Wildcard Gymnastics Team News

Homecoming Invitational
September 19, 2015
Racine Gymnastics Center
2501 Golf Ave. Racine | MAP | 35.2 mi., 42 min.

PRESEASON MEET CLARIFICATION — The pre-season meet is only for girls’ Level 2, 3, 4 and 5. Boys will have their pre-season meet in October in Sheboygan. Girls’ Level 6, 7, 8/9 and Xcel will have their preseason meet as part of the Wild Wild West Classic in October. Tumbling and Trampoline will have their pre-season meet in November. The team picture is prior to the preseason meet on Friday at 4:30 p.m., so we expect on all of our levels of team can attend, but the competition is just for Girls’ Level 2-5. Optionals are encouraged to stay and help. Fast Track is encouraged to come watch so that they can learn how the process works for their upcoming meet season.

LEOTARD EXCHANGE — We have heard from a couple of individuals now that their long-sleeve leotard is too snug (Payton D., Level 2; Vanesa K., Level 4; and Angela B., Level 4). If you have tried your competition leotard on your gymnast and you don’t think it fits well, we will try to gather gymnasts after the team picture for a leotard exchange. We do not have any larger leotards at this time, so we would need to order for the largest of sizes.

SHORT-SLEEVE EXHIBITION LEOTARD — If gymnasts that have both the long-sleeve and short-sleeve leotard could bring both leotards to the team picture, that would be appreciated. We will have a few gymnasts who do not have the short-sleeve leotard yet on Xcel that will need to borrow for the team picture. Those take quite a long time to produce, so we are still waiting on them from the distributor.

WARM-UPS — Compulsory level warm-ups have arrived if you ordered by the original deadline. We will distribute those on Friday after the team picture. There were some who ordered late and those are not be available yet. We are still waiting on optional-level warm-ups.

FALL SCHEDULE BEGINS MONDAY — As a reminder, the Fall schedule begins on Monday. Please see previous blog posts for the most updated schedule. There are a few groups who changed times and dates, so double check the blog.

LABOR DAY PRACTICES — We will not have any team practice on Saturday, September 5. This includes Girls’ Level 2 and 3, TOPs/HOPES, Boys’ Level 8 and Xcel Gold. The mock meet will serve as the extra practice for Girls’ Level 2 and Level 3. Xcel Gold will have their practice made up closer to meet season.

Additionally, there will be no T&T practice on Friday, September 4. Please have all T&T athletes come to practice on Wednesday, September 2 from 7:15-8:30 p.m.

PRACTICE MAKE-UPS — Parents, please understand that we have a difficult time with allowing make-ups for missed team practices. If your child misses a practice, it is difficult for us to have them make up with a different level. What if, for instance, the whole of our Level 3 team decided to miss and want to make up with Level 4 the next day? We couldn’t accommodate the additional 15 gymnasts during that practice. Even adding one gymnast to a Level 4 group which is already bulging at 12 gymnasts is difficult, taking time away from the 12 currently on that team. While we appreciate the desire to attend practice, it’s just not feasible to schedule everyone who misses practice at a different time. If you miss a practice, come to Friday Night Open Gym or set up a private lesson.

Also understand that we have a very generous summer practice schedule. We offer every level (except Xcel Bronze and Silver) additional time without an additional charge. Our Level 9s/XDs had 72 extra practice hours offered this summer at no additional charge. Even Fast Track has been offered 24 extra practice hours this summer. Some gymnasts have made almost all extra practices, some next to none. But this is our way of offering you makeups over the course of the year. This should cover vacations, illnesses and the occasional shut down of practice during instructional, holiday or weather-related times.

COMPETITIVE SCHEDULE CHANGE — There have been some dates that have changed to some of our meets based on original information that we received. All final meet schedules will be on wildcard-gymnastics.com under the team tab (along with all historical meet results).

