Wildcard Gymnastics Team News

Sunday Updated Times — LaFleur’s has revised its meet schedule for this weekend based on the addition of several Level 3s. The new rotation times are as follows:

SUNDAY, NOV. 16

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3 – Angela, Kaylie, Vanesa, Ayanna, Rhianna, Taylor
Arrive – 12:15 p.m.
Stretch – 12:30 p.m.
Meet Begins — 1:40 p.m.
Awards — 3:30 p.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3 – Essence, Mariyah, Emma L., Jordan S., Sarah, Nora L., Aniyah
Arrive – 3:45 p.m.
Stretch – 4 p.m.
Meet Begins — 5:10 p.m.
Awards — 6:45 p.m.

Please note the slightly later start times. A complete and updated meet schedule is available here.

Hawaiian Pineapple Meet Times — Actual times for the Hawaiian Pineapple meet on Dec. 20-21 will be available on Dec. 1 according to meet organizers, but we have general times. The Level 6 girls will be Sunday, Dec. 21 in the early morning. Level 8 girls will be Sunday, Dec. 21 in the early evening.

Aloha Gymfest Meet Days — Actual times for the Aloha Gymfest on Jan. 16-18 will be available in mid December, but we have been given tentative dates for competition. The compulsory level girls (Levels 3, 4, 5) will be Friday, Jan. 16 with competition likely no earlier than 2:30 p.m. The Level 6s will be Sunday, Jan. 18 (no time noted). Use these as guidelines when planning excursions during your time on Oahu.

Pre-Practice Times — While most gymnasts have been good about staying off equipment prior to practice, it is now of even more importance that we have the gymnasts out of the way. The Brookfield High School team practices at the gym from 3:30-5:30 p.m. most days. So it is imperative that we stay out of their way during their time prior to practice starting.

Success Wall Additions — Since we haven’t had an informational blog post in the last few days, we haven’t had a chance to note our success wall additions from the M&M meet.  The photos are already up on the wall. Those gymnasts added to the success wall are:

Level 2
Caelyr G. — 9.000 on floor
Claire M. — 9.000 on bars, 9.000 on beam
Emma M. — 9.500  on bars, 9.200 on floor
Maggie M. — 9.000 on beam, 9.300 on floor
Sadie P. — 9.000 on bars
Brooklyn S. — 9.350 on beam

Level 3
Aniyah B. — 9.075 on floor
Sarah S. — 9.500 on vault
Taylor T. — 9.200 on beam

Level 4
Aaliyah K. — 9.175 on floor

Level 6
Delaney H. — 9.050 on beam, 1st on floor, 1st all-around
Lilly J. — 1st on bars
Izzie L. — 1st on beam
Miley L. — 9.000 on vault

Level 8
Ava G. — 1st on vault, 1st on bars, 1st on beam, 1st on floor, 1st all-around
Bella G. — 1st on floor
Glenna P. — 1st on vault
Anastasia R. — 1st on vault, 1st on beam, 1st on floor, 1st all-around
Crystal S. — 1st on bars

This week’s Toughness Training is dealing with resiliency in sports. Resilience is “the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity or the capacity to recover from difficulties; toughness.” We all deal with adversity, dissatisfaction, and disappointment at one time or another. Everyone needs to learn how to “bounce back” from it so they can experience success and find happiness in what they do.

Here’s a great article about resilience and much of our homework is based upon it. http://www.nbccamps.com/tips/basketball/seven-ways-to-deal-with-disappointment-in-sports

Parents, please help your child understand how to “bounce back” by being a role model in this manner for them. I love the story at the end of the above article about the butterfly.  Let’s be sure our gymnasts turn into amazing butterflies!

Click here for this week’s homework: Bouncing Back

There will be no boys practice on Wednesday, Nov. 12th and Wednesday, Nov. 19th due to Candace’s conferences schedule at school. We apologize for any inconvenience. Level 4’s can still fulfill the required amount of time by attending the Monday and Saturday practices.

Pick Up Grips and Tiger Paws — With no practice tonight (Oct. 31), some gymnasts may have forgotten their grips or tiger paws for the meet this weekend at M&M. The gym will be open on Saturday from 9 a.m.-noon for gymnasts to pick up their grips or tiger paws.

Saturday Practice — With the meet on Saturday, we are having to shorten the Level 2 practice by a few minutes this Saturday (Nov. 1). The practice will end at 11:20 a.m. instead of the usual noon.

Monday Practice — The Monday practice will be normal instead of shifted for a staff meeting. We will not have the staff meeting. Optional gymnasts will practice normal times (Purple 4:30-8:30, Silver 5:30-8:30, groups to be determined on Saturday).

