Red Deer Photos

Red Deer

We are home from Red Deer. I'm so tired and I really would love to be taking a nap, but I know if I don't write something now, I may not ever.

We headed up to Red Deer yesterday afternoon (through some crazy weather!) so that we could catch the P2 Tyro girls from the club. They did awesome and I'm glad we went up early to watch them. I love watching gymnastics in general and when any of our girls do well, I feel proud. And they did well!

We headed to the hotel later than I'd hoped and grabbed dinner at Moxies in the hotel. Noah got to bed a little later than she probably should have but I wanted to straighten her hair after dinner so it wouldn't be a big poof ball again. Anthony and I shared one bed and gave Noah the other one hoping that she would get a better sleep that way but oh my...those beds at the Sandman are tiny! I swear they are smaller than a normal double bed. Anyways - I did not sleep at all. Maybe 3 hours in total. It didn't help that I am still sick - Still coughing and hacking and feeling ill all around.

Noah did ok at the meet. She had an Olympic rotation - Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor - which she loves, so we started off on the right foot.
Vault sucked though. What else is new? This is the story of her gym career...and that of many other girls at our club. So she competes this damn skill that I have never, ever seen her land properly. I just do not understand the coaches decision to keep making her compete it when she never lands it. The majority of her competitors competed an easier vault and scored much higher. In fact, Noah was tied for second last. Bad.
Bars was clean. However - she is competing a very easy routine. She should have several harder skills in there soon...hopefully within the month - in time for our next meet. Her score was ok but nothing to jump for joy over.
Beam was good. She finally landed her back-walkover/back-handspring combination...even though she couldn't stick it in warm up! She got her only medal on this event - silver - and that gave her a big grin.
Floor was ok. I thought it looked better than the mark she got...but maybe I am just a biased parent. She did not do her full-twist but did a front layout instead. Apparently they are worth the same. Hmmm...someone should have told her that last week at Omega!
All-Around she came 6th. Ok but she is better than that - She has work to do. I just hope that she realizes that on her own.

We stayed for the next session which included the pre-novice, national novice and national open girls from our gym. It is always great to watch that caliber of gymnastics...but we left before they were finished all events...I can only ask so much from my husband!

All-in-all, not a bad weekend of gymnastics.

Omega Meet Photos

Omega Gymnastic Meet - February 2008


Noah representing her club...

Bars was not too bad...her layout/flyaway looks nice.

Game face.

Great legs, great toes.

Height isn't too bad....

Vicky getting Noah ready to go on floor.

(Kelsey is sitting in the pink jacket)

Not too much to say about floor....

And vault...ugh, look at those legs!

Oh my Omega....

So last weekend we flew to Abbotsford, BC to attend a gymnastics meet at the Omega Gymnastics Club. On Friday we went to Granville Island and had lunch at that great seafood restaurant "Bridges" overlooking the harbour. I had a smoked salmon, cream cheese, caper and onion pizza...YUM! Then we did a little bit of shopping around, got some snacks and fresh fruit for the girls. We found a great kids clothing store that sells tons of great Roxy stuff - So we bought Noah a few cute outfits. We also went to a great little wine specialty shop and I picked up two bottles of local white Pinot wines...but I brought them home to enjoy later!
We then headed to our hotel to check in. Noah and I stay in our own room in order to avoid the distractions of sharing and other peoples routines. It was a nice hotel but they totally lie and tell you that each guest gets a complimentary 15 minute massage....uhhh...we never got one!

We spent the next two days at either the hotel our the gym club. It was a great club and we enjoyed their hospitality for sure. But I got crazy sick Saturday night...and still am, actually!
Noah had the worst meet of her life...and I am worried that it will stay with her. She did a downgraded bars routine...the same one she competed two years ago. She fell on her back-walkover/back-handspring combination on the balance beam, she totally missed her round-off/back-handspring/full twist on floor and landed on her side. She was loose on her half-full twist vault and landed on her stomach. Ouch...definately her worst meet ever!
She should have won gold on every event. She ended up with two silver medals, a 5th, a 6th and 4th all-around. Now that doesn't sound too bad...but it was out of 7 girls!!!

So here is my top 10 list of what to make sure we do at the next meet to avoid this from happening again:
10) Make sure the gymnast gets at least her normal 10 hours of sleep.
9) Make sure the gymnast is not in a room with a mother who is ill all night long.
8) Make sure the gymnast does not eat chinese food take-out the night before.
7) Make sure the gymnast eats more than just a banana for breakfast.
6) Make sure the gymnast does not have to take care of her sick mother the morning of the meet.
5) Make sure the gymnast does not have to pack the suitcases of the sick mother the morning of the meet.
4) Make sure the gymnast eats her snacks during the 6 hours she is there.
3) Make sure the gymnast warms up her full twist rather than go to the bathroom.
2) Make sure the gymnast does not get just one foot taped with a heel pad that makes her unbalanced!
And the number ONE reason....
1) Make sure the gymnast does not fall on three out of four events!