This weekend didn’t go how we hoped – now we have to focus on the next.
He said
The next big comp on the Cheer season came this week in the Ontario Championships which was a very big one as it was the largest contingent of Worlds Bids teams. Thankfully, Valiant already had their bid out of the way so that took a lot of the stress off the girls because the competition this weekend was likely to be fierce and full. The CS Silky Sharks who came in second at Worlds in their division last year were there, as well as a contingent of other very competitive teams. So the competition was going to be deep and deliberate about gaining some bids. And the girls expectations going into this, was realistic to say the least.
The competition for Valiant and the Worlds teams ran Friday and Saturday so we were down to Kitchener early afternoon on Friday to get checked into our hotel and then over to the Aud in time for athlete drop off. Their compete time each day was between 4 and 5pm so theoretically we could have drove down and back for this, but to take the stress out of Emelia’s prep on day two, we decided to get a hotel and stay overnight Friday as it would allow us to get time to visit with Testza and the kids on Friday night after Emelia performed. We had a great catch-up visit with them for supper and then got back to the hotel to relax after and get ready for the second and final day.
The performances themselves did not go the way that they wanted. There were some tweaks made this week and that coupled likely with the nerves of the caliber they were up against got the best of the team. The day one performance was not ideal and the day two didn’t go much better. The girls as a result were not at all satisfied with how things went, so the awards ceremony that we had to wait around for until almost 10pm confirmed what the girls already anticipated. We headed back very late and got home even later before all crashing out pretty quick and pretty hard. There’s a lot that’s going to need to happen if they’re going to want to be more competitive this season and more important when they take their routine to Worlds.
We’ve started to really flesh out our travel plans for the Worlds trip to Florida. We have the updated passport for Emelia sorted out and done, now it’s going to be all about focusing on the travel plans and fundraising for the team. We’ve landed on leaving a day earlier in the evening in order to get us down there a day earlier and full day to acclimate and get sorted before the Worlds hullabaloo gets underway officially the next day. All said and done we will have almost a full week down there for Emelia to absorb this dream of hers to compete on the Cheer Worlds stage that she has hoped for from day one of making the jump to Cheer after retiring from Gymnastics. She is being very realistic about their chances to win and is just delighted to be there competing . And we’re so happy to be able to gave the time and space to go cheer her on and take it all in, along her side the entire way!
She said
This past week was one stressful one for Emelia. There was a lot going on with cheer that was weighing heavily on her mind and that certainly did not help going into this week which was another round of mid-terms for her. Monday after studying as much as she could, her mind was elsewhere but she got her head in the game and put all her energy preparing for the exam. She went off to her exam hoping for the best. A few hours after her midterm she messaged me she was done. And all she could say was my mind blanked as soon as I sat down, I could remember maybe three things I studied. I am sure I failed. Not a great wait to start her week that’s for sure. We got home, she started to get ready for work and then the night was thrown into a tailspin.
Since we moved into our house 25 years ago we get a bit of a freeze with our basement pipes due to cold in January. Normally it lasts a couple days and we are done for the season. This winter has been a doozy, we have had colder winters, we have had more snow but this year we have had longer stretches of cold weather and lots of ups and downs including ice. So after a few weeks of off and on frozen pipes we were looking forward to some warmer weather that was coming to finally thaw things out. As I was starting to get ready for the night I hear yelling from the basement. Emelia yelling there was water pouring through her ceiling. After a bit of chaos I was able to finally get the main water shut off in the house and start damage control. By the time John got home Emelia was off to work and I was cleaning up as much of the water as fast as I could to avoid the water damage that could happen. Long story short, a copper elbow in our kitchen sink that runs along the wall into Emelia’s bathroom split, John was able to cap off the line and we could get water back in most of the house. Insurance has been here to assess the damage and we are waiting for the damage report to come back from the adjustor to determine next steps.
With all that going on Emelia was still in the middle of midterms. In less than a week she had 5 exams while still trying to keep up with work and training for Ontario’s for cheer. By the time Thursday came Emelia was ready to have a couple drinks and relax before getting prepped and packed to head to Kitchener the next day to compete in Ontario’s. This competition although called Ontario’s draws the most world’s teams outside Nationals. It is a massive competition running for three days and it keeps growing. This competition alone drew 58 of the best teams in Canada all trying to secure a bid to World’s. Emelia’s team thankfully had secured their bid because the competition at this event was deep and they would likely not have received on at this one. The girls were going in as relaxed as they could. Emelia was still adjusting to the changes that happened the week prior but she was there to put it all out there and do everything she could to perform her best and support her team. The girls hit the floor at 4:17 on Friday, loose and ready. Well their first run was far from perfect, skills were not executed and they had a lots mistakes. Surprising with the run they had they only had 4 pts in deductions but their raw score was very low. This put them very low in their division after day one. There were a lot of tears and very frustrated athletes and coaches after day one. Emelia was ready to brush it off and focus on day two.
For this competition we could have done a drive there and back as Kitchener is just over an hour from home and Emelia had late competition times both days. However during the Christmas break Testza and her kids moved out of London to move to Kitchener. Emelia really wanted to see her cousins and we really needed some serious family time. After Emelia was fully out of her cheer clothes and showered we headed over to Testza and Jeremy’s house and got to hang out with all the kids and it was the perfect end of a not great day for Emelia. After we few hours we headed back to the hotel to relax and get some sleep to prepare for a new day and midset to go into the second run for Emelia’s team.
Most of Emelia’s friends arrived earlier to cheer on the other Cheer teams and relax before meeting up with their coaches to run through the practice gym. We were all hoping for a better run day two and to move up a bit in the rankings so that the girls could build on the momentum with a positive run. Sadly day two was even rockier than their day one. Not at all what they or the coaches had hoped for. The positive for Emelia after a rough run was the fact that her cousins and family all came to cheer her on. They have no background in cheer so to them it was magical, Zoe and Abi think Emelia walks on water, add in Jeremy’s kids (Ally and Nate) all look up to their big cousin. So they were beyond happy to tell Emelia they loved everything about seeing her perform. Emelia needed that positivity after what was not a great weekend. I know that it meant everything to her to have the kids there, to have that pure love and joy surround her. We are so proud of her, not only because she works so hard but that she takes there adverse moments with so much grace and with her head held high.
For now the girls have to get back to the gym and hope that the coaches have some answer and changes that will turn this weekend around because there is very little time, there is a competition in early March and Nationals is a month later. They are all hoping for a better run at OCF and with a great momentum going into the last competition before heading to World’s in Florida.