Wow!! Starting to become real.

[Deanna]

As most of you know my dd turned 5 in aug and is a L2. She will only compete in 4 comps this year, and all within state. (which I think is perfect for her intro into competitive gymnastics. Enough to get her feet wet in it and decide if she wants to progress, or not)

Well, today when I picked her up from practice she was SOOOOOO excited. She said the HC told her she did a perfect vault onto the "big mat" (which is up to her shoulder when she stands beside it..of course she used a spring board to hoist her little self up there..lol). I have seen some of the bigger girls use the big mat for their vault, even though its the same move she does, the mat they did the handstand on and landed on their backs on where always higher. Hers was always just a few "normal mats stacked up, making it much lower. I havent been there in about 5 or 6 wks (since school started) to watch so who knows how long shes been trying on the higher mat. I dont know what she was more excited about, getting the vault or getting a gold coin for doing it, which she promtply turned in, to get 15 mins out of conditioning to "play" on the tumble track..lol. Anyway I look at it, Im happy for her.

The HC also handed out a booklet with about 12 pages in it. That shows all her requied moves on each event. The order everything is in, and a break down of how its done. Even has little illistrations breaking down each move. It tells you exactly what the judges are looking for, and scoring on. Such as.
L2 Vault
1 Arms swing from backward low to forward while preforming a deep lunge prior to hand contact on board
2 Block with straight arms and extended shoulders
3 Flight with tight body and legs together by verticle
4 Land flat on the back while maintaining a straight-hollow position

yadda yadda yadd with each event.

It also gives tips on things she can do at home to not help insure that she has the flexibility and strength to do these things properly and with greater ease. (guess this is kinda like a conditioning she can do at home?)

Anyway, hearing that from Kadee about her vault and then the HC handing out the booklets, just kinda sealed the deal i guess. Its not that i didnt realize this was a real deal. I guess until it was kinda laid in front of me it was kinda like, "yeah well, she is going to do this", but now its like "she is doing this"

Sorry, I know im rambling again. I just had to slip in a little brag, and a oh my goodness..lol

 

[Aussie_coach]

Congratulations! It seems that your daughter is really a gymnast now. You are in for an exciting, hectic, stressful, rewarding and wonderful few years ahead.

 

[bogwoppit]

What a lovely night for her, she must be very proud.

I love that your gym hands out such useful info. Lucky you.

 

[Megley]

Wow, I think it is so awesome that your coach hands out a booklet like that! I would have loved to know what all the deductions were when my dd first started competing. Had to rely on parents of more experienced gymnasts to tell me! Sounds like she has a great coach! Very exciting news about the vault too. I hope she has a super fun season!

 

[NGL780309]

Congrats to your little one!

I had a similar moment the other day when I was at the gym and it finally hit me that DD is kind of really starting to be a real gymnast, as opposed to just a rec kid. She was tumbling and warming up on floor. She's just a level 4 so it's not like she was doing anything amazing, but she was doing RO 3 BHS. There was a dad standing to my right who I don't know and he was talking to another mom. He was saying to the other mom how much he loves to watch the team and how amazing they are (good thing he hasn't seem our scores at meets ). He said something about little tiny ones doing amazing things. I'm thinking he's talking about the team, like the optional girls. He then told her how much her really likes to watch one girl and then pointed her out. I realized he was talking about my kid! I can remember just 6 months ago being on the other side of that conversation.

 

[Deanna]

thank you everyone. It really was a very sureal moment. Like i said in a response to someone elses post. I have to take a step back at times and realize she JUST turned 5. And just because shes having trouble with things that look easy to me, and i feel its something i could easily do (nothing to complicated, i have NO gymnastics background..lol). I have to realize that ive had 33 yrs to learn how to control my body and she has not. That L2 vault which looks easy as pie to me, was not easy at all for her. Doing that "perfect" vault was HER biggest accomplishment to date. That warm feeling I got from seeing her wide eyed excitment at getting it...cleared out all the heart break of hers and mine from all the times she came home upset she couldnt get it. Like the HC told her..one mountain out of the way, 3 to go. She doesnt have to worry about getting it anymore..shes got it..she just has to work on being consistant with it. Its the other events she has to "get" yet.
As far as the booklet they gave us. It was photo copies of another book. Not sure if it was her personal book? But it was copied pages, and Kadee's started with page 23..so it came from some printed source i would say.
And I think next time Ill try and wait till the next morning to make a post..lol. Sheesh, I went back and read my post from late last night. I made soooo many mistakes in it. Grammer, spelling..you name it Im not the best to begin with, but when i can read through it and pick it to death i know its bad..lol

 

[hakunamatata]

Congratulations to Kadee on her big vault! And congratulations to you, too, for being willing to go along for the ride! If I could, I would thank my parents a million times for all they did for me when I was in gymnastics... Going to all my meets, dealing with me being upset after a difficult practice, etc. There will be tough moments, but I know you and your dd are both in for an amazing experience.

 

[lilgymmie7]

Cogratulations to your little one! Your excitement is also so cool! Keep us udated!

 

[UnoMas]

Good for her and I also love all the info that your gym is giving out to you!

My DD who is 6 started on "team" (level 2) when she was 4, along with three other girls who were 3 and 4 years old. Watching them practice was absolutely the highlight of my week. Sometimes, it was because it was so FUNNY watching these little 3 and 4 yr olds try to remember routines, etc. The coach would always say at our in house meets "these girls are going to be something when their brains catch up with their bodies!". At my daughter's first meet, I cried because I was so proud of her for just being out there. And, even though it's only been a couple years, the amount of progress she's made is just so amazing. You are going to have the BEST time watching Kadee progress. It's awesome!

 

[lovemylifex4]

Congratulations to Kadee! That is awesome!

Rylee FINALLY was able to work on vault last night. She has only been able to work on it a few times in her L3/pre-team classes. The few times she's been able to practice she runs up the vault before her final 'jump'... haha! Anyways, last night she finally jumped right before, hit the vault perfectly, went to a handstand and flat on her back!! I was so happy for her. I got a few strange looks from other parents when I was like, "WOOHOO!!!!!"! LOL! But it's SO fun to watch them get these skills and get so excited about it. She sat up and looked at me and was like, "YES!!!! I DID IT"! Haha!!