Memorial Day, Badger State Games, Leotards

Posted on May 26, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Memorial Day — Wildcard Gymnastics will be closed for Memorial Day. There will be no team practice or rec classes.

Badger State Games — Badger State Games was an annual tradition in the state, but it wasn’t held the last few years. This year, on extremely short notice, they have added gymnastics back to the schedule of activities. This year’s competition is at Mosinee Middle School in Mosinee, Wis. (about a half hour from Stevens Point), on Saturday, June 21. There is also a tumbling only competition on that same Saturday where gymnasts will be judged on three passes.

The cost is $50 for gymnastics and $25 for the tumbling competition. Entries are due to Wildcard Gymnastics by June 6.

Organizers have indicated that they will not hold the competition if they don’t get at least 100 competitors combined in gymnastics, tumbling and cheer, so there is still a possibility it would not be held. If the competition is not held, gymnasts will be refunded. The date of cancellation is set for June 16.

It is a non sanctioned competition, but will be run by AAU rules. We encourage all gymnasts to participate, especially those who weren’t able to compete in the AAU season.

2014 Team Banquet — The date is set for the team banquet. It will be at noon on Sunday, June 29 at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee. The cost for gymnasts (who competed in at least two meets this season) is free and additional guests are $15. We will have water park tickets and the costs available for $16 per person (gymnasts will have to pay for water park passes should they wish to swim). This is a discount of the normal $26. We expect all team gymnasts to be at the banquet. Coaches are free for the banquet and must pay for additional guests and water park passes for their entire party.

The deadline for RSVPing and paying for the is June 23.

AAU Junior Olympics — The registration deadline to Wildcard for AAU Junior Olympics (July 27-30 in Des Moines, Iowa) is now June 24. The cost is $85 and includes the entry to the team performance competition.

A tentative schedule for the event is as follows (your gymnast will compete only once but could compete on either of the days listed):
Sunday, July 27: Registration Open
Monday, July 28: Levels 1-5, Xcel Bronze, Silver, Gold; Opening Ceremonies that evening
Tuesday, July 29: Levels 1-8, Open, Xcel All Levels, Ladies All Levels, Team Competition
Wednesday, July 30: Levels 6-8, Open, Ladies All Levels

All competition is scheduled for 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

The following gymnasts have registered for Junior Olympics:
Aniyah Brown, Angela Busalacchi, Bradyn Fowler, Hallie Fowler, Caelyr Grining, Emily Grining, Nadia Jennings, Ella Johnston-Fodor, Lilly Johnston-Fodor, Aaliyah Krause, Vanesa Kvam, Aniyah Lacking, Elie Literski, Mariyah Lee, Emma Lieb, Jordan Morrissey, Jordan Schultz, Maeggan Xiong

If your child should be on the list, please let us know.

Level 3-5 Tryout — As we mentioned earlier, gymnasts will be “earning” their spot on their level on Friday, June 6 during the regular 4:30-8:30 p.m. practice time. Gymnasts will likely get to perform two routines for two different sets of coach evaluators and the data will be pieced together. Gymnasts may also be asked to show skills from the next training level. It will take a couple of days to put all that data together, so gymnasts and parents will not receive that information immediately.

For those who can not make the tryout time, please let us know and we will try to schedule a separate evaluation time with those who will be able to attend on June 6. Level 3s who normally practice on Saturday will have their practice moved to Friday, June 5. There will be no Level 3 practice on Saturday, June 7.

Summer Practice Schedule — The summer practice schedule will begin on Tuesday, June 17. Click here for a reminder as to summer practice times.

leotardsCompetition and Exhibition Letoards (click the image to see it larger) — It’s time to order competition leotards for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and summer exhibition leotards for the girls’ season. Levels 2 – 9 will be purchasing both longsleeve and exhibition leotards.  Boys should be ordering singlets for the exhibition and competition season as well (for boys, it’s the same singlet for both competition and exhibition.  Also, please note that the boys will be changing shorts and pants color to gray, so you will need to purchase those as well).