The following meets have had changes, thus necessitating a change in schedule for us:

Buffalo Grove Hawaiian Pineapple has been scheduled for Dec. 19-20 instead of Dec. 12-13. Boys Level 5 & 8 and Girls’ Level 6-up were scheduled to attend. We would like to replace this meet with either the Justin Spring Invitational (at the University of Illinois-Champaign) for both boys and girls or the UW-Oshhosh Invitational (at UW-Oshkosh) for girls and and find a different meet for the boys (likely Salto in March). Both Justin Spring and UW-Oshkosh are on Dec. 12-13. Parents of boys’ Level 5-up and girls’ Level 6-up, please let us know your preference.

There has been some concern over the girls’ meet scheduled in Minneapolis on Jan. 29-31. Honestly, this was done to keep our boys’ and girls’ team together as the boys are scheduled to compete in Minneapolis at a different meet that same weekend. If the Minnesota competition is too much of a bother, we can replace that on the girls’ side with the Altius Pink Ribbon Meet in Franklin, Wis., that same weekend if there is concern over going to Minnesota. Parents of girls’ Level 6-up, please let us know your preference.

The Wildcard Cruise Classic is looking more and more like its not going to be an off-site meet this season. It is looking like it will be a USAG-sanctioned Xcel meet and an AAU-sanctioned all levels meet with no boys or T&T competition. As a result, we will replace this meet on the boys schedule with another meet TBD and the T&T meet will be replaced by another meet as well once we get a full T&T meet schedule from the clubs in Wisconsin and the clubs in Illinois. Even if the meet is to go off site with boys, it will definitely not have T&T as we haven’t come to an acceptable agreement with M&M Gymnastics who was going to provide the equipment. The T&T meet will be replaced by a meet at Gymfinity (Fitchburg) and we’re still waiting on one more meet to add to the schedule.

OLYMPIC COACH FACES CHARGES — We wanted to discuss this before it became a “hotbed” topic. Olympic coach and gym owner Marvin Sharp — coach of Olympians Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan — has been arrested on a charge of child molestation. For those of you who follow gymnastics, this will be in your news feed. For those of you who don’t, this still may be in your news feed. We want to address it because it will be a topic for discussion, and we don’t want to turn a blind eye toward this. Click here for the story.

USA Gymnastics provides resources to clubs to prevent this type of thing from happening. They provide educational resources (which we have passed on to the gymnasts). USAG provides a list of individuals ineligible for hire that are no longer allowed to be associated with USA Gymnastics. USAG also requires background checks for coaches and staff through an independent organization to safeguard this from happening.

The shocking thing about this case is that it did happen despite USAG’s safeguards. It happened to one of USA Gymnastics national team coaches. It happened down the street from USA Gymnastics headquarters (Marvin Sharp’s gym is located in Indianapolis as is USA Gymnastics headquarters). It happened to someone who is embedded with USA Gymnastics (Samantha Peszek’s mother, LuAnn is one of the top officials in USA Gymnastics, serving as vice president of the women’s artistic program for many years until being moved to vice president of tumbling & trampoline this year).

Some of us have met Marvin Sharp. He comes off as an “everyday” guy, a hard worker, willing to share his expertise. He is the typical, “he doesn’t look like he would … ” kind of person.

The point is, despite all safeguards, this did happen. We want to address this to encourage parents to speak to your children about what to do if something were to happen to them (no matter where it occurred, be it school, on the bus, at home, or at sports activity). Children need to have a voice if something inappropriate happens to them. Please let your children know that they can come to any of us at any time if they have a concern or feel like something inappropriate happened. Children know when something isn’t right.  They know if it made them feel uncomfortable and should have someone to talk with about those feelings.

The corollary to this is that we must remember that Marvin Sharp was just arrested at this point and has not been found guilty. This very thing happened to a club owner in Wisconsin. He was accused and arrested of inappropriate relations with a minor. It went to trial and he was found not guilty because it was a false accusation. Even the accusation had an adverse affect on this individual.

Remember, that most people are good, hard-working, trustworthy individuals.  At Wildcard, we strive to hire qualified, safe, family-oriented coaches.  We don’t want this situation to scare the gymnasts, parents, or potential customers.  We simply promote a safe and friendly environment with open communication.

