I should have posted this in January when I first met with Z's coach about promotions, but hers really involved two things, so I didn't want to post until she knew everything that was involved.
Earlier in the season, we were told that her coach was going to wait to do promotions until April or May. He wanted to watch all the girls and see how they were doing and whether he felt they were qualified to be moved up. Right after Christmas, he told us that he had made his assessments and wanted to meet with each gymnast and her parents to discuss his decisions. We scheduled our meeting for the first day possible--January 4, 2016.
Z was very nervous. Even though she did well at Level 4, she was really concerned and was afraid he was going to give us bad news. He did tell me, however, that it was going to be a good meeting. That made me relax and made her feel better.
Sure enough, he made no delays and as soon as we sat down he said, "You're moving up." She got a big grin on her face and couldn't stop smiling. He did tell her that she had some "bad habits" that she needs to work on, but he has no doubt that she will do well as a Level 5. The other thing about Level 5 is that it adds thirty minutes of practice every night, but she obviously doesn't care. :) He did tell her that she wasn't to say anything to anyone until he had a chance to meet with all of the gymnasts.
After talking with her for a few minutes, he told her that he needed to talk to me and sent her into the gym to start warming up. She left and, of course, I got nervous. Not because I necessarily thought anything was wrong, but still, you never know. Well, nothing was wrong -- far from it.
The way gymnastics works at this point is that Levels 1-5 are considered compulsory. Everyone does the same routine in the same level. Levels 6-10 are optionals and the girls get to make up their own routines with more difficulty. Our gym has the compulsory girls compete in the Fall and the optional girls compete in the Spring. The problem comes when you move from Level 5 to Level 6. There is typically not enough time to get optional routines developed and perfected between the end of the compulsory season and the beginning of the optional season. As such, there is more than one year between competition seasons.
So what Z's coach wants to do, is take a select few (three initially) and have them train not only for Level 5, but also over the summer begin working on optional routines so that they can immediately begin competing in the Spring. He thinks that Z is more than able to do this and is offering it to her. He wanted me to talk to her dad and make sure that we are both on board with it. For me it was a no-brainer as I cannot imagine having to tell Z that she would be going more than a year without competing. We told her coach yes and he again asked us to wait to say anything, even to her.
He didn't finish his meetings with all the gymnasts until the end of January. It was hard for her to keep the secret, but she did. We had put up a Level 5 sticker on her bedroom door. She started the extra practices in February and loved the extra time with just a few Level 5 girls. She has been thriving at the gym and has learned to do giants on the bars (with straps at this point, but she is the only one doing them alone). I asked if we could tell Z about the optional idea, but he said that he wanted to be able to tell all three girls together.
At the end of February and in the middle of March, we had two of the Level 5 girls leave the team and join another team. One of them was one of the select three. There have been rumblings of others leaving and I was starting to wonder what was going on with move ups and changes. While I was glad I hadn't said anything to Z, I was starting to really have doubts that it was going to happen.
On Tuesday night Z's coach said that he needed to talk to me. So I made a point of going to the gym early last night to try to meet with him. The dad of the other Level 5 (select team) girl was also there. As soon as practice was over, he asked if we had time to talk. We did and he asked if we were still on board with the idea of the select team. We said yes and he asked if we wanted to tell the girls. I excitedly said yes, but the dad said his daughter already knew. They did not keep it from her and had actually also talked with the other parents and told one of the girls who left (who had not been given this option). In any event, we grabbed Z and her coach asked if she was excited for the season, to which she said yet (she had just learned the Level 5 floor routine that night). He then asked if she would like to compete two seasons this year. She seemed a little confused and then he explained everything to her and she became very excited!
She was upset that I had known for three months and hadn't said anything. But now she can't wait to start learning her "own" routine and working out five days a week. The extra day a week won't start until summer, but I think this has really given her a new look on her season. She is concerned because now her "system" is broken--she was a Level 3 in 3rd grade, Level 4 in 4th grade and she is going to be a Level 5 in 5th grade, but now she is also going to be a Level 6 or 7 in 5th grade!
So stinkin' proud of my girl!
