Boo's Gymnastics

Christmas Party

2009-12-17T10:15:00.001-05:00

The gym hosted an in-gym Christmas party for the girls at the end of practice last night. They made cards for our soldiers, had a gift exchange and danced til they dropped. They had so much fun! Boo got to dance with her very pregnant head coach (quite cute to watch!) and came home with a singing reindeer. She was just bubbling over with excitement. What a wonderful time! Merry Christmas, everyone!

She did it!!!

2009-12-12T14:28:00.001-05:00

Woo hoo! Boo made her back handspring on beam completely by herself today! Yay! She was able to do about five of them, including one in her full beam routine. And not only that, the head coach said her layouts on floor looked much better, too. She has decided that Boo is going to compete at Gatlinburg! Yay, yay, yay! Optionals, here she comes! :-D

Training Update

2009-12-11T11:01:00.001-05:00

Boo’s coach said she still has a few things to work on before she’s ready to compete. Her layout on floor is still “low and whippy” and her front tuck is inconsistent. She’s also having some fear issues with the back handspring on beam after the fall that hurt her foot. However, Boo really wants to go to the Gatlinburg meet so she’s motivated. It’s two months away but the registration deadline is next week. She has tonight and tomorrow to show the coach that she can be ready for it. Crossing our fingers!

Foot Update

2009-11-24T11:08:00.001-05:00

Boo was not back to normal by Wednesday last week. In fact, she couldn’t walk normally until Saturday. But, I’m happy to report that everything is fine now. She was able to vault and tumble at practice last night, including round-off, back handspring, back layouts on floor and working back up to that BHS on beam (she practiced them on the medium beam). Bars was great, though. She did giants on the strap bar and got her first straddle cast handstand! Because of the holidays, she won’t have practice again until next Monday but I think the rest will do her good. When she gets back into the gym, she’ll be refreshed and ready to rock.

(Very) Minor Setback

2009-11-15T13:23:00.001-05:00

Boo hurt her toe/foot at practice yesterday. She was doing a back handspring on the beam, missed one hand and came down hard on the pinky toe / outside of her right foot. They iced it immediately but she still couldn’t walk or even stand on it. I brought her home and she iced it off and on the rest of the day and went to bed last night with the whole foot wrapped in an ace bandage (it hurt too much to tape the toe). This morning she still couldn’t stand on it at all so we took her for x-rays.

Luckily, nothing is broken. The doctor said she probably either jammed the toe hard or she has a slight sprain. Either way, she’s to stay off of it between now and practice tomorrow night (rest, ice, Motrin). If she can stand on it, she can go to practice tomorrow but no running, tumbling, dismounts, etc. The good news is that she should be just fine by Wednesday’s practice. Whew!

Floor Routine!!!

2009-11-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

Boo got her very first optional floor routine today! And we both love it! It’s dramatic and showy and suits her perfectly! I’m so excited for her! And she is just beside herself. She can’t wait to practice it some more.

She also worked on her beam routine and thinks that it’s pretty well set, pending coach’s approval. She is just flying along and totally loving level 7. Yay!

Back Handspring on Beam, Pt. 2

2009-11-10T06:38:00.000-05:00

Boo went to practice tonight saying she was going to get her back handspring on the high beam. True to form and sure enough, she did it! By the end of practice, she was doing them on the high beam with just an 8” mat underneath. Her coach was kind enough to video one of them so I could see it. Thanks, Allye! As to be expected, they aren’t pretty yet, but she’s doing them! Yay!!!!

Back Handspring on Beam

2009-11-07T15:31:00.000-05:00

We’re back in Georgia and things are going great! Boo started back at gym last night and it was all good. The girls were happy to see her and she was able to jump right back in without missing a beat.

Today, she worked on kip cast handstands on bars. She is very, very close but is not quite getting vertical. On the plus side, already having her layout flyaway is nice as it’s one less thing she has to learn. And on floor, she started working on converting her back tuck to a back layout. She did a couple with a spot and the coach said they were actually pretty good. Then she worked them by herself on the tumble track and on the resi mat.

But the big news of the day is that Boo got her back handspring on the medium beam! Last night she was doing them on the flat floor beam and trying to get her hand position right. Today when we went to pick her up from practice, she was doing them on the medium beam with a pad. And at the very end of practice, she did them on the medium beam with a big mat and no pad!!!! Woo hoo!!!!

