Fowler Family: Kate's First Gym Meet!

When Kate's coaches approaches me last summer and suggested that Kate was ready to compete, I was surprised. We weren't taking gymnastics to have the end goal of competing. It had never really crossed my mind to have Kate participate in meets. We were just there to have fun and keep Kate somewhat safe while she did flips of the couch and cartwheels down the length of the hall.

So...I thought about it.

I talked to Greg about it (he was just as surprised as I was).

We finally talked to Kate. We explained what meets were, how competitive gymnastics would be a bit different than the class she was in now, the time commitment, the nature of competitive sports. We asked how she felt. She told us she wanted to give it a try, that she would work hard and do her best. And still have fun. Okay, we said. We will try it.

She was thrilled!

Fast forward to today. Her first meet. Truth be told, I was more nervous than she was. Typical. Kate usually doesn't let these things get to her too much. She was more excited about her new leo and ribbons for her hair. Again, typical.

She did look so adorable. And grown up. And I'll admit, I did get teary. Just don't grow up too fast!

When I bought this ribbon, I was in a rush because Guard was bored and mad that he had to run errands and was pulling all the ribbon off the shelves and throwing it at people who were walking by. Grr and sigh. I hurriedly picked the one that matched her leo best. When I got home I realized it was wired ribbon. But, Kate loved it so we made it work. It was very tricky to get it in her hair and tied. Let's not even start on the glitter mess I left in the bathroom as we rushed out the door!

The meet was at Bailie's Gymnastics in Draper. Luckily I spotted a few other gym moms on the way up and I just followed them. We got there with a few minutes to spare. Little did I know, that these things usually don't start on time. I guess we have to be there on time for Kate to warm-up anyway! I send her into the gym with her favorite coach, Gentry, and I went up to the bleachers, realizing quickly that I was going to be sitting there for four hours to watch Kate for 90 seconds. yippee. And the seats did not have a great view of the gym below. blast.

After getting comfortable (yeah, right), I took a minute to look at the roster. My heart sank a bit. We had talked to Kate about doing her best, having fun and being a good teammate, but I really did want her to place in something, just to make her feel like all the hard work was worth it and to keep going. I knew she wouldn't get a top three finish at her first meet, but I also knew they usually placed out to 10th place at these meets. I was hoping she would get something. Turns out her division was ten and under with 35 girls in it. Hmm.. there is a huge difference between a six year old and a ten year old in gymnastics. Kate is just so tiny, that she doesn't have the power that some of the other girls have and I knew that it would affect her scores. Well, I thought, it will be a good learning experience and I hope she is having enough fun she doesn't care too much that she didn't earn a ribbon or medal.

Her first event was floor. She loves floor and I was happy this was her first event. She did so well. I know she was hoping to do a bit more on floor, but her routine was cute and she performed well.

It was a big deep breath for me when she was done. She had a huge smile on her face and I knew she was going to be fine.
Next up was vault. Sorry, no pics. She did great, but was a bit wobbly.
Her favorite event was next - bars. I knew she would do well and she did!
And finally beam. Another deep breath. Beam is her least favorite and she can be pretty shaky sometimes. But! She did so well! I was so proud of her!

Oh my goodness! We were done. I was so spent and Kate was so wired. And now the awards. I wasn't really sure what to expect and, truthfully, I wasn't expecting much for her first meet. Vault awards were first. I didn't hear her name and I wasn't surprised. Next was bars. I was a bit zoned out, but when I heard, "Kate from Utah Twisters," I perked right up. I was so happy I started jumping up and down. She had taken fourth!

She also earned eighth places for beam and floor. She place eighth place overall. I was so happy for her. Utah Twisters took first place overall.

She had such a great time with her teammates. We discovered her second cousin, Haylee, is in her class. How did we go for so long without knowing that?! Guess when you only get together for reunions every few years that stuff happens. They were talking and laughing together throughout the entire meet and were so excited to find out they are cousins!

Thanks to Kate's awesome coaches for giving her such a great experiences. They are fantastic! (Kate and her favorite coach, Gentry. (I've never noticed how much they look alike!)