Parents Update - First Meet! It looks like it’s really going to happen

[SMH]

We almost always grab a meal with her 3 or 4 gymnastic besties following a meet, and their families, with the exception of her home meet. They love it.
Our entire team, levels 3-10 has a Facebook page to communicate on.

 

[NY Dad]

Success! (long update)

While I can’t say that my dd’s meet went without a hitch, it was a huge success. That having been said, I managed to keep the chalk dust out of my eyes until the post meet hug.

As anticipated, hair was an issue. Also, there was some confusion at the meet but it wasn't my dd who was confused. Her coaches did a great job herding the girls around so they all knew what to do and where to go. My dw and I weren’t always sure when she was practicing and when it counted. We also weren’t sure which scores correlated to my dd.

Rather than recapping her career again I’ll start a few months back LOL
For the team pictures (a few months ago), my dw spent over ½ hour working on my dd's hair but when she arrived at the gym for pictures the coach undid everything and redid it (just my dd). The night before the meet my dw carefully practiced her hair but she wasn’t happy with it so we consulted with Mrs. Puma who brainstormed with one of her gym mom friends. They gave my dw lots of very helpful advice. (Thanks )

Meet Day
My dw put her new hair knowledge to use and created what looked to me like a perfect bun. We would later find out that it wasn’t…

We received several email reminders not to arrive early. They provided us the time that the doors would open and the time that the meet would start. We arrived at the “doors open” time (first session of the day). There were no parking spots left and as I ran in with my dd it looked like all the other gymmies were there (apparently you’re supposed to arrive before the doors open). Luckily it was a really small meet so there were still a few seats that were open. I have no idea if I was sitting next to grandparents from a girl on our team or relatives from a girls on one of the other teams (so no FB group LOL).

Beam was her first event. It looked like there was a practice beam and a competition beam. She ran through a few skills on the practice beam then went to the main beam. Waited for a flag, saluted then did her routine. I was relieved that she didn’t fall and she looked solid. Shortly after she was done a volunteer held up a score. Then, about 10-15 minutes later, we notice that she was going again. Again, she waited for a flag, then went up and did a longer routine. Again, she didn’t fall (phew!). The second time she looked more graceful and cleaner. Then a volunteer held up a different score. We eventually realized that all the girls did this and it was always a longer routine the second time. She was totally focused when she was up there, she didn’t seem to mind the fact that there could have been a lot of people watching her.

Next up was floor. As expected, my dd went first. While I thought she looked great, I did see a difference in how much the other girls’ movements were coordinated with the music. I had noticed the same thing when she practiced at home. She might end a few seconds early or right on time. She said that her coach told her to make a few poses if she finished early so that’s what she did.

Twice during the meet she was talking with one of her coaches and then we saw the coach working on her hair.

All the girls’ vaults looked the same to me. Some got under an 8 and some got over a 9. After my dd finished and the next girl started her vault, a score was held up. Then, as the same girl was doing her second vault, another score went up. The scores were 1.5 different so, again, we didn’t know which was for my dd.

Her last event was bars, her nemesis. You wouldn’t know if from her routine. It also looked similar to most of the other girls out there.

She had made it through all of her events without any “fails” (as her sister would call it), falls or any mishaps, however, I had noticed at some point during the meet that she looked unhappy. Before the meet, I thought that as long as she does her best, it would be a success, however, when I thought she was unhappy with her performance, feeling bad for herself and showing bad sportsmanship I was planning to talk to her.

After everyone was done, they all sat around the floor and they had a handstand competition by age category. If handstands were an event, it would be her best. She won. I thought that would put a smile on her face but nope, she still had an unhappy look plastered on her face.

Then they sat in the middle of the floor to give out all the awards. First a bunch of awards that the judges came up with (one for each event like best leap or most graceful,…). Then they went on to the event awards. We had absolutely no clue what to expect but I can tell you that she was as surprised as we were when they called her name. She ended up with three metals including fourth AA. Through the whole thing, she hardly cracked a smile.