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

PRACTICE CHANGES — Due to a couple of events coming up, there will be some practice changes in the next few weeks. Please observe the following changes (note, if it’s not listed, it hasn’t changed):

Monday, Aug. 3
Tumbling & Trampoline 4-5:30 p.m. (From Friday, Aug. 7)

Wednesday, Aug. 5
NO MORNING TEAM PRACTICES (Includes Level 3, Level 4, Xcel Silver and Boys)

Thursday, Aug. 6
NO MORNING TEAM PRACTICES (Includes Level 3, Level 4, Xcel Silver and Boys)

Friday, Aug. 7
NO BOYS PRACTICE
NO TUMBLING & TRAMPOLINE TEAM (moved to Monday, Aug. 3)
NO OPEN GYM

Saturday, Aug. 8
Xcel Bronze moves to 9 a.m.-11 a.m.
Xcel Gold/Platinum moves to 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 10
Tumbling & Trampoline 4-5:30 p.m. (From Friday, Aug. 14)

Wednesday, Aug. 12
NO EVENING TEAM PRACTICES (Includes Girls’ Level 2, Level 4, Level 6-9, Boys, Xcel), Morning Practices are the Same

Thursday, Aug. 13
NO MORNING TEAM PRACTICES (Includes Girls’ Level 6, 7, 9)
NO EVENING TEAM PRACTICES (Includes Boys’ Level 4, Girls’ Level 2, 3, 7 & 9, Girl’s Xcel)

Friday, Aug. 14
NO MORNING PRACTICES (Includes Boys’, Girls’ & T&T)
NO OPEN GYM

Saturday, Aug. 15
NO MORNING PRACTICES (Includes Girls’ Level 3 and Xcel)

There is no team practice from Wednesday evening through Saturday morning due to the national coaches convention, where we’re taking most of our coaches for education and learning. For those levels that haven’t received increased practice time during the summer (Xcel Bronze and Silver), these hours will be made up closer to the meet season. All other Levels have had increased summer hours with no increase in tuition to accommodate for missed practices.

Summer morning practices will continue through the week of August 17-21. There will be no daytime practices Aug. 24-28. The team photo and pre-season meet will be Aug. 28.
More details will follow as we get closer.

FALL PRACTICE SCHEDULE — We don’t have the fall practice schedule set yet, but we do have an idea of some changes that will occur. Starting Aug. 31, we will switch to the school-year practice schedule but until then the summer schedule will still stay in effect, with morning practices being discontinued at some point.  We will have that schedule available shortly.

MEET FEES – Please note that the second set of meet fees for the Level 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s will be posted to the accounts and charged on July 30. We still have some people who haven’t paid the first installment of meet fees, due to credit card issues. If you haven’t paid the first set of meet fees, please do so immediately.

Gymnasts who have not paid for meet fees will not be placed on rosters for the competitions. The meet fees for the September competitions will be due in a few weeks, so we might not get your child in if you haven’t paid for meet fees.

Level 2 Fees: $225 ($75 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 3 Fees: $450 ($150 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 4 Fees: $480 ($160 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 5 Fees: $150 ($50 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug 30)

MEET SCHEDULES — At this point, we are pretty confident with our meet schedules. They are the following:

GIRLS’ LEVEL 2
Aug. 28 at Preseason Meet (Brookfield)
Oct. 10-11 at CSA Kids (at UW-Whitewater)
Oct. 24-25 at Wildcard (Brookfield)
Nov. 14-15 at M&M (New Berlin)
Nov. 21-22 at Salto (Waukesha)
Dec. 5-6 at Level 2 State (Madison)

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3 & 4 
Aug. 28 at Preseason Meet (Brookfield)
Sept. 19-20 at Racine (Racine)
Oct. 3-4 at Swiss Turners (West Allis)
Oct. 10-11 at CSA Kids (at UW-Whitewater)
Oct. 24-25 at Wildcard (Brookfield)
Nov. 7-8 at Starz (Green Bay)
Nov. 14-15 at M&M (New Berlin)
Nov. 21-22 at Salto (Waukesha)
Dec. 5-6 at Level 3-5 State (Madison)