Once again, our competition leotard will be coming from Australia, so we need to expedite this process to receive them prior to the competition season. Compulsory gymnasts leotards will be charged $140 for the leotard and optional gymnasts $150.

Xcel gymnasts must purchase the exhibition leotards. They may also purchase the long-sleeved competitive leotards. They will compete in exhibition leotard unless they have purchased the long-sleeved leotard. If the Xcel gymnasts choose to purchase the long-sleeved leotard, silver and gold gymnasts will get the ones for Levels 2-5 and diamond and platinum gymnasts will get the ones for Levels 6-10.

Exhibition leotards will be coming from GK and will be $40. Boys singlets will also be from GK and are $44.

Deadline for ordering leotards and singlets is June 10. We will size all gymnasts for the leotards and singlets.

Xcel Coaching Change — For those of you who don’t know, we are having a coaching change in our Xcel levels. Missy is no longer at school in Milwaukee and will not be returning in the fall. Ashley will still be part of the program, but we have moved Heidi and Bella from classes to coaching the Xcel team. They have been working with the Xcel gymnasts for the past two weeks and are doing very well.

Beginning with the start of the summer schedule, gymnasts on Xcel Gold (Kelsey, Katherine, Anna and Stephanie) will add a half hour to their practice schedule, staying until 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. The Saturday schedule will not change.

AAU Nationals — Gymnasts competing at AAU Nationals should plan on wearing last year’s Wisconsin leotard. Families, we will need to borrow one child medium or child large Wisconsin leotard for one of the gymnasts.

For AAU Junior Olympics, we plan on wearing our new exhibition leotards.

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AAU Age Group Nationals Meet Information

Posted on May 21, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

AAU Age Group National Championships
June 12-15, 2014
Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
700 S. Victory Way, Kissimmee, Fla. | MAP | 1,262.4 mi., 20 hrs., 18 min.

NOTE: All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time.

THURSDAY, JUNE 12

GIRLS’ LEVEL 3s (GYM C) – Essence
Arrive – 8 a.m.
Stretch – 8:30 a.m.
Meet Begins — 8:45 a.m.
Awards — Approx.  11:45 a.m.

PARADE OF CHAMPIONS AND DANCE PARTY
All gymnasts invited, 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m.

FRIDAY, JUNE 13

GIRLS’ LEVEL 4s (GYM A) – Norah T.
Arrive – 11 a.m.
Stretch – 11:30 a.m.
Meet Begins — 11:45 a.m.
Awards — Approx.  2 p.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 4s (GYM A) – Aaliyah
Arrive – 2 p.m.
Stretch – 2:30 p.m.
Meet Begins — 2:45 p.m.
Awards — Approx.  5 p.m.

SATURDAY, JUNE 14

BOYS’ LEVEL 4s (GYM C) – West
Arrive – 7:45 a.m.
Stretch – 8 a.m.
Meet Begins — 8:30 a.m.
Awards — Approx. 11:30 a.m.

GIRLS’ LEVEL 4s (GYM B) – Bradyn
Arrive – 8 a.m.
Stretch – 8:30 a.m.
Meet Begins — 8:45 a.m.
Awards — Approx.  11 a.m.

SUNDAY, JUNE 15

FREESTYLE ACROBATICS (GYM C) – West
Arrive – 8:30 a.m.
Stretch – 9 a.m.
Meet Begins — 9:30 a.m.
Awards — 11:30 a.m.

GIRLS’ OPEN (GYM B) – Hallie
Arrive – 8:30 a.m.
Stretch – 9 a.m.
Meet Begins — 9:15 a.m.
Awards — 11:30 a.m.

NOTE – Please arrive before your session to register. Registration is a slow process and you can’t do it if you have a session first thing in the morning. Essence should try to register on Wednesday if possible. AAU has stated that registration is open on Wednesday from 4 p.m.-8 p.m.

