Some people may think 15-16 hours a week at the gym is way too much for any kid my daughter's age... My reply, "you should come and watch her at practice one day or come and see her at a meet. You would be impressed to see how dedicated these kids really are."
6:00 am, wakes up, gets ready, finishes up any homework that's left
7:55 am, school in session
2:45 pm, school dismissed
3:00 pm, arrives at gym, do a little homework
3:30 pm, warm-ups begin
7:30 pm, practice over
7:45 pm, gets home, showered, dinner, and video game/ TV (of, course)
9:00 pm, reading and mother/daughter time
9:30 pm, off to bed and ready for another day
This is what Nikayla's practice days looks like, not your average kids' schedule... but it works.
Gymnastics is definitely not your typical "seasonal" sport. These kids train all year round and compete from January through May (there are some teams that actually compete in the fall as well). During spring and summer breaks, there is no sleeping in. They practice first thing in the morning and then get the rest of the day to enjoy their breaks. On Friday nights, there's no going to bed late because Saturday morning, they are at the gym conditioning bright and early. Do they ever get burned out by it? Maybe some...but not mine. She says, "well, I am use to it. Plus, I don't want to lose any of my skills." This is coming from my child who whined and cried about going to practice the first two years of level 4. It was too hard, it was too difficult, she hated conditioning... yet, when asked, "do you want to quit? I am not going to pay for something you don't want to do." She would always reply, "no."
Now, after just finishing up her first year as a level 5, she could not be more excited to be at practice all the time. She just enjoys doing gymnastics. She loves learning new skills, she loves being with her friends, and most of all, I think the coaches just make it fun enough that she really loves being there (yes, I used the word "loves" multiple times in one sentence).
Of course, there are days when she gets in the car with a "poopy" face, but you sometimes have to expect one or two now and then. Gymnastics isn't easy and there will be times when the child gets frustrated because it is difficult to just "get" that one skill. As a parent all you can do is listen... that's right, LISTEN! Don't offer your "parental advice" because they are right when they tell you, "you don't know." However, you can offer a few words of encouragment. I always tell Nikayla, "it is okay, you just started learning it. You will get it, if not now, eventually. Just don't get discouraged." So this doesn't always work, because pre-teen girls sometimes don't listen to their mothers...so they just have to sleep it off.
I have really enjoyed watching Nikayla progress. I use to secretly sit and think to myself, "omg... is she ever going to stop falling off that beam... what's with the low 8's?" Okay, so sometimes I still do, now and then, but in the end, when the meet is over, you ask her, "what were you most excited about today?" She would always have something to tell you and say it with a smile. There's always something she feels she accomplished at that meet. Then she would say, "when I get back to practice, I need to work on... (whatever it may be)." And that just makes me so proud of her because I don't understand this sport as well as I think I do...but she does.
My kid is strong! She sure doesn't get her athletic abilities from me... :)
She doesn't care for pictures and she really dislikes that I take pictures of her during practice.
Core Workout
Goofing around for the camera, promise! Coach works them hard, but keeps it fun.
Working on cast to handstand (pure muscle control, tight core, straight arms... this is quite a challenging skill to nail!)
Coach sent me this video while we were in AZ. This was her first round off, back handspring, back tuck on floor without a spot. Okay, "biggie wow," but this was my child who struggled for the longest time on a single back handspring and pulling a double was not part of her "A-game"... back tumbling has usually been her ultimate fear, period! But this kid has some major "beast mode" power!
16 dead hang pull-ups and 16 leg lifts on bars without coming down... how many can you do?
Her friends!
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