Level 6 South State Championships

2009-11-01T19:17:00.001-05:00

Boo did a great job! She started on vault. Looked good to me! 8.60. No place but her personal best for the season.

Next was bars. Finally, a clean routine with no real problems! Woo hoo! She scored an 8.70 (another season high) and got 7th place. Yay!

Beam looked nice and clean. A few wobbles but nothing major. 8.85 (second highest score of the season) and 8th place.

Floor was not good. From where I was sitting (and admitted, I couldn’t see very well), I thought she looked great. Hardly any bobbles and only maybe a step on the tumbling passes. I was so excited because I thought she was going to have a great score. And then.... 7.75. I was shocked and, for the first time ever, mad. It really looked to me like she was totally robbed! Afterward, I spoke to her coach and the coach said no, the score was justified. Apparently there were some problems with her front tumbling pass (she lost .8 on that alone) and she straddled her legs during her back handspring. It’s a drag, but I do understand. Needless to say, no place.

But, she ended the meet with a season-high all-around score of 33.90 and earned 12th place. The top ten qualified to State but she was named the 2nd alternate, which was nice. The most important thing is that she is very happy, thoroughly enjoyed herself and is ready to move on. Level 7, here she comes!!!!

Last Practice

2009-10-30T21:44:00.001-04:00

Tonight was Boo’s last practice before we go back to Georgia. It was so sweet! The girls on her team gave her a going away present (a monkey Webkin- her favorite!) and the moms brought in a giant cookie-cake to stay goodbye. The head coach gave her hugs and his wife hugged her til I thought she wasn’t going to let her go. They both told me goodbye, too, and head coach said we are welcome back any time we want. He said he is very impressed with her improvement just in the short time we’ve been here and he thinks her old gym is going be really surprised when she gets back because she is so much stronger now. Quite a compliment and a very, very nice send off. What a great gym!

The Next Level

2009-10-26T12:10:00.000-04:00

I just got an email from Boo’s Georgia head coach. Boo will not be competing prep op in the spring. Instead, she will be focusing on training for level 7 and will begin competing that as soon as she is ready. As the registrations are already due for the first meet in mid-January, it is not likely that she’ll compete in that meet but she should be ready for a few meets later in the season. So exciting!!!

District Championships

2009-10-18T20:26:00.000-04:00

This was not Boo’s best meet. She’s been getting over a cold all week and just didn’t quite look like herself out there.

First up was vault. She did well except for the bent arms. She’s been working on that at practice, though, and is definitely improving. 8.40 (2nd highest score of the season).

Next came bars, which is usually her strongest event, but she just hasn’t been able to pull it all together for a meet yet. She came on strong and was getting nice casts. The clear hip looked good but she missed the squat on out of the kip. Trooper that she is, though, she hung on and I don’t think her feet touched the floor. She finished strong and scored a disappointing 7.90.

Beam was weird. Her teammate that went right before Boo was actually stung by a bee in the middle of her routine! That resulted in a lapse while the judges conferred and talked with the gymnast and coaches. I think that was a distraction for Boo and she seemed to start her routine without quite knowing what was going on (her teammate did get to repeat her routine at the end of the rotation, which was good). I’m glad to say, Boo got through it and did okay. A few wobbles and a major save on the full turn (those monkey toes come to the rescue again!). 8.60 (2nd highest score of the season here, too).

Floor looked pretty good but there was some problem with her hitch kick. She came down badly and rolled her ankle. It looks ugly on the video and the coach actually thought she had broken the ankle. She finished the routine and he immediately sat her down to check it out. She is fine and said it didn’t even hurt. Coach seemed pretty freaked out, though, and even asked Boo’s dad if he could see the video of it. In any case, she is just fine and didn’t think twice about it. 8.25.

In spite of it all, Boo qualified to South States, which is over Halloween weekend. That will be her last level 6 meet. Then it’s back to Georgia and on to optionals!

Yet Another Move

2009-10-17T00:25:00.000-04:00

It’s a good thing children are so incredibly resilient because this economy is making gypsies out of us. We are moving back to Georgia. This is a good thing because we miss our house and our wonderful little town and Boo really loved her old gym there. The gym here has been fantastic but we really haven’t settled into life in Texas. I think we’re just Georgia people. In any case, we’re going home.