GIRLS’ LEVEL 6, 7, & 8/9
Oct. 25 at Preseason Meet (Brookfield)
Nov. 14-15 at M&M (New Berlin)
Dec. 12-13 at Hawaiian Pineapple (Schaumburg, Ill.) *
Jan. 1-3 at Cancun Classic (Cancun, Mexico)
Jan. 9-10 at M&M Challenge (West Allis)
Jan. 29-31 at Legacy Luau (Eden Praire, Minn.)
Feb. 20-21 Wildcard Cruise Classic (Cudahy) *
March 5-6 at AAU Midwest Regionals (Dubuque, Iowa) *
March 19-20 at State Championships (Madison) *
April 8-10 at Region 4 Championships (St. Louis, Mo.)
* short season Level 6s (coming from Level 4) will compete these meets

GIRLS’ XCEL BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD
Oct. 25 at Preseason Meet (Brookfield)
Jan. 9-10 at M&M Challenge (West Allis)
Jan. 29-31 at Altius Pink Ribbon Invitational (Franklin)
Feb. 20-21 Wildcard Cruise Classic (Cudahy)
March 5-6 at AAU Midwest Regionals (Dubuque, Iowa)
March 12-13 at State Championships (Waukesha)

BOYS’ LEVEL 4
Dec. 5 at Judges Invitational (Racine)
Jan. 9-10 at M&M Challenge (West Allis)
Jan. 16-17 at Strongman Invitational (Franklin)
Feb. 5 at Snowflake Invitational (Sheboygan)
Feb. 20-21 Wildcard Cruise Classic (Cudahy)
Feb. 27-28 at Scamps Boys’ Invitational (Kenosha)
March 19-20 at State Championships (Waukesha)

BOYS’ LEVEL 5-8
Jan. 9-10 at M&M Challenge (West Allis)
Jan. 16-17 at Strongman Invitational (Franklin)
Jan. 29-31 at Iceberg Classic (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Feb. 13-14 at Midwest Twisters Invitational (Milwaukee)
Feb. 20-21 Wildcard Cruise Classic (Cudahy)
Feb. 27-28 at Scamps Boys’ Invitational (Kenosha)
March 19-20 at State Championships (Waukesha)
April 9-10 at Region 4 Championships (Lincoln, Neb.)

TUMBLING & TRAMPOLINE
Nov TBD Preseason Meet
Dec. 20 at Frozen Challenge (New Berlin, Wis.)
Jan. 9-10 at M&M Challenge (West Allis)
Early Feb at Gymfinity Meet (Fitchburg)
Feb. 20-21 Wildcard Cruise Classic (Cudahy)
April TBD at State Championships (TBD)

OFFSEASON COMPULSORY & SPRING GIRLS’ LEVEL 2
Feb. 6-7 at GymTastics (Watertown)
Feb. 20-21 Wildcard Cruise Classic (Cudahy)
March 5-6 at AAU Midwest Regionals (Dubuque, Iowa)

OFFSEASON CHAMPIONSHIP MEETS (Additional Costs)
Late June TBD at Badger State Games (Weston, Wis.)
June 30-July 3 at AAU Age Group Nationals (Disney Resort, Fla.)
July 27-Aug. 6 at AAU Junior Olympics (Houston, Texas)

Meet fees will start in October for Boys, Girls Optional, Xcel and T&T. And as usual, all of this is subject to change.

CANCUN CLASSIC – The Cancun Classic trip is officially on our schedule. We should be able to compete in this with very limited time missed from school. The meet schedule for this competition is as follows:

Jan. 1 — Compulsories (evening only)
Jan. 2 — Optionals and College Meet
Jan. 3 — Optionals

There is no competition scheduled for Jan. 4. Optional level families can plan on flying home on Monday, Jan. 4, missing just that day of school. Compulsory families could leave earlier to make it home in time for returning to school on Jan. 4.

At this point, we’re not planning on traveling as a group. A few group travel requests were denied as group travel isn’t allowed on some airlines during this time and on other airlines they were just too pricy.

Also at this point, we don’t have a hotel planned. That could change. The meet hotel is very expensive (it’s nice and it’s all-inclusive), but at $595 per night,  you can find better priced accommodations. There are several other hotels in the area. The recommendations for those hotels are:

Royal Resorts Cancun (royalresorts.com). Next hotel to Iberostar. $220+ per night, but the villas are suites with full kitchens.

