To the gym(s) that didn’t win this past weekend: 

Congratulations. I realize I’m not talking to the winning teams. This is a competitive sport, and we all receive scores, so there’s a winner and then there’s everyone else. But everyone else is the majority, and just because you weren’t first place or grand champions…doesn’t mean you should walk away feeling sad and frustrated.

My prep teams competed this past weekend at The Open in Branson. Not a single prep team of mine won. We’ve been to other competitions this season and won prep grand champs, prep level and division champs, and two of my teams were even undefeated walking into this weekend.

Just because we didn’t come in first, doesn’t mean we didn’t win in my eyes though. Here’s why:

  1. Our tryouts are mid-May. We have about a 98% retention rate ALREADY on our prep teams. That’s a LOT of kids who are committed to coming back regardless of where they ranked at The Open. 
  2. Our parents had a great time, cheered on their kids, cheered on other kids – heck – other TEAMS, and embraced the experience. 
  3. Our coaches, while competitive by nature, were able to say, “You know – we really did the best we’ve ever done, and they should be proud of themselves.” Their maturity as adults and as coaches was confirmed in that single statement.
  4. The event was well-run, fun and fair. There will always be a few scoring things that make me raise an eyebrow, but when I had questions, they always found someone to answer them. The one safety challenge I had was met with a friendly face and kind words.
  5. Maybe it’s because we’re in the Midwest, but I saw some really great sportsmanship this weekend. We entered the coaches room and sat with other gyms, chatted with other coaches and our kids lit up every time a new clothes pin was put on their bags. 

When I see threads on Facebook that say parents are most concerned about their child’s team winning, I keep scrolling. I believe you need a win sometimes to stay excited, but the losses make the wins so much better. 

I always tell my teams, “If you win every single time, we probably didn’t put you in a division that challenged you enough.” My parents know that’s my philosophy and we embrace it.

I saw a tiny prep team who placed second doing pyramid tick tocks and extensions as solidly as my Junior 2 elite team (shoutout to WIN tiny prep team out of Louisville if you’re reading this). 

I saw mini prep teams who placed third doing beautiful braced heel to heel ticks. Whether you think prep is a fair division or needs some work on the scoring side – I get it. But it’s undeniable there are some teams who are pretty amazing who also didn’t win this weekend. So, don’t look at a scoresheet and rankings to find your worth. Look at your program and be proud of what you accomplished. Heck – I was so impressed by teams who didn’t even win…and I bet some of them left Sunday night beating themselves up for missed skills or bent knees. So to those teams – congratulations. I saw some incredible routines and whether you placed in the top half or not, I don’t really care. You did pretty great to me.

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