hours, and conditioning by herself. It was awful. She felt totally isolated from her teammates and she even felt ignored by her coach. What would have made it better? That's hard to say. I like the idea of one or two others joining the injured one for conditioning. Then they can talk while they do it, and she can feel like she has human contact. I'd speak with the coach and see what can be arranged.

Also if there's the possibility of a coach who can spend some one on one time working with her on the skills she *can* still do, that will help. My daughter's head coach did such a kind thing in allowing her to train with his squad (much older girls) on bars during the time she was there. That small, but generous thing, made her feel like someone cared, and that there was a reason to come to training. While she's still behind on some bars skills, she's way ahead on others simply due to that time with the head coach.

 

[sce]

Invite her over for a playdate or sleepover or out to the movies? Sounds like she needs a distraction form her injury and missing the end of the season.

 

[kayjaybe]

I'd say the best thing is to treat her as normal as much as possible. Nothing is going to take away the sting of not being able to compete those meets, but the more she is included as normal, the better.

My dd is injured and will miss at least the first 2 meets this season. Unfortunately, she's got a lot of company because we've got other girls that are injured or in various stages of recovery. She has a lot of company in the "conditioning/stretching" areas.