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

[NY Dad]

Would you recommend any specific hair spray or as long as it's designed to harden it should be fine?

 

[MILgymFAM]

Would you recommend any specific hair spray or as long as it's designed to harden it should be fine?

We use göt2be glued. It works better for us than anything else we’ve tried.

 

[amiandjim]

Yes, we use Got2B glued gel and hairspray. My daughter has very fine hair so we coat it with gel, comb it into a very neat, high pony tail, and then use a bun maker to make the bun (not the donut kind). Once the scrunchie goes on, we spray with hairspray. We have never had a problem with it falling down or having wispies, and trust me, her hair is very difficult to style.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

You tube. Great for hair stuff

Now off to you tube 2 strand ballet bun.....

 

[NY Dad]

use a bun maker to make the bun (not the donut kind)

What kind of bun maker?

I can't remember if I mentioned already that my dd has thick hair

 

[NY Dad]

You tube. Great for hair stuff

My dw and I watched a bunch of hair videos last weekend
They make it look so easy.

Sometimes you get to the end and they stick in a bunch of pins.

I'll pick some göt2be glued gel. Has anyone tried the ultra glue? (Already in my shopping cart). It's got to be better?
Link Removed

 

[amiandjim]

Yes, that’s the gel we use. We use a bun maker similar to this, but a lighter color and a little shorter. This one would probably work for thick hair.

Link Removed

 

[SMH]

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 do the crisscross hair ties thing too- I use the clear, stretchy ones and you can’t even tell they are there.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My dw and I watched a bunch of hair videos last weekend
They make it look so easy.

Sometimes you get to the end and they stick in a bunch of pins.

I'll pick some göt2be glued gel. Has anyone tried the ultra glue? (Already in my shopping cart). It's got to be better?
Link Removed

We use this one: https://www.amazon.com/Schwarzkopf-...=1513115065&sr=1-4-fkmr0&keywords=got2be+pink

 

[JMACAZ]

Thank you so much for such a great summary! So glad it went well. We also use got2beglued but my DD has "baby hair"

 

[Deleted member 18037]

We use this bun maker.

http://www.claires.com/us/two-small...MIrObAmNOF2AIVyYKzCh2ZtQsGEAQYBCABEgLqk_D_BwE

 

[gymmutti]

On beam you described her doing some skills on one beam, going to the other and doing a short routine and later a longer one. It sounds like the meet was set up to have a warmup apparatus and then the competition apparatus. If a gymnast warms up on a beam other than the one they compet on, they are allowed a “touch” on the competition equipment. This is typically up to 30 seconds to allow the gymnast to get a feel for the competition piece. What gets more confusing is that sometimes a team will waive the need to “touch” or just have certain girls touch. It can be confusing.

Congratulations on a great first meet!

 

[NY Dad]

Update – Meet #2

I promise, I’m not planning to post updates after each of my dd’s meets . Many of you have helped me (and my dd) work through some issues so I wanted to send a follow-up for anyone interested. After this post I’ll fade into the CB background.

My dd said that her first meet wasn’t as scary as she had expected and that she won’t get as nervous next time. In response, I told her that her second meet (6 days later) would be at her old gym. She was mostly nervous about running into her old pre-teammates and coaches. I told her that if that happens she should say hello and be polite. She didn’t mention anything about the beam. I called her coach the next day to share my dd’s concern.

Her coach pulled my dd and aside at the next practice for a chat about her sloppy hair. Then she told my dd that she knew that she was concerned about going to her old gym and said that she would look out for her at the meet but if she didn’t feel comfortable going that would be okay. My dd said that her response was something like. Yes, I’m a little nervous but why wouldn’t I go?

Thanks to everyone that provided ideas for my dd’s hair, we decided the best option would be to sew the bun in (Thanks MILgymFAM). We had all of the supplies on Friday but my dw didn’t have time to practice. Saturday morning the needle was missing (long story). I literally dug through the garbage and found it. My dw did a great job sewing down the bun and slicking her hair down with göt2be ultra glued and then loading on the spray.

This meet was an even smaller than the last one. We got there super early and got front row seats LOL. We also sat with some other parents from our gym. There's still no FB group but it was nice to finally chat with some of the other parents. Anyway, for warm-ups my dd happened to be standing right in front of us. When she got to our side of the floor, she told me that the beam was much higher than usual. I assured her that the beam was at a standard height, she insisted that it wasn’t. I told her to talk to her coach. I was hoping her coach would reassure my dd. About 10 minutes later, I noticed that they lowered the beam. It hadn’t occurred to me that the beam might actually be higher than regulation. I don’t know if they were planning to lower it anyway or why it wouldn’t have been at the right height.

I didn’t know until after the meet that she was competing against a few of the girls that were on her pre-team. (I wasn't sure b/c she was being evaluated at her old gym for JO3)

My dd started on beam. She practiced on one beam and then did her routine on the other so one of those beams had to have been the one she fell from. If she was extra nervous about it, I couldn’t tell. She looked great to me and more confident than the last meet.

Next she was on floor (she wasn’t first up this time (second ). Again, she looked a little more comfortable than the last meet. She continued to look happy and confident at her next two events. It was also nice that I had a better idea about where to look and caught all of her scores this time. I also knew when she was just practicing vs when she was competing (look at the judges )

During the meet, I noticed her coach said something to my dd. My dd later told me that her coach had complemented her on her hair.