Level 4s trying out on Wednesday for Level 5 can stay from 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. for additional instruction in an effort to better prepare for the tryout, which is scheduled on Wednesday from 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Winter Season Level 2s Meet Fees — Gold Bugs II and Fast Track, your first installment of three of meet fees will be due November 15 (with subsequent fees due December 15 and January 15). Those meet fees are $195 and will be paid in three installments of $65 each. All Fast Track gymnasts are expected to compete in the winter meets. Parents of Gold Bugs II gymnasts, please let us know of your child’s intent.

Those Gold Bugs who are competing will move to a team group in January following the fall/winter session (days and times are yet to be determined). Those not competing should continue to enroll in Gold Bugs II.

Also, all boys, Xcel and Level 6 & 8 girls have the third set of meet fees due on Nov. 15.

Any gymnast not paid for meet fees by the due date will have the charge automatically billed to the credit card on file.

Attending Proper Practice Times — We have had a rash of gymnasts attending practices in which they would not ordinarily attend. Please have your gymnast attend the proper practice time. If you have any questions on practice times, see one of the coaches.

Individual/Level Photos — We will be taking individual and level photos a bit early this year. Without a meet the weekend after the week of Nov. 3-7, we will be taking pictures of individuals and each team during practice time instead of our usual week of Thanksgiving. We will make these photos available for $15 and will include three posed photos, your child’s head shot, and your child’s level photo in a digital download. You can choose to do with those what you want. We will try to offer a place where you can see a proof of the photos.

Please have your child’s competition leotard (or singlet and black shorts for boys if the shorts and pants aren’t in by next week) with them on the day they are scheduled to be photographed. Hair and/or makeup should be done prior to the scheduled time. There will be no retakes and your child will not be in the level photograph if they are not here during their scheduled time. The schedule is as follows:

Monday, Nov. 3 — All Boys 5-6 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 4 — Girls’ Level 3, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 5 — Competing Gold Bugs II, 4:30-5:30 p.m.; Girls’ Level 4, 5:30-6:30 p.m.; Xcel, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 6 — Girls’ Level 2, 4:30-5:30 p.m.; Fast Track, 5:30-6:30 p.m.; Girls’ Level 6, 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Girls’ Level 8, 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Level 5/6 Tryout — We will have a tryout for current Girls’ Level 4  gymnasts wishing to qualify out of Level 5 and move directly to Level 6 on Wednesday, Nov. 5 from 7:30-8:30 p.m. Any Level 4 gymnast who has qualified for state (which is also the move up score for the level) may take part in the tryout. If your child is wishing to tryout, please let us know as soon as possible so we may begin prepping them for the tryout. Skills on the tryout include: front tuck and roundoff back handspring/back tuck on floor; back walkover or back handspring on beam; a clear hip and a flyaway on bars. We will not be testing vault as it is the same vault for Levels 4, 5 and 6.  Gymnasts who are interested in this tryout can use “up training time” during the weekly practice to work on the Level 5 skills.  Many of these skills have already been introduced during their practices.

While we are giving everyone the opportunity to try out, it will be necessary that the gymnast demonstrates proficiency at Level 5 (and that she will be competent at Level 6).  It is totally okay to not be ready at this point.Many of these skills will be trained over the summer so that they will be proficient at Level 5 next season. Should gymnasts pass the tryout, we will try to enter them as Level 5s into the Buffalo Grove Hawaiian Pineapple Invitational in Schaumburg on Dec. 19-21. Should the gymnast achieve the necessary 31.000 qualification score at that meet, she will move to the Level 6 group and compete two meets and state (assuming the state-qualification score of 31.000 is met). The meets the gymnasts will compete as Level 6s are:

Wildcard Cruise Classic, Mequon, Wis., Feb. 7-8
Lucky Invitational, Waukegan, Ill., Mar. 14-15
State Championships, Franklin, Wis., Mar. 28-29

Please note, there are additional meet fees required should your gymnast move up.

Last season, all five Level 4s that did the Hawaiian Pineapple meet got their move up score and every Level 6 earned a state-qualification score in their first meet.

Those gymnasts who aren’t proficient in the majority of the skills at the tryout may still be invited to do Level 5 in the off-season AAU meets.

Holiday Sleepovers — We are having two Holiday sleepovers, one on Thanksgiving for all of those wishing to drop the kids and shop for a great deal, and another on New Year’s Eve.

The Thanksgiving night Drop & Shop overnight is Thursday, Nov. 27, starting at 8 p.m. with pickup at 10 a.m. The pre-registration cost for team kids is $35. Click here for more details.

The New Year’s Eve Overnight is $40 for pre-registered team kids. Drop off is 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 with pick-up at 7 a.m. the next year (well, Jan. 1, 2015, to be precise). Click here for more information on this sleepover.

