Welcome to Week 3 - Mock Meet & Short Week

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to Week 3 of the gymnastics season! It's almost time for Thanksgiving break so this week will be a short week for us. 

Week 2 Recap: 

Our second week was hugely successful and we continued to have many goals knocked out. Everyone is working hard on their goals, creating new goals, and also pushing themselves to chase big goals! Ally, Tea, Derek, and I have loved cheering each of you on and watching you succeed! Again - for anyone who I miss in this email, let me know so I can send it in my next email! 

• Becca got her cartwheel on the low beam!

• Kylie did her front handspring on vault with straight legs!

• Kylie also got her shushonova on floor!

• Kylie Also moved her cartwheel to the low beam. 

• Kylie ALSO moved her side handstand up to the high beam! 

• Emma got a great new pass for floor: back walkover - back walkover - back roll! While I'm spotting her now, let's be honest - I'm not really doing anything :)

• Niylah connected her roundoff back handspring on floor AND THEN connected her round off - back handspring - back handspring!  

• Niylah also got her roundoff back tuck onto an 8 inch. 

• Finja did her back half on floor! 

• Sofia D did a giant on the high bar - no spot!

• Sofia G. successfully did a front layout full on floor! 

• Kate successfully combined a new quad series on beam that is extraordinarily impressive to see all connected. 

• Genevieve threw her first front layout full on floor as well!

• Claire did her arabian on floor! 

• Sierra did an arabian pike on floor (a skill I have never actually seen in person before!) 

• Timmia did her back half on floor!

What is also worth mentioning is how hard everyone is working on their routines. Floor and beam have had routines running almost non-stop and I am so proud of everyone that is working hard at both upgrades and routine consistency.  

Week 3 Practice Schedule:

Monday: 5:00 - 7:00 PM 

Tuesday: 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Wednesday: 12:00 - 2:00 PM (Optional) 

Thursday: No practice

Friday: No practice  

Saturday: No practice 

Optional Wednesday Practice (10/27):

The optional Wednesday practice is a chance to get some additional time in the gym working on routines or skill upgrades. Any time spent at the optional practice will add time to the time off each gymnast has. There is no pressure to be at practice on Wednesday and I totally understand if a gymnast can't make it. 

What to Expect in Week 3: 

We will have our first mock meet on Monday and Tuesday. On each day, we will "compete" two events. The order will go: 

Monday: Floor (1st) Bars (2nd) 

Tuesday: Beam (1st) Vault (2nd) 

Girls need to come to practice ready to "compete" wearing their competition leotard (we will be wearing the green ombre leotard that says Spartans on it). Our mock meet has three goals: 

1) Determine who will be competing at our first varsity invite in WI Rapids. I will have a line up prepared by the weekend. 

2) Ensure everyone's routines are appropriately built so far.

3) Preliminarily get a line up together for our first dual meet against Middleton (we will have another mock meet closer to that dual meet).

Our varsity spots are fluid and as we start competing and getting scores, the varsity line up may change based on the average scores and / or start values of a routine. So even if someone doesn't make the lineup for WI rapids, that doesn't mean they don't have the option to in the future. 

For dual meets, there are 15 spots to compete per event - with 5 spots on JVB, 5 spots on JVA, and 5 spots on Varsity. All spots are fluid and a gymnast can compete across multiple teams.

Regardless of where someone falls in the lineup, every team member is incredibly important and valuable and our whole team is there to support everyone equally. We take great pride in our team caring for everyone. 

Media Day #2 (Monday 12/9)

We will have our second and final media session at our gym that will focus on taking individual photos of each gymnast (pose shots and action shots), class photos (all the freshmen, all the sophomores, etc), and team photos. This session will be Monday, December 9th at 5:00 PM. All the photos taken from this photo session will be available to gymnasts and families at no additional cost. This is a great chance for girls to get professional photos taken of themselves individually and also provides the team with images that can be used to promote the team and athletes. 

I will get to the school early that day (4:00) to open the locker room early and allow the girls to start getting ready in advance. More details about this will be discussed as the date gets closer. 

Consistent Tapers (IMPORTANT)

If you are an athlete who consistently needs taping, please plan to bring athletic tape with you to practice. The supply from the school has been unreliable and I don't want a situation where we don't have any tape for our gymnasts who I am regularly taping. I did add tape to our item donation list (see below) to help with emergency or on off cases.

Locker Room Information 

A reminder that Tim will be available in his office from 8:00 - 8:05 AM to open the locker room to allow gymnasts to put items in the locker room. If you don't see Tim at the locker room, grab him from the athletic office.

Before practice, gymnasts are not to enter the locker room until a gymnastics coach or Tim has let them in. The wrestling coaches will open it for their girls before 4:00 and then lock it again at 4:00 when their practice starts. There should be no gymnasts in the locker room when they lock it. 

The locker room will not be opened throughout practice. It will be opened at the start, closed during practice, and opened again once practice is complete. Phones must be left in the locker room.

Where to go before practice:

On Monday - Thursday there is an after-school study center from 3:45 - 5:15 PM in room 1217. At 5:00 PM, athletes can head to the cafeteria, grab dinner (provided by the school), and continue to study or hang out in the cafeteria / atrium until I arrive. On Friday I will be at school around 3:45 / 4:00. 

Spaghetti Dinner Sign Up: (IMPORTANT)

We have 2 spaghetti dinner spots still available to sign up for. If you are able to host or want to pair up with a parent to host, please sign up. If you want to reach out to other parents, I have attached the team contact list below.

A reminder that spaghetti dinners are dinners that are hosted by a family on the Monday of the week we have a dual meet. Dinner does not have to consist of just spaghetti (it's just what we call it). After practice ends on Monday, kiddos will head over for dinner, likely arriving around 7:20 PM. If you would like to host, the link is below: 

Spaghetti Dinner Sign Up

Team Website:

For up to date information, schedules, and important links, visit our team website: 

Team Website

Team Item Donation:

I did just add athletic tape to the donation list as the supply from the school has proven to be unreliable. Item donations for the team can be found here: 

Team Item Donation

Snack Donation Sign Up: 

To ensure the girls have healthy snacks to fuel them for practice, I have a signup sheet where parents can sign up to donate snacks to cover a week of practice. The link is below: 

Snack Donation Sign Up

Team Contact List:

Below is a link to a list of all our coaches, gymnasts, managers, and parents. Please review your information and update the sheet, as necessary.  

Team Contact List

Jason's Deli Sign-Up Link

I touched on this at the parent meeting but you can order your athlete a Jason's Deli dinner box for days we have competitions. The link to sign up is below. You have 24 hours before the meet to place an order:

Jason's Deli Link

Tardies & Unexcused Absences

Tardies & unexcused absences now start impacting the future ability to compete. Please ensure that athletes are to class on time and that any unexcused absences are being taken care of in a timely manner. 

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Please reach out if you have any questions. Cheers to another successful week! 

-Danielle