Flamingo Resorts (www.flamingocancun.com/index_en.html). Right around $200 per night. Would require transportation as the meet site isn’t overly close.

Holiday Inn Cancun (www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/cancun/cunmx/hoteldetail).  Right around $200 per night. Would require transportation as the meet site isn’t overly close.

There are other hotels which are cheaper and others which are more expensive. If we get a deal, we will let you know. Essentially, any hotel in the Hotel Zone will be safer and as nice as any hotel you will ever visit. Obviously, the more you pay, the more you will get. Some hotels range upwards of $700/night. If you want to make a grand vacation of it, please do so.

The meet fee is $130 and is due by Oct. 1. This is non-refundable. Optional level girls, this will be included in your meet fees. We expect participation from the optionals. For non-optional levels, we will need it in advance.

GOODBYE, JASON — In the coming days, we’re going to have to say good bye to Jason Trow, our Fast Track and Boys’ Level 4 team coach. He has accepted a teaching position in the northern part of the state. It is an unfortunate loss for Wildcard. We wish Jason the best. In the mean time, Blain will be taking over the boys Level 4 teams in the mean time. Fast Track’s instructors will be determined at a later time.

BETHANY CALVARY SHARE FAIR – We have two short performances on Saturday, July 25 at Bethany Calvary UMC on 75th and Center St. in Milwaukee. Your participation is welcome, but please note that we will likely just be doing group show routines with limited individual routines as time is available. We only have two half-hour performances so time will be tight. We also won’t have much warm up time so please be ready.

The performance times are 11:30 p.m.-noon and 1:30- 2 p.m. Please arrive 15 minutes early for each show.

LEVEL 3 AND XCEL BRONZE PRACTICE CHANGE – Due to the Bethany Calvary Share Fair, Girls’ Level 3 practice on Saturday, July 25 will only go until 10:45 a.m. Xcel Bronze will change their practice time from 9-11 a.m.

MEET FEES – Please note that the second set of meet fees for the Level 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s will be posted to the accounts and charged on July 30. We still have some people who haven’t paid the first installment of meet fees, due to credit card issues. If you haven’t paid the first set of meet fees, please do so immediately.

Gymnasts who have not paid for meet fees will not be placed on rosters for the competitions. The meet fees for the September competitions will be due in a few weeks, so we might not get your child in if you haven’t paid for meet fees.

Level 2 Fees: $225 ($75 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 3 Fees: $450 ($150 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 4 Fees: $480 ($160 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 5 Fees: $150 ($50 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug 30)

WARM-UPS – Warm-up orders have been placed, but some of the compulsory gymnasts have not placed the order. Your warm-ups have not been placed on order and will not be ordered until you place the order at wildcardgymnastics.tictail.com.

The following compulsory and optional level gymnasts have not placed the order:

Level 2: Marcella R., Mahogany S.
Level 3: Aniyah H., Lilly J., Claire M., Emma M.
Level 4: Aniyah B.
Level 5: Maeggan X.
Level 6: Ella J.
Level 9: Anastasia R., Ashley W.

Xcel gymnast orders will be due in September, however those who have ordered will be ordered with this first wave.

Those gymnasts will not be allowed to compete if they haven’t purchased the warm-ups.

AAU JUNIOR OLYMPICS LEOTARD – Once again, the AAU Junior Olympics is a summer meet, please have your gymnast wear the short-sleeve leotard for this competition.

Also, there has been a schedule change for Junior Olympics only involving the Level 4s. Click here for the most updated schedule.

2015 AAU Junior Olympics
August 5-6, 2015
Boo Williams Sports Complex
5 Armistead Pointe Parkway, Hampton, Va.  | MAP | 962.2 mi., 15 hours, 12 min.

WEST ALLIS PARADE — The West Allis Fourth of July Parade is on Thursday, July 2 at 7 p.m. As a result, there is no team practice for any level. Xcel will be making up their practice. No other levels will be made up as we have offered extra practices for the summer.