Boo will finish competing level 6 here in Texas. She has District Championships tomorrow and South State Championships on Halloween weekend. After that, it’s back Georgia way, where she’ll rejoin her former team and train for level 7. She will compete this spring season but we don’t know yet whether she’ll do level 7 or USAG prep op. It will depend on how quickly she gets the skills she needs for level 7. In any case, she feels good about going back and can’t wait to see her old coaches and teammates. It’s going to be great!

Judges' Cup

2009-10-05T13:03:00.001-04:00

Boo competed yesterday in the Judges’ Cup invitational. She did great, in spite of a mishap on bars.

First up was vault. It wasn’t her best and she was having trouble with bent arms during warm ups. But, she competed okay; the second vault was better than her first. 8.20 and 9th place.

Bars was looking absolutely beautiful during warm ups. Her casts were high and her clear hip was amazing! She played it a little safe when she actually competed, though, and kept the clear hip on the low side. Still, it was a gorgeous routine. Her form was beautiful and everything looked great. And then, the layout flyaway dismount. When she released the bar, she pulled down too much, causing her to release into the bar rather than getting the distance away. She hit her toes on the bar and fell straight down, face first. It was terrifying to watch. Her coach was stunned, I think. But, she got up, saluted, and continued on like a real champion. 7.85 and 8th place.

Next up was beam. Showing true mental toughness, Boo put the bars mishap behind her and put up a beautiful beam routine. 9.025 and 9th place. Her first 9 at level 6!

Last up was floor. Boo has really been improving her floor routines, especially her tumbling. She looked great but the scores seemed a little low this time around. 8.25 and 9th place.

While she had some challenges this meet, she improved her all around score by three tenths in only one week! 33.325 (9th place) She is a true champion to us. Go Boo!

Happy Birthday, Boo!

2009-10-05T13:02:00.001-04:00

Today is Boo’s 8th birthday! Happy Birthday, my beautiful baby girl! We love you!!!

First Level 6 Meet

2009-09-26T18:44:00.001-04:00

Boo did great! The team started on beam, always a tough way to begin. Boo did pretty well but she had a couple major bobbles and almost lost it on the side handstand dismount. No falls, though, and the full turn that’s been giving her trouble looked good. 8.15, no place.

Next up was floor. She did a nice, clean routine, no major problems but there were a few bobbles here and there. Not Boo’s favorite even but today it was her highest score. 8.50, no place.

Vault was actually really good today! She had a good run and has really been improving her block off the table. A great score of 8.45, no place.

Last up was bars, Boo’s favorite, and strongest event. Warm ups were iffy; she kept falling on the squat on. But, when it came time to compete, she looked strong and confident. The first cast was great, followed by a clean clear hip. But, she missed the connection from the kip to the squat on and added an extra cast in between. The good news is she made the squat on and her high bar looked great, including the flyaway dismount. She had a big step on the landing but it really was a good routine. I thought the judging was pretty harsh. 7.95 but that was enough for 8th place.

All around was 33.05, 12th place.

She definitely did not score and place as well as she’s used to. It was a little hard for her to understand how she placed with such a low bars score but not on her higher vault and floor scores. But, she came away with two medals and a great experience so she’s happy. Go, Boo!

San Antonio is on again!

2009-09-21T19:06:00.001-04:00

Boo’s coach just called to tell me she was able to get Boo added to the roster for the October 4th meet after all. Yay! So now Boo is competing this weekend (September 26th) and the next weekend (October 4th). The championship meets come after those. Should be a fun season!

Layout Flyaway!

2009-09-15T22:30:00.001-04:00

Woo hoo! Boo did her layout flyaway completely on her own today! No spot, no coach standing nearby “just in case.” Yea!!! She said she did it twice. She fell on the first landing but she totally rocked the second one! Go, Boo!!!

One Chance

2009-09-15T07:28:00.001-04:00

We found out yesterday that Boo won’t be able to compete at the October meet as we missed the registration deadline. That means that she has only one meet in which to qualify to district championships. Cross your fingers that her level 6 season doesn’t begin and end with this one meet.

Level 6 Mock Meet

2009-09-07T20:59:00.000-04:00

Things went pretty well! Bars was first, Boo’s favorite event. She did a great job on the first half but fell on the squat on. She saved it nicely and made it the second try. The high bar portion was good but the big news is that she made her layout flyaway without a spot! The coach was right there and was ready to spot her but she was going strong and he never actually had to touch her at all! That’s the first time she’s done it on her own! It was awesome!

Next up was beam. She looked beautiful, in spite of a few wobbles and some trouble on the full turn. There were a few form issues but all in all, it looked really good.

