First Meet Reflections

My gymnastics team girls made it through their first meet of the season and they did great. During awards, I witnessed some very cool moments – ones that remind me of why I love working with kids and what is important.

• It’s okay to make a mistake – one of the lessons gymnasts learn early is that everyone makes mistakes, but you can make them and live to tell about it. Mistakes are part of the learning experience and you can laugh about them too.
• Perseverance – one of the best moments of the evening came from a gymnast who was on my team last year and struggled all year long. She did not progress as fast as her team mates but she always kept a positive attitude. Last night she improved her overall score from last year by almost 5 points (which in gymnastics is HUGE). The look on her face when she got called to the podium for awards was priceless. Her self confidence is through the roof and she has learned one of the most important life lessons ever.
• Believe in yourself – another little girl came to us from another gym this summer. The first weeks of practice were filled with tears as she made the adjustment to her new training environment. She was a little girl who really didn’t believe in herself or think she was all that good. Last night as she finished her beam routine, a huge smile came across her face – she had stuck her beam routine and scored higher than she ever had before – it was even good enough for first place. It was so much fun as a coach to be able to go back to her and say, “hey, I told you that you could do it – you have been working hard and it shows!”

There were so many other little things that warmed my heart. While watching awards I told a fellow coach that when the girls arrived before the meet, they were just kids who took gymnastics, but once they finished this first meet, they are now gymnasts.