We are space number 101 and we are at the very back of the parade. They do ask that everyone be lined up by 6:30 p.m., however, given the fact that we are near the back, if everyone starts coming by 6:45, we will be OK with that. Please wear a Fourth of July leotard, a purple exhibition leotard or a Wildcard t-shirt. If it is cool, wearing Wildcard warmups or sweatshirts are ok.

We will be lined up along 77th Street between Greenfield and Pierce (probably closer to Pierce). The parade runs along Greenfield Ave. east to 70th St. and proceeds south to National, ending at Veterans Park. There is a little festival after the parade. Please promptly pick up your child at the end of the parade.

Don’t forget about the Wauwatosa, Brookfield and Butler parades on July 4. If any compulsory level gymnast is interested in switching to the Brookfield parade, please let us know. Information on those parades is available here.

BUTLER PARADE — Line up for the Butler Parade begins at 1:30 p.m. at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 12801 W. Fairmount Ave. The parade begins at 2 p.m. We are lineup space no. 9 (very front of the parade), so please be on time. The parade begins at 2 p.m.

The parade route starts west on Fairmount and goes to 132nd St. From there it goes south three blocks to Hampton. It turns east on Hampton and goes to 127th St. and turns north on 127th to Frontier Park where the parade ends.

AAU JUNIOR OLYMPICS — The deadline for AAU Junior Olympics registration is this week. Please let us know if you plan on competing. So far, only a handful of gymnasts are registered. You can register or reconfirm at the front desk.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE NEXT FEW DAYS — With the Fourth of July and various parades, we have a different practice schedule in effect. It is the following:

June 30: Xcel Bronze and Silver, 4:30-6:30 p.m. (replaces the Thursday practice)
July 1: Xcel Bronze and Silver, 9 a.m.-11 a.m. (replaces the Saturday practice)
July 2: NO GIRLS’, BOYS’ OR XCEL TEAM PRACTICE PM due to West Allis parade.
July 3: All Girls’ Levels 2-9 practice 9-12:30 p.m. Boys’ Level 4 9 a.m.-noon. T&T 11:15-12:30 p.m. Open gym will be held 12:30 – 2 p.m. Levels 2-5 will be holding tryouts for their level. Fast track will have tryouts at a later date.
July 4: NO TEAM PRACTICE
July 5: NO TEAM PRACTICE
July 6: NO TEAM PRACTICE, AM or PM
July 7-8: Practices return as scheduled
July 9: Practice as scheduled.  NO OPEN GYM

MEET FEES — This is a reminder that meet fee installments will be due TODAY. If you have not yet paid them by the due date, they will be automatically charged to your account:

The installments were due starting at the end of June. They are the following:

Level 2 Fees: $225 ($75 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 3 Fees: $450 ($150 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 4 Fees: $480 ($160 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 5 Fees: $150 ($50 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug 30)

BADGER STATE GAMES SUCCESS — We had several gymnasts compete at Badger State Games with almost all making the success wall, including all the Level 7s in their first meet at that level. The gymnasts added to the wall are:

Level 2:
Alanna L. — First Place Bars, First Place Floor
Mahogany S. — First Place Vault, First Place Beam, First Place All-Around

Level 3:
Kayla B. — First Place Vault, First Place Bars, First Place Beam, First Place Floor (9.100), First Place All-Around

Level 4:
Essence B. — First Place Vault (9.200), First Place Beam, First Place Floor (9.200), First Place All-Around
Vanesa K. — First Place Beam (9.100), irst Place All-Around
Mariyah L. — 9.100 on floor
Sarah S.– 9.050 on floor

Level 6:
Ella J. — First Place Beam
Aaliyah K. — First Place Vault (9.500), First Place Bars (9.100), First Place Floor (9.400), First Place All-Around
Maria R. — First Place Vault, First Place Bars, First Place Beam (9.100), First Place Floor (9.100), First Place All-Around
Norah T.. — First Place Vault (9.500), First Place Bars, First Place All-Around