After it was over, I walked to the edge of the floor, she ran up to me with a huge smile, told me how happy she was with herself and then gave me a hug. As I quickly recomposed myself. She told me that her bun kept falling out. When her coach was fixing it she had pulled her hair so tight that it really hurt and that she couldn’t even look down (that’s why she was unhappy).

Now that we've got that out of the way I'm looking forward to the rest of a great first season.

 

[CLgym]

I LOVED your meet summary. Reminded me of just how confused I was during our first meets too ("Wait, was that still warm-up or for real this time???"). And I still think that all the vaults pretty much all look the same (but the scores suggest the judges clearly do not). Congrats on a successful first meet. 4th place AA is awesome!

 

[duyetanh]

Rah for the first meet successes for your dd, and welcome to watching what imho is the most adhd sporting event ever, lol! The first time I watched it i about lost my marbles, and needed 3 excedrin by half way point. Way too much going on...over time you will learn to shut everyone else out best you can, and just focus on where your dd's team is.

The hair is the worst part. I got an F my kid's first meet because, while it didnt fall out, it had so much spray and gel in it that it turned gray. Seriously! Bahaha!

And yes, you have to get there before the doors open. We are anal. We get there a half hour before the half hour before....no matter what time the session. It relieves a lot of stress for everyone that way....and we also get a seat and my kid helps me/us plan where we sit. While she doesnt ever acknowledge our presence durong the meet, she likes that little piece of information!

 

[MILgymFAM]

Great summary of a great first meet! I highly recommend sewing in the bun. It’s the only thing that held my DDs buns in and I just did it to my ODD this weekend. Mrs. Puma has seen how I do it and can probably teach it to you guys. You just need a really thick string/thin yarn and a plastic needle from the craft section of Walmart.

 

[2gymkids]

Yay! Glad it went well!! The hair thing...it will come. I put my DD's up super tight and she hates it (I can't move my forehead!) but it stays in! Lol. Glad she had fun and hope she is looking forward to the next meet.

 

[Seeker]

For the hair, use gel or some other hair product to make it stickier and also use multiple rubber bands — it will stay without being pulled so tight that way. Everyone’s hair is different though so you just have to find what works. Use practice to try out different hair styles/techniques and see what stays.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Great summary of a great first meet! I highly recommend sewing in the bun. It’s the only thing that held my DDs buns in and I just did it to my ODD this weekend. Mrs. Puma has seen how I do it and can probably teach it to you guys. You just need a really thick string/thin yarn and a plastic needle from the craft section of Walmart.

I actually suggested to him to consult you about that next time! Great minds think alike

ETA that I would only suggest such a thing if I were 100% sure that particular person would be ok with it. I am very respectful of others’ anonymity wishes! I know in this case it would be ok.

 

[NY Dad]

I highly recommend sewing in the bun. It’s the only thing that held my DDs buns in and I just did it to my ODD this weekend. Mrs. Puma has seen how I do it and can probably teach it to you guys. You just need a really thick string/thin yarn and a plastic needle from the craft section of Walmart.

Is it okay if I PM you for details about how to do this?

 

[SMH]

We do a ‘2 strand ballet bun’ for my daughter because she has super long hair. I also like to braid the sections then hairspray them before I wrap them into a bun.

 

[John]

Chalk Dust.

 

[suebee]

Great summary of a great first meet! I highly recommend sewing in the bun. It’s the only thing that held my DDs buns in and I just did it to my ODD this weekend. Mrs. Puma has seen how I do it and can probably teach it to you guys. You just need a really thick string/thin yarn and a plastic needle from the craft section of Walmart.

I am very hair challenged and would like to know how to do this as well! My dd refuses pins in her buns. I can do a bun without pins but it looks weird (in my opinion). I like the look of the donut bun much better, but cannot get that to stay in without pins (or even just a few pins). Could I sew in the donut?

To the OP - sounds great! Sympathy to the hair challenged parents out there - hair is by far the worst part of meets for me!

 

[Mish]

Great summary and hooray for your dd. Now go buy a hairnet!

