Bryan and I survived the “regular” compulsory gymnastics season!  Oh yes, Rachel did too 🙂  We were really proud of her.  Despite not optimistic predictions, we think that she did well.  Now I am no coach, I am just the mom, and I have decided that the big picture is the important gage for success.  The development of a gymnast is akin to watching the grass grow.  So, I will sum up the positives.

For details of the first meet, you can read the “The Winner Takes it All” blog.  Over the course of the season, she really improved (I think at least)!  In two of the competitions she medaled on the bars – one of the meets she actually PLACED 2nd on bars – GO RACHEL!

She never quite got her confidence on beam – at District-Qualifer competition, the first half of the routine looked really nice and then got wobbly at the end.  Because I am too lazy to post video from all of her meets, below are her District-Qualifier routines.

First up – Bars.  On the way to the meet, Rachel hoped that bars would be her first event, because it was her “favorite”.  I silently hoped that it wasn’t.  My logic (albeit kept to myself) was that the scores for the first events can sometimes trend lower with the scores AND nerves with the first event can sneak up on you.  Since her best shot at placing/getting a medal was on bars, I was hoping that vault was the first event.  Her routine looked very nice but her score was an 8.7 – WHAT THE H?*!  NO WAY! When Rachel saw her score, she slumped her shoulders and looked sad.  This was tough to see, but not getting the score/grade/salary or the whatever is a part of life.  I had vowed not to be a crazy mom but after seeing the score, I declared “she was robbed! I have to go to the bathroom!”  I wasn’t yelling, but I did get a funny glance from the lady next to me.  Bryan sighed and looked a little defeated as I handed him my half-empty diet coke.  Well, on replay of the video, I did see several deductions (for example – lean forward and hooking the bar is a significant deduction), and I am no expert – and judging can be random….

Next up – Beam.  Ugh.  What once was her prettiest event is now the most stressful.  Rachel has struggled for about a year on this event, and I was really hoping that she could perk up and do her best.  She did.  Her best was an 8.325 – not an awesome score but consistent with the other meets.  The coach told Bryan and me that she actually had a nice routine until the end turn sequences.  Apparently, she missed one of her turns and that’s big time deduction.  Oh well, the Earth kept turning.  I must say that compared to meet number one, I thought her routine was much improved and that made me very proud!  Haha – proof that I am not a “tiger mom”!

Third – Vault.  What to say about vault?  In short, I have no idea.  The only thing that I know is that the run is really, really, really, important and something about body shape.  Ironically enough, Rachel’s vault scores hovered in the 8.9-9.0ish range all season.  That seemed great to me, but most kids get 9.8-9.5 on vault.  Anyway, I think she looks really cute when she does her run and her ponytail swishes from side to side 🙂  Her score = 8.9.

Last but not least – Floor.  Rachel doesn’t like the floor exercise, because she feels like “everyone is watching her”. Well, ok….  Anyway, I was really proud of her improvement.  She scored 9.0 – her best all season!  (At the first meet, her score was 8.1). Although, most of the prodigies at the meet were scoring 9.5 or above.  That’s ok – improvement = potential!

Finally, it was over!  Then, Bryan and I got to listen in on conversations that were annoying yet somewhat amusing.  My favorite was “all she needed was a 9.6 on beam to make it to District.  She got it!”  That conversation was sprinkled with talk about their  little Mary Lou’s competitors.  Whatever – I am sure those ladies were not concerned about my kid standing in the way of their kids’ Olympic dreams.  Anyway, it’s character and self-motivation that are important, which is something that parents (including myself) often forget!

Rock-on Rachel Ann – you are awesome!