Level 7:
Bradyn F.. — First Place Bars, First Place Beam, 9.000 on floor, First Place All-Around
Delaney H.. — First Place Vault (9.550), First Place Bars (9.100), 9.050 on floor First Place All-Around
Lilly Ja.. — 9.050 on vault, First Place Floor (9.100)
Eden R. — First Place Vault, First Place Floor (9.050)

LEVEL 3s TO PRACTICE FRIDAY — We apologize for the late notice, but the Girls’ Level 3 team that normally practices on Saturday from 9 a.m.-noon will be moved to Friday, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. for this week. Again, the Level 3s will practice on Friday, July 26 instead of Saturday, June 27. This is due to the Badger State Games competition. As a result, we will have a lack of team coaches available for a practice on Saturday.

As a reminder, open gym is held on Fridays from 12:30-2 p.m. and is $8 for team gymnasts with an additional $2 for pizza and soda.

AAU JUNIOR OLYMPICS REGISTRATION DEADLINE — Please note that the deadline for AAU Junior Olympics registration is Wednesday, July 1. If you are planning to attend, please register with Blain at the front desk. We will register you directly with the AAU and will not be placing any AAU registration on an account.

2015 Badger State Games
June 28, 2015
GymSport
6909 Rickyval St., Weston, WI | MAP | 178.3 mi., 2 hours, 52 min.

FOURTH OF JULY PARADES — As per our usual custom, we will participate in several Independence Day parades. As of now, we don’t have any information on the West Allis or Butler parades. The following is information on the Wauwatosa and Brookfield parades.

Wauwatosa Parade: Saturday, July 4. Girls’ Level 2-5, Girls’ Xcel Bronze, Silver, Gold; Gold Bugs

We are lineup space 53. Staging is at the Wauwatosa Civic Center/Wauwatosa Library at 76th and North. You may drop your child at the Wauwatosa Civic Center at 8 a.m. Note that North Avenue will be closed along the length of the parade route. You can (be there by 8:30 a.m. at the latest) access the staging area from Wauwatosa Ave. (76th St.).

The parade begins at 9 a.m. and will proceed west from 76th St. through to 104th St., ending at Mayfair Mall. Pickup will be in the Mayfair Mall parking lot, nearest the Boston Store entrance on the southeast side of the parking lot. The parade route is 1.7 miles long.

Brookfield Parade: Saturday, July 4. Girls’ Level 6, 7, 9; Girls’ Xcel Platinum; Girls’ Fast Track; All T&T athletes not on a gymnastic team; all Boys team.

We are line-up space PURPLE 41. Staging is in the Brookfield Central High School parking lot nearest the tennis courts. You may drop your child at Brookfield Central High School at 9 a.m. From the city of Brookfield, “For participant drop-offs, enter the EAST drive to Brookfield Central on Gebhardt Rd. and utilize the driveway in front of the school.”

The parade begins at 10 a.m. and will travel west on Gebhardt Rd. to Calhoun Rd., then north on Calhoun to North Ave., and West on North Ave. to Norhardt, then south on Norhardt. The parade route is approximately 1.5 miles long.

Butler Parade: Saturday, July 4. All Team Gymnasts

We don’t have a lineup number. Lineup is at 1:30 p.m. at St. Agnes Church, which is located at 12801 W. Fairmont Ave. It is a very short parade, but this is all the information we have at this time.

Please wear sunscreen, bring stretchy gloves and bring a disposable water bottle. In the water bottle, pour out half the water and freeze overnight. In the morning, fill the water bottle the rest of the way with water. Girls’ Gymnasts may wear their exhibition leotard or any old 4th of July or red, white and blue leotard. Boys’ Gymnasts should wear a Wildcard gymnastics t-shirt. Girls’ gymnasts may wear a Wildcard shirt if they don’t have a leotard. We need parent volunteers to hold our signs at each parade and pass out brochures. Parent volunteers should also wear a Wildcard t-shirt.  Please understand that we need help during that time and that walking in the parade implies that you are willing to assist with passing out brochures, carrying a banner, passing out water, etc.  If you want to simply watch your child, then your best bet is to sit along the parade route.

The West Allis parade is set for Thursday, July 2 at 7 p.m. All gymnasts are welcome to participate. We will provide more information as we have it.