She ended up 2nd AA. For anyone interested, on three of the events plus AA, she scored higher than anyone from her old gym, so yeah, that felt good. Oh, and her team outscored her old gym’s team at every level.

Her old coaches said hello to her and were very friendly. One of the coaches commented to my wife in a friendly way that we should have stayed (maybe she forgot that my dd had been cut from the team?).

Anyway, overall it was another huge success.

 

[sce]

So glad she had a great meet. Sounds like you have made a lot of progress too.

 

[Sasha]

Thank you for sharing @NY Dad ! Love all the details.

And I think I speak for quite a few people who have followed your story when I say that I'm vicariously enjoying all that delicious validation that the decisions you made really were in the best interest of your daughter, who is clearly thriving.

Well done NY Dad and NY DD!

 

[strawberries]

Yes! Delicious validation is the right phrase!

 

[raenndrops]

Update – Meet #2

I promise, I’m not planning to post updates after each of my dd’s meets . Many of you have helped me (and my dd) work through some issues so I wanted to send a follow-up for anyone interested. After this post I’ll fade into the CB background.

My dd said that her first meet wasn’t as scary as she had expected and that she won’t get as nervous next time. In response, I told her that her second meet (6 days later) would be at her old gym. She was mostly nervous about running into her old pre-teammates and coaches. I told her that if that happens she should say hello and be polite. She didn’t mention anything about the beam. I called her coach the next day to share my dd’s concern.

Her coach pulled my dd and aside at the next practice for a chat about her sloppy hair. Then she told my dd that she knew that she was concerned about going to her old gym and said that she would look out for her at the meet but if she didn’t feel comfortable going that would be okay. My dd said that her response was something like. Yes, I’m a little nervous but why wouldn’t I go?

Thanks to everyone that provided ideas for my dd’s hair, we decided the best option would be to sew the bun in (Thanks MILgymFAM). We had all of the supplies on Friday but my dw didn’t have time to practice. Saturday morning the needle was missing (long story). I literally dug through the garbage and found it. My dw did a great job sewing down the bun and slicking her hair down with göt2be ultra glued and then loading on the spray.

This meet was an even smaller than the last one. We got there super early and got front row seats LOL. We also sat with some other parents from our gym. There's still no FB group but it was nice to finally chat with some of the other parents. Anyway, for warm-ups my dd happened to be standing right in front of us. When she got to our side of the floor, she told me that the beam was much higher than usual. I assured her that the beam was at a standard height, she insisted that it wasn’t. I told her to talk to her coach. I was hoping her coach would reassure my dd. About 10 minutes later, I noticed that they lowered the beam. It hadn’t occurred to me that the beam might actually be higher than regulation. I don’t know if they were planning to lower it anyway or why it wouldn’t have been at the right height.

I didn’t know until after the meet that she was competing against a few of the girls that were on her pre-team. (I wasn't sure b/c she was being evaluated at her old gym for JO3)

My dd started on beam. She practiced on one beam and then did her routine on the other so one of those beams had to have been the one she fell from. If she was extra nervous about it, I couldn’t tell. She looked great to me and more confident than the last meet.

Next she was on floor (she wasn’t first up this time (second ). Again, she looked a little more comfortable than the last meet. She continued to look happy and confident at her next two events. It was also nice that I had a better idea about where to look and caught all of her scores this time. I also knew when she was just practicing vs when she was competing (look at the judges )

During the meet, I noticed her coach said something to my dd. My dd later told me that her coach had complemented her on her hair.

She ended up 2nd AA. For anyone interested, on three of the events plus AA, she scored higher than anyone from her old gym, so yeah, that felt good. Oh, and her team outscored her old gym’s team at every level.

Her old coaches said hello to her and were very friendly. One of the coaches commented to my wife in a friendly way that we should have stayed (maybe she forgot that my dd had been cut from the team?).

Anyway, overall it was another huge success.

Glad to hear it all worked out.

I am not sure about IGC, but in USAG (JO and Xcel), they can have the beam at any height appropriate to the gymnast. My YG now uses the beam at "High School" height. At practice, if the L4/5 coaches are lazy, they will have all the girls compete at that height (I know it happened once for sure... AND the coach wouldn't let them use a block to mount, even the girl whose chin was the height of the top of the beam)... but that does NOT happen in meets. We adjust for the girls AND let them use a mounting block if needed.

 

[NY Dad]

Thanks for all the support.

Sounds like you have made a lot of progress too.

Yes, I'm feeling like a seasoned gym parent. Now I just need to figure out the scoring ( that was totally a joke)

I'm vicariously enjoying all that delicious validation that the decisions you made really were in the best interest of your daughter, who is clearly thriving.

I can't tell you how proud I am of NY dd. She said something to the effect that she wanted to show her old coaches what she's learned so I think that in some way maybe she felt that way too. (I had originally said that to her as a benefit when I first brought up the meet a week earlier).

No matter what happens with her gymnastics from this point forward, I feel 100% validated.

 

[NY Dad]

they can have the beam at any height appropriate to the gymnast

Oops, I hit post rather than insert quote. Anyway, the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. Thanks for helping fill in some of the blanks.

 

[sce]

Thanks for all the support.


Yes, I'm feeling like a seasoned gym parent. Now I just need to figure out the scoring ( that was totally a joke)

Good one