Mental Training Homework – Confidence Cards

Posted on October 27, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

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.

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Camouflage Classic Meet Information

Posted on October 24, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

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.

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Halloween, State Meets, Success Wall

Posted on October 22, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov. 1 Practice — Due to the enormous number of trick-or-treaters on Friday, Oct. 31, we will not be having practice that night. Please note, there is a meet the next day. This very much goes against our practical policy of missing practice before a meet, but it seems as if we will have almost no one at practice that night. The practice will not be made up.

The Level 3s that normally practice on Saturdays will not have practice on Nov. 1 and will not have their practice shifted to Friday that week. Level 2s will still practice on Saturday, Nov. 1 due to their meet being on Sunday.

Trick-or-Treat at Alie’s — All team kids (Fast Track – Level 8, Boys, and Xcel)  are invited to trick-or-treat in Brookfield at Alie’s house (520 N. Park Blvd. … on Bluemound in between Moreland and Sunnyslope) on Friday, Oct. 31. Trick-or-treat is from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in her neighborhood. Please arrive at the house by 5:30 and have your child picked up by just after 7:30 p.m. We will need several adult chaperones or upper level team kids to help with the group.  Anyone trick-or-treating for candy is expected to be in costume.

Open Gym at M&M — We will again take optionals to open gym at M&M on Saturday, Oct. 25 from 6-8 p.m.  The cost is $10. This is to replace the Friday night practice on Oct. 31 and ensure that we will be competition ready for the first USAG meet of the season. Please meet at M&M on Saturday at 6 p.m. A waiver must be on file from a parent.

State Information — The Level 3-4-5 and Level 2 state meet information is available.

Level 3-4-5 state is in Green Bay, Dec. 6-7 at Shopko Hall in Green Bay. Information is available here.

Level 2 state is in Elkhorn, Dec. 13-14 at Walworth County Gymnastics Center. Information is available here. For Level 2 state, please pre-order the t-shirts through the GymTreasures website here.

Success Wall Additions — If we could, we’d put a picture up of all our parent and gymnast volunteers for this weekend. Everyone did a fantastic job with helping out, making sure that the 2014 Wild Wild West Classic meet ran according to plan. We can not thank everyone enough.

We did have some actual success wall additions, which will go up on the wall when pictures are sorted and printed. The following are success wall additions:

Level 2
Emily C. — 9.100 on bars
Olivia G. — 9.350 on bars
Kendra H. — 9.050 on bars
Jennifer H. — 9.000 on beam
Emma M. — 9.600 on bars, 1st place among 106 competitors on bars
Maggie M. — 9.050 on beam, 9.000 on floor
Brooklyn S. — 9.200 on beam

Level 3
Aniyah B. — 9.225 on floor
Angela B. — 9.125 on floor
Ayanna L. — 9.000 on floor
Nora L. — 9.000 on beam, 9.025 on floor
Sarah S. — 9.000 on bars
Taylor T. — 8.375 on beam, 9.100 on floor

Level 4
Madeline C. — 9.325 on beam, 1st on beam
Aaliyah K. — 9.050 on bars

Level 6
Sofia B. — 9.000 on floor
Hattie B. — 1st on beam
Bradyn F. — 9.000 on floor
Delaney H. — 9.100 on floor, 1st on floor, 1st All-Around
Lilly Ja. — 9.000 on floor, 1st All-Around
Izzie L. — 1st on beam
Elie L. — 9.100 on vault, 1st on vault
Miley L. — 9.000 on bars, 1st on bars
Jordan M. — 9.000 on bars, 1st on bars
Camille P. — 1st on vault
Eden R. — 9.100 on floor, 1st on floor

Level 8
Glenna P. — 1st on vault, 1st on beam, 1st All-Around
Ava G. — 1st on bars
Crystal S. — 1st on floor

Xcel Silver
Daisy D. — 1st on floor
Amari D. — 1st on bars
Marcela R. — 1st on vault, 1st on beam

Xcel Gold
Christen B. — 1st on vault
Aliyah R. — 1st on vault, 1st on bars, 1st All-Around
Anna P. — 1st on floor
Jenna W. — 1st on bars, 1st on beam, 1st All-Around
Team — 1st All-Around

The boys also competed at their mock meet in Sheboygan with great results. While these will not go on the success wall because it was an unsanctioned meet, the following results occurred:

Level 4
Max B. — 10.300 on vault, 1st on vault
West F. — 1st on rings, 10.200 on vault, 1st on parallel bars, 1st on horizontal bar, 1st all-around
Dylan K. — 10.000 on floor, 1st on floor, pommel horse

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Focus: The Difference Between Focus in Practice vs. in Competition

Posted on October 13, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

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.
  1. 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) photo photo-3

  1. 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
  2. Hang it in a place where you will see it everyday (on your mirror, locker, bedroom door, etc.)
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Meet Week Information

Posted on October 12, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

It’s Meet Week — We’re so excited that it’s home meet week. This is, from what we’ve heard, one of the largest meets in the state this season, so we’re really excited to put on a good show. With your help, we can make this a great competition. Unfortunately, with meet week there are changes to the gym schedule which will be reflected in this blog post.