Floor was excellent! Boo’s tumbling has gotten much stronger and she’s definitely gained confidence. There were a couple of small wobbles and she stumbled on her full turn (wasn’t the day for full turns, apparently). The rest of it looked good!
Vault was vault. It looked good to me but I can never really tell.

I think she did an excellent job, especially considering the short amount of time she’s had to train. And with three more weeks until her first meet, she’s going to totally rock! (Video is up on You Tube for those who are interested.)

Wait! Which meet?

2009-09-01T22:42:00.001-04:00

We’re back to competing the meet at the end of September as well as the October meet. Both coaches think Boo is really stepping up and has made excellent progress in a very short amount of time. Their main concern is her emotional well-being if she competes in September and doesn’t do as well as she’d like. They don’t want her to feel disappointed or get down on herself because she truly is working very hard and making great improvements.

However, Boo is a very smart kid who knows how things are. She knows there are good meets and bad meets just like there are good days and bad days. She feels ready to compete and says she’ll be just fine, even if she doesn’t score as well as she’s used to. Of course, she has a few skills she’s concerned about but with three more weeks of practice, I think she’ll be ready. This wouldn’t be the first time she has surprised everybody. And even if she doesn’t do well, it will be good experience for her and just make her that much more motivated for the next one. So, three and a half weeks and counting!

When's that meet?

2009-08-31T22:43:00.000-04:00

Which meet will be Boo’s first meet? That is the question. Originally the plan was to have her compete at the end of September. But now coach is thinking it would be better to wait and compete the first weekend in October instead. He said she is learning really fast and working very hard and could even today easily qualify for district championships. But, he wants her to do more than just qualify. He wants her to be competitive and really ready to hold her own and do well. The end of September may not be enough time to make that happen. Of course, there’s the details to deal with, registration deadlines and the like. It may be too late to get her in the October meet, in which case she’ll have to compete at the end of September in order to be eligible for districts. But if they’re not too late to get her in the October meet, we’ll most likely wait for that one. Hopefully we’ll know something for sure this week.

End of the First Week

2009-08-21T20:03:00.000-04:00

Boo’s first week at the new gym went well. She likes the gym, the girls and coaches are nice and she’s working really, really hard. They are cleaning up some of her basics and perfecting her technique on some things. There is a lot of work to be done to get ready for meet season (coming up fast!) but the coaches say she is a very hard worker and she’ll get there. She is still very young (she’s the youngest on this team, too) and now is the time to work out the kinks and get the details perfect. Five weeks until her first level 6 meet!

Welcome to Texas!

2009-08-17T21:40:00.000-04:00

Boo had her try out at the new gym today. It went really well. She will be joining the team as a level 6 and will compete this season, although she’ll sit out the first meet. The coach wants her to watch that meet to get a handle on how gymnastics works in TX (it’s much more competitive than she’s used to). Her first meet will be at the end of September.

After this season, she’ll most likely take a year to train optionals before competing level 7. They want to take some time, slow her down a bit and work on perfecting some of her techniques, particularly given her young age.

They also have a home school training group for the optionals through elites. That’s an invitation-only group but since she home schools already and has elite goals, it might be a possibility after this season. The owner said they’ll work with her this season, see how she trains and decide if that group would be a good fit for her, though they’re definitely interested in that option.

All in all, it went really well. Boo seems pleased with everything, albeit pretty tired. Today’s was a long practice. I imagine she’ll sleep well tonight.

Big Changes Coming

2009-08-07T18:52:00.002-04:00

I’m sorry I have been so remiss on updating the blog. Boo is having a good summer and working hard to get her level 6 routines competition-ready. But, the current economy is throwing a monkey wrench into the plans. Due to a job change, we are relocating to Texas next week. Boo is very sad to be leaving her current gym, which she absolutely loves. And her coaches are very sad to be losing her. But, we’re trying to look on the bright side. Gymnastics in Texas is awesome and she is going to learn so much there. Not to mention that her new gym has outstanding upper level gymnasts and even has one elite.

The catch is that we don’t know if she will get to compete this season or not. The Texas meet season is starting now and she will have to train with her new team for several weeks before the coaches would be comfortable taking her to competitions. They want to get to know her and see where she is skill-wise and such first. It doesn’t leave much time and they may decide that she’s not ready yet. We’re just going to have to wait and see when we get there. I’ll be sure to post another update once she’s started at her new gym (which should be week after next) and let you all know how it’s going.