FALL PRACTICE SCHEDULE — With much anticipation, we are finally ready to release our Fall Practice schedule. We try to stay as close to the same as possible, but it’s difficult given coach availability and trying to give our groups a fair amount of practice times. The Fall training schedule will begin Aug. 31.

Girls’ Level 2
Wednesdays 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Thursdays 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Saturdays 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Girls’ Level 3
Tuesdays 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Thursdays 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Saturdays 9 a.m.-noon

Girls’ Level 4
Mondays 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Fridays 4:30-8:30 p.m.

Girls’ Level 6
Mondays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Wednesdays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Thursdays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Fridays 4:30-8:30 p.m.

Girls’ Level 7
Mondays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Tuesdays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Wednesdays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Fridays 4:30-8:30 p.m.

Girls’ Level 9/Xcel Diamond
Mondays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Tuesdays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Thursdays 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Fridays 4:30-8:30 p.m.

Girls’ Xcel Bronze
Mondays 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Thursdays 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Girls’ Xcel Silver
Tuesdays 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Thursdays 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Girls’ Xcel Gold/Platinum
Wednesdays 5:30-8 p.m.
Saturdays 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
* Platinum can come one additional time with Level 6 or 7

Girls’ Fast Track
Tuesdays 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Thursdays 6:30-8:30 p.m.

TOPS/HOPES
Mondays 4-5:30 p.m.
Saturdays 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Boys’ Level 4
Tuesdays 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Thursdays 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Boys’ Level 5-8
Tuesdays 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays 4:30-8 p.m.
Thursdays 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Alternating Saturdays 9 a.m.-noon

Tumbling & Trampoline (come to one of the two, trying to split the group into two even groups)
Wednesdays 7:15-8:30 p.m.
Fridays 4:30-5:45 p.m.

PRACTICE NEXT WEEK — This is the final full week of morning practice. The summer schedule will continue through the end of next week (Aug. 28) for evening practices.

The Level 7 &  9/XDs will have practice on Monday morning, Aug. 24, 9 a.m.-noon as the final full morning practice. Level 6s may come to this practice as well. There will be no morning practice for any levels on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week. On Friday, Aug. 28, there will be morning practice for Levels 6, 7 and 9/XD from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The optional levels will not have practice in the evening on Aug. 28 due to the pre-season meet. There will be no open gym of any kind on August 28.

NO LABOR DAY PRACTICE — There will be no practice on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7.

TEAM PICTURE — We will have the team photo and pre-season meet on Friday, Aug. 28. All gymnasts or tumbling and trampoline team members who plan on competing in the fall or winter/spring seasons should plan on attending. (Fast Track is included.)

Girls’ gymnasts should wear their current long sleeve leotard for the picture. If your gymnast doesn’t have that leotard, she should wear the short-sleeve exhibition leotard with the  Wildcard Gymnastics logo on the back. If your gymnast doesn’t have the short sleeve leotard, we will have some to borrow. Some of you have ordered the leotard and they are on their way, but will not be here by the team picture.

Boys’ will be provided a t-shirt in which to borrow for the picture. They should wear black shorts in addition.

Coaches will be provided with a t-shirt to wear. They should wear black pants in addition. Any coach who will be working with a team group in September and beyond should plan on attending.

Please have your gymnast to the gym and ready (with leotard on and hair done nicely) for the picture by 4:30 p.m. on Friday. We will not wait for anyone as the pre-season meet is scheduled to follow.

All levels listed above in the fall team schedule are expected to participate in the team photo: Girls Level 2-9, All Xcel Levels, Boys, Tumbling & Trampoline and Fast Track. Individual and level-specific pictures will be taken in November.

PRE-SEASON MEET — Warm-ups for the pre-season meet will begin around 5:15 p.m., immediately after the team picture. We’d like the floor to be available for general stretch at 5 p.m. with timed warm-ups beginning at 5:15 p.m. We will stick to that schedule as close as possible but the team photo may push it back some.

We anticipate march in beginning at 6:15 p.m. and the meet concluding around 7:45 p.m.

Gymnasts may wear either the long-sleeve or the short sleeve leotard for this meet.

LEOTARDS — We have been notified by some parents that their child’s competition leotard doesn’t fit or is a little snug. Please have your child try on their competition leotard before the team picture. If it is too tight, we might be able to swap with some gymnasts for larger sizes. If we have to place an order for a leotard that doesn’t fit, we will need to do that by the end of the month to have any chance to have these in house by the second meet of the season.