Spirit Week — With home meets come spirit week. Sorry for the late notice on this so we hope Monday won’t be much of an issue for all. Boys and Xcel, please make sure you participate. Here are the theme days for the week:

Monday — Color Wars. Each group wears a different color. Fast Track/Gold Bugs, wear black. 2s wear orange, 3s are in purple, 4s in blue, 6s in green and 8s in pink. Coaches wear tie-dye.  This can be a leotard or shirts, leggings, etc.

Tuesday — Cowgirl Country Day (dress in your best boots and Cowboy hat, give it that Wild Wild West flair.)

Wednesday — Masquerade Day (wear a costume or mask)

Thursday — Crazy Day (Crazy hair and socks, etc.)

Friday — Wildcard exhibition (Short-sleeve) leotard

Change in Practices — With the gym unavailable for practice on Saturday, everyone will practice on Friday. Friday will be a shortened practice for each level as there will only be 2 sets of equipment to use (we will leave both bars in the back and move the AAI set to the front after practice with the optionals help. The following is the practice schedule for the week:

Monday — No change
Tuesday — No change
Wednesday – Xcel begins at 5:30 and ends at regular time
Thursday — No change
Friday — Levels 2, 3, 3/4 and all Xcel from 4-6 p.m.; Level 4, 5, 6, 8 from 6-8:10 p.m. (all levels feel free to arrive 15 minutes early to stretch … practice will move fast).

Ice Chests/Coolers — With a big meet, we are in need of ice chests/coolers for concessions. Please let us know if you have any we can borrow.

Sign Ups — We still need some slots to fill for working the competition. The following are spots still needed to fill:

Saturday 7:30 a.m. — Ribbon Writers (4), Beam Timer (1), Music Player (1), Awards Presenters
Saturday 9:45 a.m. — Beam Timer (1)
Saturday 12:15 — EVERYTHING. Literally, we have just one volunteer for this session.
Saturday 3 p.m. — Admissions (2), Score Inputter (1), Ribbon Writers (4), Beam Timer (1)
Saturday 5:40 p.m. — Admissions (1), Concessions (1), Score Inputters (4), Awards Presenters

Sunday 7:30 a.m. — EVERYTHING. Literally, we have just one volunteer for this session as well.
Sunday 10:15 a.m. — ALL FILLED!
Sunday 1:10 p.m. — ALL FILLED!
Sunday 3:40 p.m. — Score Inputters (3), Award Presenters

Level 4-up gymnasts (and older Level 3s) please make sure you volunteer as well. We’re less concerned about award presenters as we are about score inputters and beam timers.

From what we can tell, the following families haven’t volunteered:
Level 2: Donovan, Mulvey, Podoll, Scheid
Level 3: Brown
Level 4: Davis, Xiong
Level 6: Laspisa, Literski
Level 8: Dundun, Gordon, Raebel
Xcel: Bridegroom, DiCarlo, Keys, Mulligan, Reed-Hammon, Roecklein

Boys are excused from volunteering because of the state clinic on Saturday and their competition on Sunday. HOWEVER, it would be certainly OK if boys parents were able to volunteer.

Captains — You will get your information by e-mail on Monday.

Parking — Parking will be EXTREMELY tight over the weekend, especially if construction is still on going (the corners were laid this weekend so we’re hopeful more street parking will be available.

There is a lot a block east on 126th an Auer that has about 100 spots in it. The building has no tenants and the owner isn’t around. We have been told by a former tenant that parking shouldn’t be an issue for the weekend. You may try parking there and if there are issues, you can move your car. Also, if you don’t mind the walk, there are plenty of spots in the back of the Culver’s lot.

Meet Fees — Xcel, girls’ optionals and boys, the second installment of meet fees is due Oct. 15.

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M&M Halloween Luau Meet Information

Posted on October 12, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

M&M Halloween Luau
Nov. 1-2, 2014
M&M Gymnastics
16760 W. Victor Rd., New Berlin| MAP | 12.2 mi., 18 min.

