Feb
2023

Ontario Championships Weekend!

I had a great weekend at Ontario’s even if we didn’t get the result we wanted!

He said

Well, the big weekend we have been looking forward to for some time finally arrived: Ontario Championships for Emelia and her team. They haven’t really had the results they wanted at competitions and this year has been a really challenging one as they have had significant injuries and had to make some pretty sweeping adjustments to their routine. And, it has not been for lack of effort as the girls have really been working their butts off trying to get their routine perfected. This week, at Tuesday’s practice they finally had themselves a clean routine that hit zero. But, the best part was they were finally having fun—there were smiles, laugher and things just looked like they were falling into place. We were so excited for the girls and this weekend.

Heading into the weekend and learning that the drop off time on Saturday for Round 1 of the competition was 7:50am in the morning we made the change from driving down and back both days and found an AirBnB that was only 15 minutes away from The Aud and booked it for the weekend to save us having to get up at 4:45am in order to get Emelia ready and be on the road in time. We’re all a ball of stress when it comes to driving down the day of an event, when you add in leaving that early, it just made way more sense to book the Airbnb. It helped that was more than half the price of a hotel, but allowed us the convenience of being close to the venue, as well as making our own food to save on cost, and avoid giving Danielle a gluten reaction. And it allowed us 2 more hours of sleep!

Emelia has become pretty close to a couple of her teammates this year in Ashlyn and Emma. Before the weekend they were strategizing about getting ready together before one or both of the days. Ashlyn had forgotten that she and her family were already staying in Kitchener for the weekend as she helps coach one of the little girls teams. When we opted for the Airbnb, we invited Emma to tag along as she had the weekend of their Niagara competition. And then Emelia stayed at Emma’s the night before their comp in Guelph. Emma and Emelia get stressed in the same way before, but when they’re together it seems to ease a lot of the anxiety for each other so it is perfect for the both of them. And while Emma’s parents worry about putting us out, we’re really happy to ‘borrow‘ her for the weekend as it’s so good for both of the girls to be together.

In Round 1 the marks are worth 30% of the total score. While there was a stumble in Emelia’s stunt group Emelia as the third managed to save their Flyer from touching the ground which is where a big deduction comes as it is considered a fall. Overall, while Emelia was disappointed that it happened being told by one of the coaches and one of the owners of their gym that she made a great save after their performance, made her feel a lot better about it. And, as we found out on day two their performance actually scored quite well and they were – to their shock – sitting in third ahead of a team they were certain were ahead of them. And as we said it was so great to have Emma there for Emelia for the weekend to help her navigate the disappointment and frustration.

Saturday night we took the girls back over to watch the Level 5 up to the Open divisions as a way for them to get inspired for their next day. Danielle and I were pretty much left with our jaws dropped for the entire evening of performances—a lot of these teams compete at the Worlds level and it is easy to see why. And, exactly as we hoped the girls were inspired and excited for their next day by seeing some of the best do their thing. Danielle and I were blown away at just how much stronger every single person on their teams were and how even in wobbles, they were able to overpower and save the stunts with sheer willpower. And how, in the scariest of moments, it never showed on the Flyer’s face.

Round 2 on Sunday was where it really counted as the performance was worth 70% of their final score. We were happy to see Emelia’s group hit their stunt without the problems they had the day before, shortly thereafter there was a drop in one of the stunt groups and then in their pyramid they had a ‘major building fall’. With those two deductions sadly we knew they were out of contention for a medal and the girls knew it too. There were a lot of emotions after when the girls came to meetup with parents. They were certain they finished dead last. While waiting for the awards ceremony we had got wind of how they were positioned after day 1, and while we still knew they would not medal, they was some positivity to take away from it. They ended up placing 5th out of 9 teams which is a lot better than they anticipated. While it wasn’t the result they wanted, they have almost 2 months to prepare for the Nationals and hopefully throw down their best performances and placing yet!

She said

What an amazing weekend! As much as the girls were disappointed in their results and had hoped to finally hit zero at a comp they had their best performace to date. The girls were crazy high energy and put on an amazing show for the crowd. Our weekend started on Friday night. When we had decided that we were going to head down for the weekend and the fact that Emelia and Emma were negotiating sleeping over at one of the houses for one of the comp nights we invited Emma to stay with us. When we found out how crazy early we would have to check the girls in on Saturday we decided to try and find a last minute accommodation. John was able to find an AirBNB that was absolutely perfect and the best part is the entire weekend cost us less than one night at any hotel. We started planning food and packing things up before hitting the road.

By the time we arrived at the apartment the girls were so excited for the weekend. We grabbed supper and settled in for the night. Emelia put her hair in curlers and did Emma’s hair as well. The girls spent the next few hours looking at every video of every team they were up against to assess the competition. They were nervous but knew that they had a great routine that if they could hit was competative with the top teams.

Saturday we all got up at 6:00 and got breakfast and the girls ready. By 7:30 we were on our way to the venue and had the girls settled with their coaches. The parents settled in for what felt like an eternity watching most of the teams they were up against perform before the girls hit the floor. All the teams except one did not hit zero by the time Emelia and her teammates hit the floor. If they could just hit they would be in great shape. All was going well until one stunt that had a partial fall, unfortuantly a group that Emelia is the 3rd in. Emelia worked fast to ensure the flyer did not hit the ground and the group recovered quickly. The rest of the routine was incredible, it was their best peformance yet! So impressive and such a high difficulty that we found out on Sunday put them in 3rd going into day 2.

Once we left the arena on Saturday we got the girls some lunch, changed and then headed out to meet up with Ashlyn and another friend to do a bit of shopping. That honestly only lasted for about ½ hour when sheer exhaustion hit the girls and they asked if we could go back to the apartment. John got ready for a bike ride and the girls lied down in our room. Within seconds they were out for a solid 2 hour nap. Once the girls were up the watched the videos from the day and tried to figure out what deductions everyone got so they could see where they thought they would be at the end of day one. (They thought 4th).

After supper we took the girls back to the arena so they could see the level 5 team (they wanted to cheer on their gym) and the worlds teams (level 6 & 7). It did not disappoint. You can see these teams through video but holy you MUST see this in person. It is insane, what these athletes pull off is mind-blowing. The girls came out energized and inspired to take at least the energy of these teams and take it to the floor for day two.

Another early start on Sunday meant another 6:00 alarm as we needed extra time to pack up and get the truck loaded. The girls were trying to stay laser focused on having the drop in day one not repeat in day two. They hit the floor with a ton of energy and determination. I could see in Emelia how the night before really impacted her, she was in full high energy cheer mode for the whole routine. We are happy for Emelia that her stunt stuck but unfortunately there were two sizeable drops in one of her best friends stunt group. As hard as Ashlyn fought the stunt did not stay up. With the two falls and a wobble in the pyramid the girls were bumped out of third and fell to 5th in a very hard group of 9. They were obviously disappointed but we were all sooooo proud of them. This team has stayed bonded as a team and never ever gives up. We know that they are in amazing shape to take things to the next level and have a great result in Nationals that is only 2 months away.

 

Leave a Reply