New Gym

While Sofia's first love is swimming, Ali's first love is gymnastics.  She has talked about going on to the team but I was not comfortable with her going on to the team in her current gym.  I did not like the structure or the coaching and the lack of coaching skill just became more evident as the girls got better at gymnastics.  After speaking with a friend I knew it was time to start checking out other gyms.  I called up Elite Gymnastics to see about setting up a time to see the gym and for them to assess Ali's abilities to see if they thought she was ready to go onto a team or if she should stay in classes.  When we arrived at the gym I was a little put off because the person I had spoken to was not there and no one seemed to be aware that we were coming.  I later found out that the reason he wasn't there was because his daughter had needed to go to the hospital.  A reasonable excuse.

In any event I called over to the head coach when he was done with the practice to speak with him about Ali and why we came that day.  He was great.  His name is Ivan Ivanov and he placed 4th at the 1996 Olympics on vault and floor so he clearly knows what he is doing.  He was also great with Ali.  He took her out on the floor and brought her around the gym testing her strength and skills all while making her comfortable.  He corrected her with small movements which I thought was amazing since he wasn't coaching her at the time.  One of the things he was looking for though was how well she took instruction and if she could fix issues with her form.  He had another coach take her to the beam to assess her skill on that apparatus.  Ali came back over to me so happy and excited and Ivan placed her on the pre-team immediately.  It has turned out to be a great decision to move Ali to the new gym.  She has made friends with the other girls quickly and loves every minute she is there.  She now spends 2.5 hours on Monday and 2.5 hours on Wednesday and 3 hours on Saturday at the gym and she DOESN'T WANT TO LEAVE!!  She is really blossoming.  She has been more chatty and silly and seems to be coming out of her shell more.  Finally she isn't just doing what her sister wants but is doing exactly what she wants and it definitely gives her a happiness that just shines.