One week before USAG Colorado Level 4 State Championships

I feel like I am starting this blog at the end, but really it's a beginning.  This was Emily's first year of competition in the world of Gymnastics and it proved to be pretty exciting so far. 

Emily has been diagnosed since birth with a myriad of disorders... sensory integration dysfunction, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD.  I don't particularly believe that any of them fit her, I do believe that medical and school professionals like to place labels on kids that have no creative outlet for their energy. It seems to me that some kids just need more exercize than others.

Emily is extremely bright, but can frustrate easily and is a drama queen beyond compare. She needs a release for all of her pent up energy and gymnastics became the drug to control her ADHD without medication. She's no longer taking any medication for her 'disorder'. She takes gymnastics. It seems to be working better than any drug has so far.                      

Emily is currently 9 years old (almost 10) and a level 4 gymnast as of this posting.  She is attending TIGAR gymnastics in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.  Emily started in recreational gymnastics at the age of 3 at the urging of one of my friends who had kids already in the sport.  I took her out of it when she was 4 due to financial difficulties.  Being a single parent, competitive sports are financially draining. When things got better for me, I put her in Steven Oliver's Mile High Karate at the age of 5.  This proved to be a big mistake. 

Emily, a true competitor, was quite good at Karate - so much so that she got the taste for trophies and kicking butt... leading her to hold the title in my family as the only child (not just girl) to be placed in detention in FIRST GRADE.  I had to figure something out to do with this kid to get her under control.  Second grade bullies learned valuable life long lessons about picking on first graders that competed the Karate circuit.  I put Emily back in recreational gymnastics at the age of 7.

Emily's Level 4 season so far has been alot of fun to watch.  I know very little about this sport. I couldn't tell you at this point the names of the moves that she performs, but I can tell you that Noelle, her team mate who is younger, has many more girls competing against her in the junior group and is up against some pretty tough talent. Noelle is such a work horse.  She and Emily share private practices with their coach Svetlana. It just amazes me how all of these children can commit everything they have to reach their goals at such a young age.  The third of this little group is Megan.  She's struggling to keep up with Emily and Noelle, and she did qualify for the State Championships in the last meet.  Megan's the underdog and we're all rooting for her to do well at State. She's a fighter and the tiniest of the three.  I can't imagine this little group without her. 

It's been a long road from training to competition and these little ones have worked so very hard.  I wish them all the best of luck.

Here's a list of Emily's  individual results this year prior to the State Championships:

Premier Gymnastics  2010 Showdown Level 4 Senior results  9/25/10

Vault   9.300   (tied for 3rd)
Bars    8.750   (11th place)
Beam  9.000   (5th place)
Floor   9.300   (tied for 1st)
All Around 36.350  (3rd place overall)
Emily qualified for State at this first meet.  It was a great start for her.





Adrenaline Gymnastics - AGA 2010 Rocktoberfest Level 4 Senior Results 10/2/10 

Vault   9.050 (5th place)

Bars    8.500 (11th place)

Beam  8.500 (9th place)

Floor  9.050  (4th place)

All Around 35.100 (5th place overall)

Emily wasn't happy with 5th overall.  She learned that she was going to have to work harder to get where she wanted to be. She still qualified for State with the all around scores.

Encore Gymnastics - Encore Fall Feista Level 4 Senior 10/9/10

Vault   9.100

Bars    9.100

Beam  7.800

Floor   9.450

All Around  35.450 (boy I'm lax here, need the printout..)

Emily was first on Floor exercise, being at the top of the podium really made her day.

CGI Gymnastics - Autumn Classic - 11/13/10
Vault  9.200
Bars   8.250
Beam 8.600
Floor  8.500
All Around 34.55 (another one I need the printout for)
This was Emily's worst meet yet.  She was emotional and cried throughout every event. (I had her on her ADHD meds for this meet... I've since eliminated them completely)

Airborne Gymnastics - Airborne Classic - 11/12/10

Vault   9.300

Bars    9.150

Beam  9.075

Floor   9.100

All Around 36.625

This was Emily's best meet and the last one of the season prior to State Championships.

Good luck Emmy Mae! I am so proud of your commitment to this sport.  Love Mom