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2014 Level Tryouts, Meet Schedule

Posted on May 13, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Level Tryouts — On Friday, June 6, we will be having tryouts for gymnasts to earn their spot on the level they’ve been training (for Levels 3-5 only). This tryout will take place during the normal 4:30-8:30 practice time. This will be a competition type format. The tryout will consist of criteria that we will be disseminating in the coming days. Gymnasts will be asked to perform routines and possibly some skills on all four events; they will be scored on routines and skills will be evaluated; what they’ve done in practice will also be factored into the tryout.  The goal for this tryout is to give the gymnasts more competitive practice as well as having them earn their spot on the level.  We know many gymnasts have worked hard to acquire the skills for their level and we want them to get the chance to demonstrate their proficiency at this level in a meet-like setting.  Gymnasts should wear one of their exhibition or competition leotards and have hair pulled up neatly.

Other levels that typically practice on Fridays will practice as scheduled, but may spend the majority of their time in the back gym.

2014 Girls’ Compulsory Schedule — We received the compulsory state schedule and have tentative fall girls’ meet schedule. Level 2s will compete at the meets denoted by an asterisk. This is subject to change:

August TBD — Preseason Meet at Wildcard
Sept. 13-14 — Judges Invitational at Scamps (Kenosha)
Sept. 27-28 — at Swiss Turners (West Allis)
Oct. 4-5 — at Altius (Franklin)  *
Oct. 18-19 — Wild Wild West Classic (at Wildcard) *
Nov. 1-2  — at M&M (New Berlin) *
Nov. 15-16 — at LaFleur’s (Germantown)
Nov. 22-23 — at Midwest Twisters (Hartland) *
Dec. 6-7 — Level 3-5 State Championships (likely in Wisconsin Dells)
Dec. 13-14 — Level 2 State Championships at WCGC (Elkhorn) *

Future State Meets — Wildcard Gymnastics has been awarded the 2017 Level 3-5 Girls’ State Championships, the 2023 Level 2 State Championships, the 2025 Xcel State Championships and the 2028 Level 6-10 State Championships. Mark your volunteer calendars!

Awards and Achievements — Congratulations to Blain for being named the State Contributor-of-the-Year by the Wisconsin State Gymnastics Board.  He was awarded this title based upon the fantastic job he did hosting Level 2 State and Optional State Championships! Yay!

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Road Construction on 127th St.

Posted on May 8, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Road Construction — You may have noticed that there are some road construction signs being staged on 127th St. There is a road construction project that we know very little about other than the Auer through 127th St. corridor will be one way for the summer. This will also impact street parking as that will likely be off limits for the summer.

Please reserve our parking lot for our recreation gymnasts whose parents typically stay for classes. Drop your gymnast off at the beginning of practice if at all possible.

If you arrive after 5 p.m. on a weekday or 1 p.m. on a Saturday please feel free to park in the First Supply lot north of our building.

We expect the construction to run through the end of September. There will also be construction on 124th Street as well as the rest of the majority of the roads in Wisconsin.

AAU Junior Olympics Dates — We published the wrong dates for AAU Junior Olympics. Based on what the AAU has on their website now, AAU Junior Olympics will hold registration on Sunday, July 27 and competition on July 28, 29 and 30. Please make a note of this.

Team Prices for Camp — Wildcard Gymnastics will hold three summer camps as usual. We will offer a significant discount for our team members. The cost for camp for the team gymnasts is $150. Team kids will be practicing their regular daytime practice hours while in camps and will not be participating in camp activities during those practices. On days or times in which campers do not have practice and in between practices, they will be participating in the camp activities. Do not register for this on the web site as it will charge you the full $275. Please see someone at the front desk to register for our camps.

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Update on Travelling Meets

Posted on May 7, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

We neglected to put the location of the Aloha Gymfest, which would be Kailua, Hawaii, just north of Honolulu.

