Gabby's 1st Gymnastics Meet

Gabby had her first gymnastics meet on Saturday, December 1st. It was an intra-squad meet, so they competed against their teammates - not another team. This was set-up to get them used to the structure of a meet, and having a real judge (which they did have) watch and judge and score them. Granted, the scores were never disclosed - which was fine and probably best. The next meets are set for January, February and March against other teams from throughout western Washington.

She practices twice weekly, for 3 hours each night. I think this is a little overkill - but she loves it. She's on pre-team. However, in January 2013, the US Gymnastics association will not classify her as pre-team anymore, rather she'll be called "USAG Level 2". Apparently, they are re-classifying all the levels, etc, with different names come 2013. And, her gym is one of those more serious gyms, so they stick to the guidelines and try to educate us parents about these changes via newsletters and emails.

I'm learning that some parents are REALLY in to all of these details, and that "meet buns" (how their hair is styled gym meets) are serious business. Ha! I tend to be one of the parents that knows my child will never be a professional gymnast, so I see no reason to push my kid beyond her limits. I love that Gabby is enjoying gymnastics so much. But, if ever there is a day she is not enjoying it, or if her school work suffers... then we know it would be best to pull her out. Her happiness and school/education is much more important. And, six hours a week for a 6/7 year old is a LOT. Life is short... and kids should be having FUN and enjoying life and the activities they are involved in at this age. 

Gabby was truly SO excited for the meet. She tends to be a perfectionist, so I was forced to help/watch her floor routine over and over for the 2 nights prior to the meet. We had been given the music CD, and a sheet of paper with the routine a month before, but we hadn't practiced at all. So, two nights prior to the meet, she became stressed that she would forget her routine. I told her it didn't matter if she forgot, to take her time, and that what was MOST important was that she did the very best she could do and that she was having FUN. But, she insisted on practicing... a LOT. Practicing over & over was painful at first (for me!), because Gabby's perfectionist was coming out. Then, it got fun when she started to relax, and it was cute because the little kids were watching and cheering for her. I did eventually have to tell her to stop practicing because she must have done that routine 100 times over & over.

We all went to watch Gabby at her meet. She did such a great job and we were so proud of her. It takes such courage and confidence to get out there and do the best job you can do in front of an audience. We couldn't help but be proud of not only Gabby, but each one of those girls! It was truly so fun to watch all of them perform.

Gabby's favorite apparatus is the bars, so I posted that video here. Her second is beam, and third is floor. Vault is her least favorite. She did a great job on all of her routines. She didn't forget them like she was worried she might. And, wow... it was just great fun to watch!