Parents Guide - Part 5
BE PATIENT
Being patient has 2 similar, but different aspects. The first is really targeted towards placements. Coaches look at everyone and make the best teams possible. This will be even more important this season as we experience some age grid changes. So you might not get that Worlds team right off the bat. Even if you’ve been in the sport for a while, there is a rhyme and reason for every placement. One more note here… not everyone is a Flyer. At one point, your Flyer may get grounded. Don’t stress, don’t yell at the coaches, especially don’t go to social media. Be patient… they may bloom into the best main base or back spot on the team. My oldest was a flyer. She was good and talented, but there came a time when even smaller girls were placed on the team and she had to move to main base. She was great there and she bloomed there. There was never a question if her flyer was going to hit or stay in the air.
The second part is about the athletes. In this sport, just like gymnastics, mental blocks happen. And I really hate to say it, sometimes it takes years to break them. Don’t stress about them, don’t get them constant privates… just don’t. If blocks are meant to be broken, they will be broken. There was an athlete on my daughters’ team that had a strong mental block on tumbling backwards. There were privates and sports therapy and lots and lots of stress on the athlete. Finally several years later, after everyone just stepped back and let it be, she blossomed as a tumbler. She had some of the most amazing front tumbling I’ve ever seen. And her tumbling passes were always so unique, because no one was doing forward passes like her. Also, coaching and pushing kids at home doesn’t help. Just be patient!