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Xcel State, Traveling Meets, Banquet, 2014 Meet Fees

Posted on May 7, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Xcel State— Congratulations to our Xcel team who completed their first season this past weekend. Four gymnasts competed and three of the four earned medals. In all this season, we had 54 gymnasts medal at state championships, by far and away our highest ever. The following gymnasts won medals at the Xcel state championship meet:

Anna P. — Xcel Silver, 7th place vault, 5th place bars
Kathryn R. — Xcel Silver, 6th place vault
Ashley W. — Xcel Diamond, 3rd place bars

The Xcel gymnasts will continue to train in preparation for next season. There will be an Xcel Gold division, as well as Xcel Silver for next year and any current Level system gymnasts are welcome to try out Xcel if interested. Currently, Xcel gymnasts train 4-5 hours per week and will compete in 5 meets next season.

AAU Nationals Deadline Extended — The AAU has extended the deadline for any one wishing to enter AAU Nationals. We have until May 11th, so if you haven’t registered and want to go, please do so. Entry fee is $85. The following gymnasts are registered for AAU Nationals (if your gymnast should be on the list, please let us know):

Essence Burrows
Bradyn Fowler
Hallie Fowler
West Fowler
Emily Grining
Caelyr Grining
Aaliyah Krause
Norah Tait

AAU Junior Olympics — The registration deadline for AAU Junior Olympics is June 1. We expect the majority of our team to compete in this, given the proximity. The competition is in Des Moines, Iowa (approximately 5 hours away). The competition dates are July 30-Aug. 1. Gymnasts will also be competing in a team performance competition, similar to a summer show, and we expect to have a few adults taking part in the competition. As of now, the following gymnasts are registered for the meet (again, if you think your gymnast should be on the list, let us know):

Aniyah Brown
Bradyn Fowler
Hallie Fowler
Emily Grining
Caelyr Grining
Nadia Jennings
Ella Johnston-Fodor
Lilly Johnston-Fodor
Jordan Morrissey

Xcel gymnasts are welcome to compete in this competition. Registration fee is $85 and includes the entry to the team competition.

2014 Team Banquet — The date is set for the team banquet. It will be at noon on Sunday, June 29 at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee. The cost for gymnasts (who competed in at least two meets this season) is free and additional guests are $15. We will have water park tickets and the costs available for $16 per person (gymnasts will have to pay for water park passes should they wish to swim). This is a discount of the normal $26. We expect all team gymnasts to be at the banquet. Coaches are free for the banquet and must pay for additional guests and water park passes for their entire party.

2015 Traveling Meet Opportunities — Wildcard Gymnastics will have three opportunities for travel in the 2014-15 season. Please plan accordingly if you would like to travel.

We will be offering a traveling regular season USAG meet and two summer-time AAU competitions for girls. The only opportunity for boys will be one of the AAU summer meets.

The first competition we are offering is the 2015 Aloha Gymfest, January 16-18. This event will offer competition for Levels 3-10. There will be no Level 2 competition, Xcel competition or boys’ competition. Any Level 2 gymnast wishing to compete at this meet will be prepared to compete Level 3. We did this at this year’s meet in Cancun and both gymnasts who competed Level 3 won their age division.

The cost for this meet is $100 per gymnast and will not be included in any gymnast’s meet fees. Those will be due by October 1. Meet fees are fully refundable by the end of the calendar year. So if you are on the fence about going, please go ahead and register. (It’s going to be lots of fun!)

We will not attend this meet if there isn’t enough interest. We would need at least four gymnasts/families to attend. Wildcard Gymnastics will not be making any travel arrangements for this competition, but we will make recommendations and help with travel decisions. At this point, it looks like flights are running approximately $700 per person from Chicago (and Chicago flights aren’t much more than flights from the west coast) and decent lodging can be found for $150 per day. There will be a host hotel that has discounts, but that information isn’t yet available.

Unlike the Cancun meet, Aloha Gymfest is a USAG-sanctioned competition. It will have judges who are trained in judging USA Gymnastics competition. Last year, there were four teams from Austrailia, three from Canada, one from Great Britain, three from Japan, seven from Hawaii, seven from California, one from Oregon, one from Montana, one from Utah and one from Minnesota. All foreign teams will be competing under USA Gymnastics rules and will have USA Gymnastics memberships. This is a decent sized competition, unlike Cancun. Last year, there were 29 Level 3s, 41 Level 4s, 20 Level 5s, 35 Level 6s, 56 Level 7s, 50 Level 8s, 31 Level 9s, 24 Level 10s (286 total gymnasts). There is also an athlete beach party as part of the event on January 19, which is on Martin Luther King Day.