OPEN GYM — The final summer afternoon open gym is this Friday, Aug. 21. We will resume with evening open gyms on Friday, Sept. 4, 8:30-10 p.m.

MEET FEES & WARM-UPS — The final installment for Level 2, 3, 4 & 5 meet fees is due on Aug. 30. We have a small handful of gymnasts who have not paid any meet fees. Please see the front desk to make arrangements, otherwise your gymnast will not be able to compete this season. You should have received a bill after the second installment of meet fees were due if you were in the arrears on these fees.

We also have a few compulsory level gymnasts who haven’t ordered the warm-ups for this season. Your child will not be allowed to compete if you have not purchased the warm-up. The compulsory warm-ups should arrive at the gym in the next couple of days. If you were late in ordering or just joined team, those will not be delivered with this first batch of warm-ups. If your gymnast doesn’t receive her warm-up when they arrive, please check with Blain on your order.

The first installment of meet fees for Xcel, Girls’ Level 6-up, Boys’ and T&T will be due in September. Xcel will be ordering warm-ups if they haven’t already done so in September.

NON-PRACTICE TIMES — This is a firm reminder that gymnasts aren’t allowed on equipment before and after their practice times. If your gymnasts’ practice is concluded and other levels are still going on, that does not mean your child can continue to “play” on equipment. Please take your gymnast off the floor after his or her practice.

Even more important, parents who are not employees of Wildcard Gymnastics are not allowed to instruct their child or other children at the gym on the gym’s equipment before or after practice time. We had a situation last week where a parent was in the gym when practices were not held instructing their child on equipment on a skill that the child is not ready for. This was repeated again on Wednesday night. This is dangerous and unacceptable.

All of our employees are trained both in house and out of house. That is the reason we didn’t have practice last week, so our staff could attend the national convention for training purposes. They know what they are doing and have been trained appropriately for every level that they instruct.  Please respect that your Wildcard staff is knowledgeable, exceedingly capable, and well-equipped to teach the classes or levels they are assigned.

NO SUMMER SPECTACULAR — We had the Summer Spectacular on the schedule at the beginning of the summer. As expected, we are not going to hold it this year. We apologize for any disruption this may cause.  The Spectacular will likely be rescheduled to later in the year.

LOCKERS — We are trying to reassign lockers next week for all of the levels.  While we hope to keep the same lockers, please remove all items from your locker/cubby on by Friday, this week so that we can rearrange lockers, if needed.  Also, this is a reminder that no food is to be kept in the locker rooms.  We have also added a water bottle shelf in the gym for gymnasts to put their water bottle during practice.  This will eliminate kids going into the locker room to eat or socialize.

THANK YOU TO BELLA AND HEIDI — It is with great pride and sadness that we wish much future success to both Bella and Heidi as they conclude their time with Wildcard Gymnastics. Both Bella and Heidi competed for Wildcard and became recreational instructors. This year, we handed the Xcel Gold program to the two and it flourished.

Bella still has a couple of days before heading off to college at the University of Wisconsin. Heidi has already left for college, attending Martin Luther in Minnesota. We wish them the best and offer a huge thank you.

SUCCESS WALL — We were amiss in saluting our success wall additions after AAU Junior Olympic Games (the photos have not made it up on the wall either). We had a great amount of success at this AAU national event with three all-around champions and one All-American.

The following are additions to our success wall:

Level 3
Caelyr G. — 9.125 on floor
Rhianna R. — 9.000 on bars
Taylor W. — 9.025 on floor

Level 6
Emily G. — 9.150 on bars (1st), 1st on beam, 9.000 on floor (1st), 1st AA

Level 7
Bradyn F. — 9.000 on bars
Delaney H. — 9.350 on vault (1st), 9.000 on bars, 9.200 on beam (1st), 9.500 on floor (1st), 1st AA
Camille P. — 9.275 on vault, 9.050 on bars (1st)
Maria R. – 9.000 on beam, 9.050 on floor

Level 8
Rose D. — 9.125 on floor
Ava G. — 9.000 on floor

Open (Level 10)
Hallie F. — 1st on bars, 9.400 on beam (1st), 9.375 on floor (1st), 1st AA, All-American award for highest All-Around in Level