SATURDAY, NOV. 1

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3 –  Essence, Angela, Vanesa, Ayanna, Mariyah, Emma L., Kaylie, Rhianna, Jordan S., Sarah, Taylor
Arrive – 11:45 a.m.
Stretch – noon
Meet Begins — 1 p.m.
Awards — 2:20 pm.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3 –  Aniyah, Nora L.
Arrive – 2:30 p.m.
Stretch – 2:45 p.m.
Meet Begins — 3:40 p.m.
Awards — 4:50 p.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 6 – Sofia, Hattie, Delaney, Bradyn, Lilly Ja., Izzie, Elie, Miley, Jordan M., Camille, Eden
GIRLS’ LEVEL 8 – Rose, Ava G., Bella, Glenna, Anastasia, Crystal, Ashley
Arrive – 5 p.m.
Stretch – 5:15 p.m.
Meet Begins — 6:05 p.m.
Awards — 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOV. 2

GIRLS’ LEVEL 2 –  Emily C., Neave, Olivia, Caelyr, Kendra, Jennifer, Lilly Jo., Claire, Emma M., Korynne, Maggie, Sadie, Brooklyn
Arrive – 7:45 a.m.
Stretch – 8 a.m.
Meet Begins — 8:35 a.m.
Awards — 9:15 a.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 4 –  Madeline, Ella, Kerigan, Kamryn, Maeggan
Arrive – 9:30 a.m.
Stretch – 9:45 a.m.
Meet Begins — 11:05 a.m.
Awards — 1:10 p.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 4 –  Chasity, BeckyDee, Emily G., Nadia, Aaliyah, Norah T., Ryann
Arrive – 1:15 p.m.
Stretch – 1:30 p.m.
Meet Begins — 2:45 p.m.
Awards — 4:40 p.m.

COMPETING TEAMS – GymHawks, Infinite, LaFleur’s, M&M, Midwest, North Shore, Scamps, WCGC, Woodfield YMCA

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Warm-Ups

Posted on October 6, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

We apologize for multiple posts in one day. We left something off the last post:

Warm-Ups: Girls’ on Level 2-10 (including Fast Track and Gold Bugs II that are competing in the winter) that don’t have the warm-up jacket may purchase them if they choose. The cost is $70 for the warm-up with a name embroidered. The company only has less than a handful of youth medium, plenty of youth large and adult large jackets left. Please let us know by Tuesday morning if you wish to purchase one of these. We hope we can get them turned around in time for the Wild Wild West Classic.

Pants are an additional $30 and are available in many sizes. However, we recommend just wearing any black yoga style pants.

Please note that we will be re-ordering warm-ups next summer.

Xcel Girls’ Warm-Ups: We are ordering a different warm-up jacket for Xcel girls team members. We expect the cost of those to be $20 (with no embroidered names). These are different than last year’s jacket and we hope to have those in time for the Wild Wild West meet. We will let you know the exact cost in the next couple of days.

Boys’ Warm-Ups: We will not be doing boys’ warm-ups. They will get a sweatshirt. The cost will likely be $20, but we haven’t finalized where we are ordering from yet. Again, we will let you know in the next couple of days.

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Boys’ Sheboygan Meet Information

Posted on October 6, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Sheboygan YMCA Pre-Season Meet
Oct. 19, 2014
Sheboygan YMCA
812 Broughton Dr, Sheboygan | MAP | 62.3 mi., 1 hour, 15 min.

SUNDAY, OCT. 19

BOYS’ LEVEL 4s – Max, West, Dylan, Charlie, Jack
Arrive – 8:45 a.m.
Stretch – 9 a.m.
Meet Begins — 10:20 a.m.
Awards — noon

COMPETING TEAMS – CWC, Sheboygan YMCA

NOTE – This serves as the boys’ “mock meet”.

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Monday, Oct. 6 Practice and Other Items

Posted on October 6, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Monday, Oct. 6 Practice — As this is the first Monday of the month, practice will end at 7:30 p.m. tonight for all levels due to our staff meeting. Optional Silver can come tonight at 4:30 p.m. to get the full practice time.

New Optional Groups — New optional groups will start next week, Monday, Oct. 13. Those will be e-mailed today.

Meet Volunteer and Donations — Signups for volunteer times have been going well. We thank everyone for their commitment. There are still plenty of areas needed, however:

The first session Saturday morning is almost empty, especially with people working with the judges to input scores and time.

The third session has almost no one working it.

The Sunday sessions are filling up well. Gymnasts are encouraged to come and stay for good portions of the day so we can put you to work where there are holes.

Please volunteer for times in which your child isn’t competing. If we don’t fill, we will have to pull parents from the crowd during their child’s session and we don’t want people to miss their own child’s competition.

If you haven’t registered yet, please do so at this link:

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0C4DAEA82AA7FE3-2014

Additionally the concession item donations have gone out. Please help us make this the best meet of the season for any of these teams.