The summer AAU meets are the typical meets that we usually participate in, Age Group Nationals and Junior Olympics. These are successful meets as we’ve won nearly 100 total gold medals at these meets and have had an All-Around champion at Junior Olympics each of the three years we’ve participated in.

The 2015 AAU Age Group Nationals will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, next summer, likely the third week of June. Cost will likely be $85 and will be due by May 1, 2015. All boys’ and girls’ levels (including Xcel) will be held at this meet.

AAU Junior Olympics will be held in Hampton Roads, Va. The duration of the competition will be July 29-Aug. 8, 2015, with the specific dates for gymnastics competition to be determined later. Costs will likely be $85 and will be due by June 1, 2015.

2014-15 Meet Schedules — Normally we would have a fall meet schedule out by now, but the state hasn’t released the schedule yet. Please be patient with us. What we can tell you is what we expect the meet fees to be for the season (barring any changes in meet costs from the state board). We expect meet fees to be:

Level 2: $195 (includes the pre-season meet, four regular-season meets, state and all USA Gymnastics and AAU memberships for the 2014-15 season)

Level 3: $435 (includes the pre-season meet, seven regular-season meets, team entries, state meet entry, and all USA Gymnastics and AAU memberships for the 2014-15 season)

Level 4: $450 (includes the pre-season meet, seven regular-season meets, team entries, state meet entry, and all USA Gymnastics and AAU memberships for the 2014-15 season)

Level 5: Will be discussed on a case by case basis with the few Level 5s that we have pending on how many meets the gymnasts will be competing.

Meet fees can be paid in three monthly installments. Gymnasts will be billed on July 15, August 15 and September 15 in the following amounts:

Level 2: $65
Level 3: $145
Level 4: $150

If you wish to pay meet fees in full, please do so by the July 15 deadline as we will have meet fees due to some competitions in early August.

July 29 through August 8, 2015
July 29 through August 8, 2015
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Gymnasts Prior to Practice, Monday Practice

Posted on May 1, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Gymnasts Prior to Practice — We are having a change in our policy regarding both team and recreation gymnasts prior to practice. Traditionally, we have allowed our gymnasts to use the equipment in a safe manner prior to practice if they were working on skills, but this situation just isn’t working out, especially with our large number of recreation gymnasts taking advantage of this policy.  It has just become to chaotic before practice to police everyone on equipment and be certain that they are working on something safely and correctly.

As of now, gymnasts are only allowed to stretch on the floor prior to practice. We had previously disallowed the tumble track and jumping to the high bar. As of now, all equipment is off limits. The only thing gymnasts are allowed to do is stretch or condition.  (This includes split stretches, press handstand work on the floor, v-ups, crunchies, planks, pushups, super mans, regular stretching, and handstand holds but all of these are to be done in a controlled manner on the floor.)

The reason behind this policy change is two-fold. Gymnasts safety is at the utmost concern. There are too many gymnasts to manage in a free-for-all type setting, especially on Mondays and Wednesdays when we have other classes going prior to practice. Secondarily, we have also noticed an increase of gymnasts working with bad form prior to practice when coaches aren’t directly available. Please stress to your child the importance of following this new policy.

AAU Nationals — For gymnasts wishing to participate in AAU Nationals at Disney Resort, Fla., June 12-15, the registration deadline is Monday, May 5. Please let us know by Saturday, May 3, if you plan on attending this meet. AAU Nationals is available for all boys and girls levels. The registration deadline for AAU Junior Olympics (July 30-Aug. 1) in Des Moines, Iowa, is June 1.

