Welcome to Week 9 - West Dual & Sleepover

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to Week 9!

Week 7/8 Recap:

We have been on winter break for the last two weeks, enjoying time with family and friends and catching up on some much needed rest and relaxation. In the gym, the girls have been committed to staying active and are preparing to settle into the competition heavy side of season. Our winter break practices at Memorial and Achieve have had great turn out and have been highly productive. I am appreciative of everyone that has woken up early for practice, taken time to pick up others to get them to practices, or modified their schedules to accommodate the various practice times. Everyone's commitment to practicing over winter break will have positive impacts throughout the rest of season. 

Our trip to the Kalahari was a ton of fun and the amount of laughter and smiles made my heart happy. It was a great idea for team bonding and a new tradition I would like to carry into seasons to come. 

We also had another inductee into the hall of fame! Please join me in congratulating Mia for her addition. Mia was added for two reasons. The first was for her positive attitude at our first dual meet of the season against Middleton. The team was dealing with a whirlwind of things that day. People were out for illnesses and injuries so our line up changed dramatically and we had a judge out sick so we had to modify the meet format to a much slower format. With so much change in a short amount of time, Mia did her best to maintain a calm demeanor and just have fun while competing, setting a great example of how to handle a meet filled with change. The second reason for Mia's addition was for her exemplary performance in her bars routine that was the perfect show of 'smart gymnastics'. Having a back up routine in your head in case a skill isn't executed in a way you expected is how we define 'smart gymnastics'. Mia's ability to employ smart gymnastics in the middle of a bars routine is an incredible feat and is a highly valuable skill for any gymnast to have. 

Week 9 Schedule:

Monday: Practice from 4 - 6 PM at Memorial. 

Tuesday: Practice from 11 - 1 PM at Achieve.  

Wednesday: School starts again. Practice from 5-7 PM at Memorial. Spaghetti dinner afterwards. 

Thursday:  West Dual Meet (at Memorial). West is hosting the meet so there is no setup required by us. Gymnasts need to be in the gym ready to go by 4:30 PM to start stretching. Warm ups start 5:00 PM and the meet officially begins at 6:00 PM. 

Friday: Practice from 4 - 6 PM. Go home, grap sleepover gear, and meet at the school at 7:00 PM to drop off gear. Dinner is at the Vintage (on Whitney Way) at 7:15 PM. We will head back to the school after dinner, swim, and get into our usual sleepover activities.      

Spaghetti Dinner: 

Our team spaghetti dinner will be Wednesday after practice. A big thank you to Cami's parents for signing up and helping us celebrate our meet against West. For rides to dinner, have your girls coordinate with one another, the captains, or myself. 

The address is:  5202 Dorsett Dr., Madison, WI 53711

West Dual Meet:

Our second dual meet will be held at Memorial and is against West. The line up was released to the girls on Friday/Monday. The schedule for the day is below: 

Girls need to be in the gym ready to start general warm ups at 4:30 PM. Official warm ups on each event will start at 5:00 PM. March in will be at 6:00 PM. We are slated to have our usual meet format so I am hoping that the meet moves much more quickly.  

The rotation of the dual meet will go: 

Round 1: Memorial on Bars

Round 2: Memorial on Vault

Round 3: Memorial on Floor

Round 4: Memorial on Beam 

I will pick up Jason's Deli on my way to the school. Because of how long of a day it is, please consider ordering your gymnast dinner or sending them along with extra food to help fuel them for the meet. 

Jason's Deli Ordering:

To prepare for the upcoming duals, start placing orders for Jason's Deli boxes now. Remember that you can buy one at a time and don't have to buy them all at once. The link is below.  

Jason's Deli Signup 

Tuesday Report:

No Tuesday reports are needed this week due to winter break. 

Weight Room Practice:

No weight room practice due to the west meet / winter break. 

Team Sleepover: 

The team sleepover is a whirlwind of fun for the girls. We will be getting dinner at the Vintage at 7:15 PM, heading back to the school around 8:45 PM, swimming, spray painting the rock, plastering team posters all over the school, having a ginger bread house building competition, handing out our secret snowflake gifts, playing games, watching a movie, and more. The doors to the school are locked early on in the night and the overnight custodian checks on us throughout the night to make sure we are ok. We sleep in the gym, with the last ones usually falling asleep between 3 and 4 AM. We will put on a movie once everyone starts to wind down. 

I will be with the girls the entire night and if something comes up while everyone is sleeping, do not hesitate to wake me up. 

People usually start stirring around 9:00 AM, so parents can tentatively plan to pick kiddos up around 10:00 AM. If we find the energy, we sometimes do a Dunkin run in the morning for donuts to enjoy while cleaning up the gym. 

If anyone is willing to donate snacks for the sleepover, that would be greatly appreciated. 

Things to bring to the team sleepover: 

• Your secret snowflake gift 

• Money for dinner 

• A swimsuit & towel 

• PJs 

• Slippers / Warm Socks

• Pillows 

• Blankets (many as it can get chilly in the gym) 

• Headphones 

• Eye mask (if needed)

• Snacks

• Games 

• Any medications they need for night time

If anyone has financial limitations regarding dinner at the Vintage, please reach out to me. If there are any questions or concerns around the sleepover or activities, please let me know.

Week 9 marks the halfway point of season and the start of the regular competitions. Let's stay positive, let's stay tough, let's get fired up! 

Cheers!

-Danielle