I am so proud of my team! We had a rough first day but hit zero on day two! Love my Sov teammates.
He said
The last few weeks, this weekend has been in our thoughts (and on our radar) as it was a big one: Ontario Championships for Cheer. Up until now they have not gotten the results they had hoped for and have had to deal with a lot of adversity and it has taken a toll on them. They’ve worked through losing three teammates, and bringing in one to replace, as well as injuries and sickness to boot—all before the halfway point in the season. They have had challenges executing when it counts and as a result there has been a lot of focus on recalibrating the program to get them back to the podium so to speak. The girls have done an amazing job of going with the flow and listening to their coaches.
Of course with the weather turning unseasonably warm, you can bet you rear quarters that I packed my bike with the intent of getting in some bike ride(s) as this was our first out of town competition that we were going to stay over at. And given their schedule, there was an actual lot of downtown between compete times so it was a no brainer to get in some rides in, away from the home rink. Add, that I found a route that started and finished at the hotel, oddly enough, that would give me the opportunity to ride twenty plus kilometres both days. And that I did. The route was a real treat as it had everything: road, single-track, multipurpose path, country road gravel, climbs and descents!
But, back to Cheer… the day one performance – only worth 30% of their final score – was with a lot of room for improvement with missed and dropped stunts which has been the opposite story of their season. So while disappointing yes, left them in a position of confidence, especially from their coaches, as something they could easily solve. The approach to today was tighten up on everything and do what they know they can (and have). Given the challenges they have faced this year and the disappointment, and adding in that their head coach had to bow out today due to illness, the girls were surprisingly easy-going and ready to go today.
And when it came down to their performance time, they came out and knocked it out of the park! From the moment they started to the moment it ended, it was clear the ladies came to perform! Every stunt went off as planned, and the usual parts that challenged them came and passed without incident to all the parents’ delight. By the time they were done, parents’ voices were hoarse and even some eyes were not dry. What we felt had happened, was confirmed about an hour after their performance: the girls hit ZERO.
And when the awards ceremony came around we were hopeful for a better result than they had experienced so far—and even hopeful that they might even see their best season result so far. But they were also against some very dominant teams that have really brought their performances all season long. But, as much as we felt that they pads were stacked against them, we were delighter to see the first finish third, get bronze and finally get their first hardware from all season. We are so proud of how they battled through the adversity and kept at it to get this well-deserved result!
She said
After a year of challenge after challenge this weekend the girls finally got the results they have worked so hard for. After months of training, of constant changes because they have lost teammates with no replacements, but the athletes never gave up, never stopped working. For the first half of the season they have had a fair bit of disappointment. At their second comp they moved from what would have been second to fifth because of an illegal formation that put their stunt to an out of level skill. Then they went to showdown after learning a whole new routine they didn’t get in the top 5 like they hoped. What has been at least consistent is the girls ability to hit their stunts. The coaches worked really hard over the last month to clean up their timing, clean up their tumbling and jumps. The practice before competition the girls hit zero on all their stunts, tumbling and jumps. They were going into Ontarios very confident.
Saturday we made our way down to Kitchener, the girls were loose and happy. They hit the floor and it was exactly the opposite of all their other competitions, they hit on their tumbling and jumps – they had perfect timing. Then their stunts, each stunt group had a missed skill and one stunt the flyer had to come down. This was not at all them, the girls were upset after and the parents were shocked. Now immediately one of their coaches came out and said right away she wasnt worried about day two, this was not these girls, they are solid on stunts and was confident things would go very differently the next day. Emelia who normally emotionally implodes when things go sideways at comp she was a whole different kid, she bushed off her disasppointment and was there to comfort her teammates. We were so proud of how she handled things.
Sunday morning the girls all came together and were all cheering each other on, and were going in with the best attitudes. Anxiously the parents waited for the girls to hit the floor. We all went to the fan zone together and cheered on the girls. And man did they kill it!!! They had the best more energetic run of their season. All we could have asked for they put on the floor. They anxiously waited to hear from the coaches and finally found out they hit zero! The girls were beaming the rest of the day as we waited for awards. The girls were excited as they waited for awards. All the hard worked paid off and they came home with a bronze medal.
The momentum is on their side and in two short weeks we are back at another two day competition. The hard work continues for Emelia. She has a packed week ahead with a big wrestling meet at school so there is no rest for her!