Team Banquet — Once again we are planning on holding our team awards banquet in June at the Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha. We have two dates in which we can choose from, June 8 or June 28. Please click the link below to answer this short survey to help us determine the best date. Answer by May 5 please.

Team Banquet Date Survey

Monday Practice — This is a reminder that practice on the first Monday of every month is from 4:30-7:30 p.m. for all levels so we may have a staff meeting from 7:30-8:30 p.m. This Monday, May 5, will be the next practice change.

Xcel State Meet — The state meet for Xcel gymnasts is this Saturday and Sunday in Kenosha. We wish the best of luck to our Xcel teams! If anyone is interested in coming to cheer them on or wants a better idea of what our Xcel program is, click here for the State Meet Info.

Thursday Boys Practice — As a reminder, there is no boys’ practice for this Thursday or next Thursday, May 8.

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Important Boys Information

Posted on April 26, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

There is a boys team meeting required for all boys and their parents currently registered for levels 3-8 on Monday, May 5th at 5pm. It will last 30-45 min. and will cover all of the information for the summer practice schedule, costs associated with the upcoming year, what level your child will be moving to/staying in, and other important information.

Boys currently in level 3 will be moving to level beginning May 1st. This means they will add additional practices on Mondays 5-7pm beginning May 5th after the meeting. The cost for level 4 is $140/month. This is an additional $20/month for twice as much practice time. 

I will be sending in the registration for the Sheboygan meet on May 17th this week Monday. Please let me know by Monday if you are available to participate. This is recommended for all boys moving to level 4. 

Also, if your level 3/4 child will be missing Saturday practices due to vacations or other sports, talk to Candace about making up the time on a Wednesday evening with the upper level boys team. Please contact Candace with any questions. 

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New private lesson spots open

Posted on April 14, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

There are some additional private lesson opportunities for this week and Monday, April 21st.  Please see the wall by the front desk.  Cost is $30/hour or $20 per half hour. 

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Butter Braid Orders

Posted on April 14, 2014 by wildcardgymnastics

Butter Braids — Butter Braids will be here today, Monday, April 14. They will be ready for distribution around 5 p.m. Please pick up your orders today as we will have very limited space to store them in our freezers.

Easter Schedule — We have sent out the Easter/Spring Break schedule previously, but are putting this in again so you have it for easy reference:

Monday, April 14-Wednesday, April 16 — Rec; girls’ and boys’ team practices as scheduled
Thursday, April 17-Tuesday, April 22 — No rec; no girls’ or boys’ team practices
Wednesday, April 23 — No rec practice, but girls’ team practice as normal
Thursday, April 24 — Rec and girls’ team practices as scheduled; No boys’ team practice
Friday, April 25 — Rec and girls’ team practices as scheduled
Saturday, April 26 — Rec and girls’ and boys’ team practices as scheduled
Monday, April 28 — All schedules resume as normal

Level 8 and up girls should come to practice on Monday, April 14, and Tuesday, April 15, beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Summer Meet Registration Reminders — We have a few competitive opportunities with registration deadlines coming up. Those events are:

  • Snowflake Invitational in Sheboygan (Boys) — $20, due Wed., April 16
  • AAU Nationals in Disney Resort, Fla. (Boys/Girls) — $85, due Thu., May 1
  • AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa (Girls) — $85, due Wed., June 25

Success Wall Additions — The success wall updates will be actual this week. Photos are ready and will be displayed soon. We have several additions to the wall this week:

  • Kathryn R. — Xcel Silver — 9.4 on vault, 9.0 bars, 9.2 on beam, 9.2 on floor
  • Heidi K. — Level 8 — First Place Floor (9.15), First Place All-Around
  • Bella G. — Level 8 — First Place Beam, 9.075 on Floor
  • Crystal S. — Level 8 — First Place on Vault
  • Level 8 Team — First Place All-Around
  • Hallie F. — Level 9 — First Place All-Around

And if we didn’t mention it previously, Reed B. in Boys’ Level 7 placed second on floor and vault, 3rd on horizontal bar and 4th in the all-around at Regionals two weekends ago.

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