The prospect of USAIGC sends the older girls a-flutter. Now they're making up beam routines and saying, "That's going to be my floor music" to every song on the radio. This new excitement means there's a better chance they'll stay in the sport, especially for the girls like Maya and Kathryn who have started to drift.
But we still have a season to finish out.
One March weekend, I drive an hour to arrive at the competition gym. 7:45 a.m. isn't a particularly kind time for a gymnastics meet. The older Level 4's--Christina and Alejandra are our representatives today--slump in with messy hair, looking like they just woke up from sleeping in the car. Compared to the hairsprayed ponytails and crisp buns of other teams, Christina rocks a sloppy side ponytail. Alejandra arrives late and sneaks in during the national anthem. Not a good start.
Floor first. Nobody does a great routine but Christina scores an 8.95 and Alejandra a 9.0. All right, we'll take that.
Somehow it gets better from there. By the end of the meet, Christina's pulled a 35.75 all-around. Alejandra, 35.05 despite an 8.0 on bars. She beats just about everyone on beam. I feel like a pride mama. Thus I text my mom, who has sat through countless competitions and understands what these scores mean. Success, solid scores -- these things are finally possible.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment