Wow -- it's been a while since I posted on this blog, but that's because Kaylie left competitive Gymnastics when she started high school.  It was a tough decision, because she really loves gymnastics.  She still misses it, and hopes to work as a coach this summer.  But, she was accepted at an early college high school, which means she is concurrently enrolled in high school and college at the same time.  It's a pretty intense workload, and not really compatible with being on a gymnastics team.  I've decided not to delete the blog, incase there is info or a perspective here that is helpful to other young gymnasts. 

Fall Competitions 2010

Well, looks like I've been so busy, I haven't had time to post in far too long. But that doesn't mean Kaylie hasn't been continuing her gymnastics! Since my last post, she has competed in a couple of spring meets (got her first 9's on vault and floor!!!) and attended gymnastics camp at Woodward West (where she had a fantastic time, and learned a lot!).

It has been a fun, and challenging year for Kaylie in gymnastics. She has struggled to achieve a kip, and that put her behind in moving up to level 5 for the competition season. At the moment, she has actually gotten her kip, and her beam cartwheel, but spent so much of her year working on skills, she has not mastered the level 5 competition routines. This meant she had a very difficult decision to make about the upcoming fall meets. Compete at level 5 with less than perfect routines, or compete level 4 again, and really have a great season. It was definitely a decision that she had to sleep on. Ultimately, with advice from her coaches, she has decided to compete level 4 again. It's actually fairly common for gymnast to repeat levels, but I know she is disappointed that she didn't move up to level 5 meets this year. The funny thing is, that she has already mastered some of the level 6 skills, and might end up competing level 5 in the spring of 2011, and then moving to level 6 for next years fall meets. Ultimately, it will depend on her personal motivation--something that goes up and down all year!

So they had a mini-meet at her gym last night, and she scored a 9.0 on Vault, 8.1 on Bars, 9.0 on Beam, and 8.95 on Floor for an All-Around score of 35.05---so she should have a fun competition season, and get some opportunities to get up on the podium--always a nice feeling after a hard year of training!

Grips, Grips, Grips

It could be gripes, gripes, gripes, but we'll stay positive! Kaylie got her grips as an early birthday gift from Gramme, and is now experiencing the joy of getting used to them!

When they arrived (super fast shipping by the way--we ordered them from Ten-O) we discovered that you have file open the finger holes---they come with small openings that you have to file open until they fit. That was a pain! Finally we got them to the correct size, and she was able to use them at practice. We did order her a pair made of softer leather, so they don't have to be broken in as much as the standard grips. For the higher levels, she'll eventually need the standard type, that can withstand the rigors of the bigger skills, but these are perfect for what she's working on now.

Grips are something that the level 4 girls really look forward to using when they move up to level 5.....until they actually use them! The feel on the bars is quite different when you're using grips, and they take a bit of getting used to. Kaylie, as usual, has a positive attitude about it all--she knows that once she gets used to them, they will help her do better on her bar routines. In the mean time, she's accepting that her bar work is temporarily suffering---or at least it feels like it is!

Still don't have the team warm-ups---apparently they were only just ordered this past Wednesday. Once they come in, the team will be scheduled for the team portrait, as well as individual photos--I know the girls are looking forward to having their photo up on the gym wall!

Wonderful News!!

I just returned home to find a letter announcing Kaylie has received some scholarship funding for camp!! So between the scholarship, and the money that has been raised, we're now about $30 over!! Kaylie is soooooo excited, and appreciative of the opportunity! Thank you everyone!

Gymastic Camp Donations

I would like to say, how amazed I am, and how fortunate my family is, to have so many wonderful people in our lives. The outpouring of love and support for Kaylie has been simply stunning.

Between Kate's efforts, and the donations that have come in via the Chip-in widget, and contributions emailed directly thru Paypal, Kaylie is well on her way to going to camp. So far donations and pledges totaling $480 have been raised for her camp fees. It seemed an insurmountable goal, to reach $850. Now with only $370 needed, I truly believe Kaylie will have this fantastic opportunity to attend camp, and train with amazing coaches, included in the 2010 coach lineup are Kerri Strug, Alicia Sacramone and Jamie Dantzscher (who trained at Kaylie's gym!) just to name a few. So thank you so much, to everyone who has helped make a young girls dream a reality!

A quick check in

It's been kind of quiet on the gymnastics front---basically just a lot of training and holiday breaks. No kip yet--she's so close she can taste it, but so far no success. Only one girl on the team has achieved it so far---so some motivation for the rest of the girls! I keep encouraging Kaylie to work more on her upper body and abdominal strength at home, but usually it's more fun to be doing something with her sisters!

We did manage to get Kaylie a new leotard for Christmas---she had her eye on it at the gym for quite a while. I bought it, and arranged for the gym manager to take it off of the rack on a day we weren't at the gym, so she was convinced someone else bought it! It's a little bit big on her, but I'm sure it won't be long before it fits perfectly. If I can ever manage to get her over to the gym when no one is there, and I can shoot with a flash, I'll post some photos.

Speaking of photos, for some time we (the team parents) have been hearing that a team photo is going to be taken---and hopefully that is actually going to happen soon. We are having a team meeting this Saturday, and will be ordering the team warm-ups since the last set we tried to order remains unavailable. Once the girls have the warm-ups, they're supposed to get the team photo. I think the girls will love seeing their photo on the wall at the gym, with all of the past teams.

We've sent off a scholarship application for camp, so maybe by the end of next month we'll have some news about that.

All for now, hope you're all having a great start to this new year!

Finals Update

Well, there's good news, and not so good news!

The good news is that we had a great day--we had several good friends come out to support Kaylie, and it was just wonderful to see them!

The not so good news is that although there were no calamities, it wasn't one of those great days in which all the routines just came together. :-( Kaylie did fine on vault (an 8.6) and floor (and 8.625) but her bar routine was a struggle, and she essentially fell on her landing so she scored an 8.025. Finally, her beam routine was good, but not great, and she really had her heart set on great. She just seemed to struggle a little bit here, and a little bit there. Her score was an 8.8, which is the 2nd highest she's ever gotten, and earned her a 10th place medal. Her all-around score was a 34.05. But knowing Kaylie, it's all just good motivation for her shift to level 5 training!

She skipped Monday's workout---too tired after a very long day on Sunday, but is all geared up for tonight--her first official all level 5 training, and I don't have to do those boring level 4 routines anymore!! The team has been working on level 5 skills for the last couple of weeks, and now will be doing them exclusively. She already has her "squat on"---a level 5 bar skill in which they pull themselves into a standing position on the lower bar, before jumping to the high bar. She'll be working extra hard to build upper body and abdominal muscles to improve her efforts at obtaining her kip. If she doesn't get her kip by February (I think!) she won't get to compete level 5 in the spring--so important stuff!

On beam she already has a back walkover---but that's for level 6. She needs to get a cartwheel on beam for level 5, but she's finding that more difficult to achieve. Go figure! So I'm going to raise some funds to buy her a "Stick-It" beam. Basically its a regulation length/width strip of synthetic suede that sticks to the carpet for practice at home. This way she'll be able to practice without worrying about falling off, and can do it safely at home. It will also allow her to work on the routine itself whenever she feels like it.

Kaylie also now has a fan page on Facebook! Thanks to one of her biggest supporters, Kate, for making this happen! Check it out here.