Summer Camp - Week 4

Watching warm-up and the morning meeting you can tell the girls have the summer camp routine down pat. They are in perfect step during Coach Becky's morning dance routine and they even take their own attendance! Yup that’s right, instead of the traditional daily attendance where Coach Paul calls each girl’s name and each girl responds positively somehow indicating that she is present, the girls sound off in order (they know who they are after) just saying “here”. If there is a pause in the “here”, “here”, “here” rhythm Coach Paul notes the absence and the sound off begins again. Its strange to observe, but a very quick way to complete the morning roll call. Efficiency experts would love that model!

There were a couple of surprises in the Wednesday morning announcements; not only was Tuesday’s last place team in first place, but each of the team totals were only tenths apart. Usually the first and second place teams lead the third and fourth place teams by a couple of points – but not this week!

The midweek handstand challenge of one minute and twenty seconds on the rail was also close. The last click of the stop watch showed the girls surpassed that goal by a whole second! Phewww! No push ups!

Thursday it was to time to empty the pit and rid it of blocks that have seen better days and those annoying loose block particles that sink to the bottom and manage to fly up and land right in the gymnasts eyes from time to time. Looking around the gym you could gymnasts creatively outfitted in surgical masks, sunglasses, and even swim goggles to avoid the "pit stuff". You could also see creative ways off moving the blocks from the pit to the sidelines. These included Miss Liz's beloved parachute, blankets, trash bags, and towels. Once the pit was emptied everyone was happy to see the dreaded pit stuff swept up and removed. With that done Coach Paul was able to perform routine maintenance on the submerged sub pump and dehumidifier. Once everything was in good working order the girls tossed the blocks back in. Wow.....its truly incredible to see the depth of the pit and how many blocks it takes to fill it. It was also incredible to see how hard everyone worked and the team spirit that made light work of this huge task. Great job everyone! Its awesome to have a nice clean, fluffy pit ready for the last day of camp and the fall season - which is just a few weeks away!

OTW Girls at Kingston Days Celebration

Early Saturday morning the girls gathered at the gym to practice their dance routine and tumbling in preparation for the Kingston Days performance. Once the coaches felt the routine was ready for prime time the trucks were loaded with equipment and the caravan headed for the big tent on the Kingston Common. Once the floor was in place Miss Liz took the microphone and introduced the team. The girls dance routine and tumbling accompanied by Liz's narration were a big hit with the crowd! Afterwards the girls set up an obstacle course for the kids in the crowd to enjoy........and for once the weather was just perfect! After that it was back to the gym and the equipment was put back in place and is ready for camp on Monday.

Summer Camp - Week 3

Early Monday morning everywhere you looked in the gym you could see focused, determined gymnasts working hard to perfect their new beam series, vaults, bar and floor skills.

Tuesday brought temperatures in the high 80s with 50% humidity so a unanimous coaching decision was made for it to be Pool Olympics Day! Great decision! Congratulations to the gold medal winners: Maddy (diving), Allie K. (underwater swimming), and Emily (smallest splash)! Congratulations also to the Pre-Team girls who were assigned lockers this week. It's awesome to see your hard work paying off. Way to go!

Wednesday was yet another hot day in the gym, but the girls pressed on and continued to work hard at mastering their new skills plus a dance routine for this weekend's Kingston Day Show. Great job girls! Your dedication is very impressive! The mid-week handstand challenge of one minute and 25 seconds on the rail.......well......lets just say that 25 push ups were done by all.

Week 3 - Wrap Up

Flex Routines:
This week’s flex routines were truly impressive and enjoyable to watch. There were more scores awarded in the 9s this week which reflects the awesome progress the girls are making; and there was more variety in the routines because the girl’s that have received 3 scores of 9+ are now performing their own routines. All of the routines have come a long way in just three weeks. Great job girls! Congratulations to LaNaya – her truly awesome routine on Friday received a score of 9.8!!! WOW!!!

Skits:
The theme for this week's skits was game shows. The audience got to drive around with Maddy and a cast of oddball passengers in the Cash Cab, laugh at some hysterical Family Feud contestants (last minute fill-in Melinda being the funniest contestant ever!), and enjoy some dares, double dares and physical challenges during the Double Dare 2000 game hosted by Allie K., and try to solve the I Am A ____? clues given by Becca and her game show crew.

