Is that most of the time instincts are spot on. I'm sure if you read my post last week you remember my concerns about The Munchkin Princess not progressing at a steady enough pace for my liking. By the end of my post I talked myself down and put my trust back into the coach. Well, amazingly enough about 30 minutes after posting, as soon as practice was over, the team's coach approached me and strongly recommended that I send my daughter to the Level 4 team because she realized that the challenge wasn't great enough to keep Anaya's progression going on the right track. Now, don't get me wrong I fully believe that the coach of the Xcel team has the ability to challenge my daughter on her own. That was not the question for me. What was up for question was the level of performance and training of the team as a whole. If she was the only one performing at a certain level I did not expect for her to be given special attention so that she can be adequately trained when there is already a team in place that could do that for her. So what I have learned about the Xcel program is that it is really designed for those children who are working towards the skill level for compulsory competition rather than optional. I would like to say, I do my best to be as realistic about my child's abilities as possible, that includes academics as well as athletics. So when I mention inadequacies in regards to instruction that she is receiving I am only doing so with as objective an eye as a parent can possibly have. Fortunately for us, the professionals whose hands we place our daughter in did not hesitate to help her get to where she needed to be; this only solidifies my satisfaction with the facility that we chose for her to train.
After the recommendation we chose to visit the Level 4 team across town for a trial run. Everything worked out just fine, as we thought it would, and now we are officially part of the Junior Olympic Level 4 competitive team at our gym. I'm still just as excited as I was when she started the Xcel Program. Only now, since she gets to train in the same gym as the Elite team and be inspired even more everyday her excitement level actually matches mine. In the end, I still don't feel that our time in the Xcel Program was wasted because I feel as though it gave me greater perspective into the sport as a parent, maybe I was the one who needed to be eased into the competitive world rather than my daughter. Either way I think we're all ready now and it's a good thing because the train is out of the station.
Today we have two words:
Compulsory and Optional
Compulsory in gymnastics means that a restricted, set standard of skills that must be displayed in order to advance in levels.
Optional in gymnastics means that the gymnast gets to pick and choose which skills they would like to display for judging in their level. There may be difficulty restrictions depended upon what level they are, but they may choose any skills to display within their difficulty restrictions.
Apparently, as a member of the Junior Olympic Program you do not get to choose your skills until your are an advanced gymnast (level 7-10). However, as an Xcel Program participant you start out choosing your until you are able to perform all basic skills.
That's all for today folks, we're on a new team on a new side of town with new rules and new skills. But we're ready to Fly High and Stick It.
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