 

[Lilou]

I love this summary too and is eerily familiar to our experience at our first meet. Bun issues, then being pulled tight, not knowing when they're really starting, seeing scores, missing scores because I just was happy my gymmies did their routines.
Great job to your daughter!

 

[Flyaway]

Sounds like a successful first meet! And yes, lol, get there early. Your dd will just stay with you until the team congregates. It's always at bit confusing, especially if you are in a session in the middle of the day because you've got the previous session just ending.

As far as scores, it depends on how things are handled at the meet. Each girl is given a competition number (it should be printed on a sheet that you get when you gain admission - where it shows the break down of age groups). Watch for that number when they display scores. Some smaller meets do hand held paper scores (like flip charts on a pole, that's held up so you can see it hopefully), bigger ones do digital scores (those might put the last name of the gymnast on the board as well as number).

Again, depending on the size of the meet, your dd will usually warm up on the apparatus that she will compete on. So for example, if there are two beams, one beam will be used for flight 1, who is currently competing and the second beam will be used for flight 2 who is warming up. Then when flight 1 is done and has moved on, flight 2 begins competing on the beam they warmed up on, while flight 3 goes to the first beam to warm up. Does that make sense?

 

[MILgymFAM]

Is it okay if I PM you for details about how to do this?

I am very hair challenged and would like to know how to do this as well! My dd refuses pins in her buns. I can do a bun without pins but it looks weird (in my opinion). I like the look of the donut bun much better, but cannot get that to stay in without pins (or even just a few pins). Could I sew in the donut?

Ok, so this is what we do. My two girls have VERY different hair so it’s slightly different for each, and I’ll mention where/why.

Supplies:
Ponytail holder
Small elastics
Gel (or mousse)
Hairspray
Plastic needle (photo below)
String or thread that matches either your DDs hair or her leo
Scrunchie

First, I thread the needle and set it aside.

Then I brush their hair and then brush it again after applying gel (mousse for YDD because the stiffness of gel gives her a headache).

I put the hair into a ponytail at the crown of the head.

Then I braid the ponytail (two braids for YDD because her hair is longer than waist length and this makes it easier to sew) and secure the braids with tiny elastics.

I wrap the braid around the ponytail, making a bun while keeping it as flat to the head as I can.

Once it’s fullt wrapped I tuck the end under the wrapped braid and grab my threaded needle. I start just outside of where the hair is wrapped and slide the needle under the hair (going into the ponytail) and coming out on the other side of the wrapped braid.

I continue this, basically circling the braided hair with the thread, until I’ve gone all the way around the braided bun back to where I started.

I tie the extra thread (reserved from where I started) to the thread left over (once I made it all the way around the bun) into a little bow.

For my YDD I wrap the second braid in the opposite direction and repeat.

Then I put a scrunchie around the completed, sewed, bun and spray abundantly with hairspray.

Since the hair is sewed to itself it doesn’t go anywhere- it’s as sturdy as the ponytail you start with, so start with a good ponytail.

Here are pics of supplies, every permutation of this sewing thing that we’ve done and reference pics of my kids and their hair (one thick and curly the other long and straight).

 

[John]

I love the purple Bun.

 

[NY Dad]

Thanks, I'll study this and see if it make sense to me or to my dw when we're with my dd.

 

[profmom]

Our no-fail bun is similar to MIL's, but rather than sewing, we crisscross two or three hair/ponytail ties over and around the bun itself and then wrap a hair net around the bun. No pins. Once you spray the heck out of it and put a scrunchie around it, that sucker's not going anywhere. I don't braid the pony before wrapping it; I usually just load it up with some mousse or gel so it stays smooth.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Our no-fail bun is similar to MIL's, but rather than sewing, we crisscross two or three hair/ponytail ties over and around the bun itself and then wrap a hair net around the bun. No pins. Once you spray the heck out of it and put a scrunchie around it, that sucker's not going anywhere. I don't braid the pony before wrapping it; I usually just load it up with some mousse or gel so it stays smooth.

We tried that. My one DD is the popper of pony tails and the other just has.. too.. much.. hair! I wish this worked for us! I’m always losing the stinking needles!