Handstands:
As for the end of the week handstand challenge, suffice it to say a long week ended with a few pushups!

Summer Camp - Week 2

Week 2 of camp has certainly been challenging! In addition to learning new skills and lots of conditioning the girls have to deal with temperatures averaging around 85 degrees with 40% humidity! Although the heat and humidity have been brutal many smiles can be seen around the gym as the girls continue to make progress towards their goals. Even their handstands are improving!

Allie K’s alternative handstand style gave LaNaya a run for her money in Tuesday’s practice contest, but LaNaya’s rock solid form was the last to fold. Making Coach Paul’s midweek challenge of one minute and fifteen seconds on the rail really seemed doubtful Wednesday afternoon after 3 straight incredibly hot and humid camp days. Some of the “go to girls” crumbled early, but fortunately some of the Pre-Teamers at the end of the line with a little help from Mikayla and Nicole were able to add enough time to the total to surpass Coach Paul’s goal by 4 whole seconds! Way to go girls!

Week 2 - Wrap Up

Flex Routines:

The girls have continued to work on their flex routines and their efforts seem to be paying off. There were several more routines in the high eight range this week - that is an awesome improvement in one week!

Skits:

This week's cartoon theme was a big hit with the audience. Jackie propped on a big red mat with paws taped to the front made a very cute Clifford the Big Red Dog. The Blues Clues group with Kayla playing the part of Steve and Jordan playing the part of Blue did a great job of involving the audience in finding the clues and solving the puzzle of what Blue wanted to do today - backhandsprings of course! The Handy Manny gang featuring Ali A. as Manny was quite entertaining as Manny and the Tools tried to rescue Becca from a clothes dryer! The Imagination Movers featuring "Rich", "Scott", "Dave" and "Smitty" as blue-collar brainstormers working hard to solve an Idea Emergency through songs, stories, and hijinks were a big hit while driving home the Movers motto for everything in life - “reach high, think big, work hard and have fun!”

Handstands:

In the end of the week handstand challenge the girls tied their mid week total of one minute and nineteen seconds on the rail, but missed Coach Paul's goal by just one second! Sooo close, but one push up was done by all!

Summer Camp - Week 1

Week one of summer camp is well underway. The not so great summer weather has been a plus as the temperature inside the gym has been comfortable making it easier for the girls to focus on goal setting and flex routines. Wednesday afternoon's handstand challenge was for the group total to be a minimum of 60 seconds or to do 10 pushups for every second under 60. Being the end of the day the girls were looking a little a tired and the 60 second goal was looking a little iffy, but they cheered each other on and managed to total just over 60 seconds. Needless to say they were happy not to have to do any pushups! Stay tuned to see how they fare as Coach Paul increases the goal.

Week 1 - Wrap Up

Flex Routines:

At the close of camp on Thursday Team Dizzeeeeeeeez and Team America’s Foam Pits were neck and neck with scores of 147.1 and 146.6. The Whatsamadoits (144.8) and team Francis (143.2) were battling for third and fourth. Friday’s judging was far less flexible than the girls, but an occasional 9+ was granted. In the end Team America’s Foam Pits took first place followed closely by Team Dizzeeeeeeez. Team Francis and the Whatsamadoits placed 3rd and 4th respectively.

Skits:

The teams had some great costumes and great acting but most of all great team work and fun as each team spoofed a coach. The Whatsamodoits performed a very entertaining skit of a day on the golf course with Coach Paul. Team Dizeeeeeeez’s LaNaya was hilarious as Miss Becky as was Team Francis’ Kayla enacting a day at practice with Miss Sharon. Team America’s Foam Pits spoofed Melinda breaking the beam (performed by Allison) and falling into a manhole and losing her cell phone performed by ( Allie K).

Handstand Challenge:
Friday’s challenge was one minute and 10 seconds. The girls banded together but after a long hard week their best efforts left them just 3 seconds shy of the goal - definitely a respectable total! 10 pushups were polished off with ease as week 1 of camp was brought to a close.