Hawaii Trip Participants — For those of you signed up to go to Hawaii, it looks like group travel will not be less expensive than traveling on your own. As a result, we will not be booking group travel and participants will need to arrange their own flights. As of now, flights out of O’Hare are as inexpensive as they have been since we started planning this. Book soon.

If anyone is still interested in going to Hawaii for the competition over Martin Luther King Day weekend, we can still get you in the competition. Just let us know. The meet fee is $100. We can still get a few entrants in if we have extras coming.

Fund Raising — We hope everyone is out there selling. Fund raising orders are due Nov. 15.

Success Wall Additions — We had a successful meet in Franklin this weekend. The Level 4s did very well as we now just have one gymnast left to qualify for state. In all, we have just three gymnasts in Level 3 and Level 4 yet to achieve qualification scores. With four meets left in the season, we are in very good shape as a team. Now, we just have to get the team scores up a little bit so we can medal as a team at state. Each meet, we have been the first team not to get a medal in Level 3 and level 4. This week, we missed by just a few tenths at each level!

Going up on the success wall this week are:

Level 2:
Kendra H. — 9.000 on bars, 9.100 on beam
Jennifer H. — 9.250 on beam
Lilly Jo. — 9.000 on beam
Emma M. — 9.400 on bars, 9.000 0n floor
Korynne M. — 9.000 on beam
Maggie M. — 9.100 on beam, 9.000 on floor
Brooklyn S. — 9.150 on floor

Level 3:
Aniyah B. — 9.000 on beam
Angela B. — 9.050 on beam
Ayanna L. — 9.050 on floor
Sarah S. — 9.100 on bars
Taylor T. — 9.050 on beam, 9.000 on floor

Level 4:
Aaliyah K. — 9.175 on vault (1st place), 9.275 on bars
Ryann W. — 9.200 on bars

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CONCESSION ITEMS – WILD WILD WEST MEET

Posted on October 6, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Concessions for the Wild Wild West Meet – Oct 18th & 19th

Gold Bugs I, Gold Bugs II, Fast Track, Excel, Boys, All Girls & Boys Teams

As part of the Wildcard team, gymnasts are responsible to donate items for the meet in lieu of Booster Club fees. We are fairly specific about what we would like this year, if you have any questions please ask!  All Sodas, Waters, and Concession table items should be here by Thursday, Oct 16th.  If you have a Coaches/Judges item, please bring it Friday night so we know what food we  still need to get.  IF you are not planning to buy/make your item, you may “buy out” for $30.  The money is due to the gym and notice must be given by October 10th; so that we have time to purchase your item.  Your gymnast will be given a paper slip at practice reminding them of what they should bring, but there will be a link to view the master list HERE – if you can bring an additional item please let AMY know.  If you have any questions, please talk to AMY.  A check-off sheet will be provided in the kitchen on the counter/bartop.

There are also a couple of items that we need help with, if you can volunteer to make/donate an additional item.  See the list below for food items  *there are also a few non-food items on the MeetConcessions2014 Master List.

Still Needed:

Fruit Platter/Fruit Salad                  Breakfast Entree or Crock Pot entree                  Skeleton Cookies

2 Pumpkin Pies W/ Whipped Cream                       No Bake Pumpkin Pie

Jello-Witch’s Cauldron Brew               Spider Web – Chips/Dip                           Devilled Spider Eggs w/ Black olives

Mummy Dogs                                        Apple Cider w/ Shrunken (apple) heads

Beer/Cheese Pretzel Dip & Pretzels

Candy Corn Trifle                                  Monster Trifle                        Halloween Cookies            Pumpkin Brownies

Halloween Peep Trees                         Halloween Candy Kabobs                               Pumpkins for Decorations

Also:  If you have any cool Halloween Decor (Light Up stuff; Inflatables, etc) – we would love to borrow them. But remember, there will be 1000 people in and out that weekend, so if you are worried about it not being returned in the same condition, please keep that with you!MeetConcessions2014

Please let us know by Oct 10th if you are “buying” out.  

When you bring your item to the gym (you may start bringing them ASAP) please check off your name or be sure your items are labeled so we know that you have contributed.  Your account will be assessed the $30 buyout fee, as well as a $10 non-notice fee.    Please support your TEAM!!!  There are many volunteer opportunities available still.  We need your help.  Please sign up online (See the BLOG) for details.  This is going to be a great meet!  We have lots of other gyms attending – many based their entry on how well Wildcard Staff, Gymnasts and Parents helped to run the awesome Optional State Meet last March!

There are some cool pictures of some of the specific food items attached to the Master List.  I found most of these on Pinterest or Google.)  You can find the recipe online, ask me, or use something of your own.

 

 

 

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