We Did IT!

My goal this year was to take my level 9s to state and win. There was no, "I hope we do good and hope it is enough" it was win or not good enough for me this year. It hit me last year that we really had a great team when we were beaten by GAGE by one tenth of a point at the state meet. Gage is one of the premere gyms in the entire country. They are owned by a man named Al Fong who in my opinion is a legend in the sport of gymnastics. He has been around and training Olympians since before I was born. His girls at the optional level of the sport are always very tough, talented, amazing athletes. When I realized we could compete with them, that was when the fire was lit.

I was blessed with a very large level 9 team this year. The girls are all very hard workers who love gymnastics more than air itself. It seemed like this group also really bought into what we were trying to do in the gym. At first when I said that we were going to win state, I think they thought I was being funny. I don't think anyone had ever told them that it was not going to be ok to lose this year. You might think that is a tough thing to say to a young teen, but at some point these girls have to hear it from someone, that sometimes winning is the only thing that is good enough. At SLGC we like to talk a big game, we like to think that we are the best. And if you are going to think that, then at some point you have to show people that you really are what you say you are. If I had failed this year I would have really taken it as a failure in my coaching and had to have re-evaluated what I was doing to keep us from the top.

There were many times this year that we were shown how much work we needed to do. Twice we were beaten my teams with only 3 athletes on them. That meant that these teams could not fall once time in the meet. This was not something I hid from my team. It was not good that we allowed that to happen to us, and it happened because of my training and their attitude towards winning. I was still working out how to best get these girls ready and trying to time their training so we would begin to peak after state. But I also had to make sure they were ready for state. They still held onto the fact that we just always do well in competition. As lower level athletes they all had been successful, almost without trying in some cases. But we are getting to the big leagues now, and talent alone no longer can do it. It has taken some pretty tough days to break through the wall of adolescence that wants nothing more that to do the oposite of what I want them to do. But when the girls start to see the results it is amazing how they start to come along.

We had a couple big set backs going into the week of state. Two of my girls broke bones and had to scratch from the meet. It is always tough to see girls get so close and lose out on all their tough work. I also worry about how the rest of the team will mentally take losing teammates so close to the big competition. With all the work we have been doing on the little things, mental toughness, presentation, all that can be erased if the girls start to doubt their chances because of the lose of teammates.

Going into the weekend I don't know if I have been more stressed or worried about a competition in a long time. With how I had been talking to the girls and the my coaches I couldn't handle a loss. But once the meet started it was a pretty great day. The girls started on floor and put up some great scores. We had one fall but the rest of the girls stepped up and made up for the fall. Next was vault and it was the best vault rotation we had all year. Only one girl had a fall, the rest hit both of their vaults and again put up scores that were better than all year. Our toughest event is bars. We, as a gym have worked very hard at increasing our difficulty, technique, and form. It has been tough for the girls to keep it all together sometimes though. The nice thing was that the girls never let a fall turn into everyone falling apart. If someone fell then next athlete was able to pick it back up right after. Our best athlete did fall on bars though and that worried me. We missed out on at least another 6 tenths of a point, but this girl had not been able to compete the whole season and we are still getting her into the swing. Beam is also a tough event in gymnastics, not so much physically but mentally. The girls have been doing amazing in the gym however and we were stressing that we wanted to show off what we had been training. Again they pulled through even after our starting routine was a fall. The rest of the team picked up the slack and put up some great routines an scores.

In the end it was close, closer than it had to be. But we were able to hang onto the top spot. I was so proud of the girls and felt like there was so much weight off my shoulders. It was funny at the end of the meet all the parents were thanking me and congratulating me on getting all the girls qualified to the regional championships. This wasn't something that I was worried about at all. If the team achieved the goal of winning the state meet I assumed that we would all be going to regionals. The goal was always to win state, making it to regionals was a given, and now it is getting as many girls as I can to the Western National Championships. It feels like the year has just started again, and I am feeling so excited for the next couple months, years....I am just so proud.