Fund-raising — Pasta and coffee/fudge/cookies fund-raising is coming to a close. Please have all your fund-raising items turned in by Nov. 15 so we may have it all back in by Thanksgiving.

Monday Staff Meeting — There is a staff meeting on Monday, Nov. 3 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Practice will finish at 7:30 p.m. for all levels. All optional-level gymnasts should come at 4:30 p.m. to get the full practice.

The new Purple and Silver optional groups will start on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Those groups will be determined by all-around score at Saturday’s meet. The top 4 Level 8s will go to Purple with the lowest 3 going to Silver. The top 6 Level 6s will to go Purple with the 6 lower scoring Level 6s going to Silver. We will notify everyone by e-mail Saturday night after the meet. Those gymnasts not competing (Ava C., Olga) will be in Silver.

Confidence / Focus Cards

This week’s homework is to create confidence cards. Confidence cards are collections of ideas, quotes, questions, cue words, and positive self-talk that an athlete can use during a competition to help with focus and self-confidence. Before each event or randomly during a competition, the gymnast can pull out the cards and focus on what each card says. These can be event specific or apply to any event.

 “Confident people think and act confidently!” We have talked a lot about looking confident during routines and how adding sharp wrist flicks, chin lifts, stretch positions, etc. can help give the appearance of being very confident. But we also want the gymnast to feel truly sure of him/herself. That’s where mental training and this week’s confidence cards come in.

The brain is an amazing thing. If thoughts are repeated, over time your brain will be convinced of those thoughts. So repeating positive statements over and over will help the gymnast to become more focused and confident. Reading the confidence cards will trigger this confidence more quickly.

This week, we will be talking about what cue words or questions can help each gymnast be more confident. Encourage your gymnast to write down key words or phrases that help them feel assured. Gymnasts can also look up some gymnastics quotations or success quotes that help with motivation or self-confidence. The key words or quotations can then be put on index cards or made on the computer (use a business card template).

Have your gymnast decorate an envelope to store the cards in and be sure that they get packed into their gym bag this week! We hope to see them using the confidence cards at the meet.

Click here for some Sample Confidence Cards.  Feel free to use these or change them to fit your gymnast’s needs.

Camouflage Classic
Nov. 15-16, 2014
LaFleur’s Gymnastics
189 Kleinmann Dr., Germantown | MAP | 13.8 mi., 16 min.

SATURDAY, NOV. 15

GIRLS’ LEVEL 4 – Emily G., Aaliyah, Ryann, Ella, Maeggan, Nadia, Chasity
Arrive – 12:45 p.m.
Stretch – 1 p.m.
Meet Begins — 2:20 p.m.
Awards — 3:50 p.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 4 – Madeline, Kerigan, Kamryn, Becky Dee, Norah T.
Arrive – 4:15 p.m.
Stretch – 4:30 p.m.
Meet Begins — 5:50 p.m.
Awards — 7:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOV. 16

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3 – Angela, Kaylie, Vanesa, Ayanna, Rhianna, Taylor
Arrive – 12:15 p.m.
Stretch – 12:30 p.m.
Meet Begins — 1:40 p.m.
Awards — 3:30 p.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3 – Essence, Mariyah, Emma L., Jordan S., Sarah, Nora L., Aniyah
Arrive – 3:45 p.m.
Stretch – 4 p.m.
Meet Begins — 5:10 p.m.
Awards — 6:45 p.m.

COMPETING TEAMS – Altius, Infinite, LaFleur’s, M&M, Midwest Twisters, Salto, Ultimate Fusion.

Focus: The Difference Between Focus in Practice vs. in Competition This week is a big week at Wildcard! Hosting a home competition is fun, a lot of work and often results in some extra pressure on the gymnasts. This week we will be working on how to deal with this added pressure and turn it into success! During practice, gymnasts are constantly learning about positions and shapes. They are making corrections to perfect their routines. However, come competition day, gymnasts need to be in execution mode. They need to trust that their bodies know what to do and simply concentrate on hitting skills the way they do everyday in practice.

1. Your assignment this week: At practices, pay attention to how the routines/skills feel when you are doing them. Use your senses when perfecting each skill. After doing the skill, while waiting for your next turn, concentrate on recreating that same feeling on each turn. This will help your body remember how to execute (hit) the skill how you want.

2. Your Focus Homework: (Taken from “Becoming a True Champion” by Kirk Mango.) This exercise will help you understand how to relax and center your attention on what you are doing. This will help you to have amazing focus at competitions!

(click on the images to view larger)

3. Print, decorate and sign the Code of a Champion Contract (click the link to print). If that doesn’t work, try pasting the following url in your browser:  http://becomingatruechampion.com/AChampion.htm
4. Hang it in a place where you will see it everyday (on your mirror, locker, bedroom door, etc.)