WARM-UPS — Please know that we have passed the deadline for the Warm-up purchases. Due to many families still needing to make the purchase, we are extending the deadline to June 26. PLEASE PLACE THE ORDERS ONLINE BY THIS DATE. The site is wildcardgymnastics.tictail.com. You do not need to put in a size. We have the sizes and will communicate them to the company. Please, in the notes, list how you want the garments personalized. (Typically, we just put the gymnast’s first name on the warmups. You may add a last initial if your child’s name is repeated on one of our levels.)

Click here to place your order. If you have not placed your order by June 26, your gymnast will not be allowed to compete.

The following families HAVE purchased the warm-ups:

Level 2: Jillian C., Payton D., Grace D., Lily D., Alanna L., McKayla M. (4 orders still needed)
Level 3: Kayla B., Siena F., Olivia G., Jordyn H., Korynne M., Ruth O., Sadie P., Jordan S., Taylor W. (13 orders still needed)
Level 4: Angela B., Vanesa K., Sarah S. (7 orders still needed)
Level 6: Christen B., Nadia J., Kamryn W. (5 orders still needed)
Level 7: Ava C., Bradyn F., Lilly J., Elie L., Jordan M., Camille P., Eden R. (2 orders still needed)
Level 9: Crystal S.

The following gymnasts have ordered, but are not required to order until September:
Xcel Bronze: Leslie G.
Xcel Silver: None
Xcel Gold: Alivia K., Anna P.
Xcel Platinum: Hattie B.

FOURTH OF JULY SCHEDULES — Due to the upcoming Independence Day holiday, we will be making some schedule adjustments.

July 2: NO TEAM PRACTICE PM due to West Allis parade. We will re-schedule Xcel practice at a time and date TBD. Come to the parade!
July 3: All Girls’ Levels 2-9 practice 9-12:30 p.m. Open gym will be held 12:30 – 2 p.m. Levels 2-5 will be holding tryouts for their level.
July 4: NO TEAM PRACTICE
July 5: NO TEAM PRACTICE
July 6: NO TEAM PRACTICE, AM or PM
July 7-8: Practices return as scheduled
July 9: Practice as scheduled.  NO OPEN GYM

NEW OPTIONAL LEVEL ROUTINES — We are opening a window for the creation of optional level routines. Gymnasts in any optional level (Xcel Gold, Xcel Platinum, Level 6, Level 7, Level 9) who wish to have a new floor routine should begin thinking about new music and bring those choices to the team coaches for approval. We highly recommend that all Level 6s keep their routines for the next season.

Level 6, 7, 9 and Xcel Platinum gymnasts should sign-up for a routine time. The cost for Level 6 gymnasts is $40 and for Level 7-9 gymnasts is $50, payable directly to the instructor. Xcel gymnasts will not be charged if they do choreography during their practice time. Xcel Bronze, Silver and Gold will receive choreography during their scheduled practice time.

Maria’s coaches from Brazil, Clarissa and Vanessa, are in town next week and MAY be willing to do choreography then. They will have limited time if they agree to do choreography.  Please check with an instructor.

Please check with Amy or Alie to schedule your time. Plan on an hour and a half to two hours for the choreography sessions. Please note, neither will be available the week of July 6-11. Beam routines MAY be done during this time as well, if time allows. If not, they will be done during practice.

MEET FEES — This is a reminder that meet fee installments will be due at the end of the month. If you have not yet paid them by the due date, they will be automatically charged to your account:

The installments are due starting at the end of June. They are the following:

Level 2 Fees: $225 ($75 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 3 Fees: $450 ($150 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 4 Fees: $480 ($160 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug. 30)
Level 5 Fees: $150 ($50 per installment due June 30, July 30, Aug 30)

TRYOUTS — We will be scheduling compulsory level tryouts July 3rd at Friday morning practice. All compulsory gymnasts (Level 2, 3, 4, & 5) will be evaluated for proficiency at their level. We anticipate that most gymnasts will be proficient at their current training level; however, should your gymnast be recommended for a different level, you will be notified as soon as possible. The tryout will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.