Gymnastics

The girls have been enjoying gymnastics.  There was a sign up at the gym about tryouts for the prep optional team so I asked about the tryouts.  I didn't want to the girls to miss out on something because I didn't ask so I asked even though I assumed they were not good enough yet to join a team.  I was told that they should try out because if they don't make it onto the team they could potentially make it onto the junior non-competitive team.  I double checked with their current instructor to see if she thought it was a good idea and she also said yes.  It was a BAD idea!!!  The tryouts were not geared toward the younger gymnasts.  It was geared toward the older kids or kids who have previously had experience with doing routines.  Sofia and Ali were lost in the group of 40 kids.  There was no one there helping them to figure out where they should be going or what they should be doing or even what a routine was.  It was painful to sit behind the glass and see my kids so unsure of what they were suppose to do.  By the end all 40 kids lined up and one by one they went through their routines on each apparatus.  Sofia pulled it together and showed her confident self and went for it.  I almost had a heart attack when she put her arms above her head on the high beam and went for a full handstand.  On one hand I was proud of her for having the guts to pull something out that she has never done but on the other hand my heart beat was racing as she fell off the beam!  She didn't get hurt, thankfully, and just kept on going.  Poor Ali on the other hand was painful to watch.  She was the LAST child to go.  She sat there covering her eyes and looked to be doing everything she could to hold herself together while the other kids went.  When it was finally her turn she didn't know what she was suppose to do. (It might have helped if she had watched the first 39 kids)  The coaches didn't really give her guidance and at that point I don't think it would have helped as her confidence was zero by then.  I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could give them both huge hugs and tell them how proud of them I was.  Ali started to cry when she came to me and fortunately we were able to talk it through and she does not want to quit over this experience.  We ended up signing her up for a second class so she can get more time at the gym to get better and she can spend more time at the gym without being on a team.  She was a little worried about going to gymnastics without her sister (Sofia has swimming during Ali's second gymnastics class) and having a male teacher but when she saw me at the end of her first class with her new coach she was beaming and gave me two thumbs up.  She loves Sergy and even thinks he is better than her other coach!  Phew....crisis averted!