“As soon as I get back from Florida, things will slow down a bit.” You said that too, right? Let’s all just laugh together and get it out of our system. We were crazy. Nothing is slowing down yet. 

I was traveling back from Florida on Monday when my brain started making a mental checklist of all the things I need to finish before tryouts. So, here is what I’m working on this week so you don’t miss anything yourselves!

  1. We post our tryout dance in advance. We do a choreographed dance for Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3+. It’s progressively harder and faster for each level. We post this in advance so those who are registered for tryouts early have an advantage. This is a dance they’ll perform at tryouts. I am using the same dance as last year as I don’t think most of my athletes remember it (and returning veterans probably will have an advantage regardless.) 
  2. I’ve got some changes I want to make to the tryout questionnaire athletes fill out and return with them to tryouts. I want to ask the following questions: 
    • Number in order what’s most important to you in a season: 1) Winning 2) Leveling Up 3) Having Fun
    • Based on skills and commitment, what level do you think is most appropriate for you this season and why?
    • Would you rather be a flyer on a lower level team or another position on a higher level team?

I want to get an insight into what the athlete is thinking and allow them to make their case. It’s not just about skill to me. If the event producers I attend decide to use the united scoring system however, my athletes will likely be placed more on tumbling skill than ever before. It will set back my program a bit, but we’ll make it work. (My Senior 4 did what will be considered “level appropriate” tumbling this past season and often got 3.8/4 and 3.9/4 scores on difficulty. The new united scoresheet would get our teams 2.5/3 on running tumbling with the same passes. I urge you to review this scoresheet before team placements as it may affect your own placements.)

  1. I’ve got 73% of the kids trying out also trying out for a flying spot. Yikes! This new scoring rubric and level appropriate examples also require more body positions than ever before, so I’ll be posting allllll the stretching and strengthening tips in my tryout group so we can get the best gauge on who would best fill those positions. I suppose I can be grateful a possible scoring system is released this early in the season (as it should be every year) so we can set ourselves up for success the best possible way. Again, I URGE you to review that rubric before tryouts.
  2. I’ll finish up my final skills assessments of our athletes this week. I coach two teams and I’m doing the skills assessments for one of them. I’ve got a few more meetings to do that I couldn’t get to before Florida. During this meeting, I sit down with the parent and talk about the skills the athlete has attained this season and what she needs to work on prior to tryouts. We set goals and make a plan to achieve those goals.

As much as I’m eager to look at competition schedules for next season (and SUPER grateful EPs have already released them), I also need to stay focused this week. Look at the items you have that are more timely. If I don’t release my schedule until June and I’m focused on that this week rather than the things I need to release in the next 10 days, I’ll be in trouble. Set yourself deadlines, and hold yourself accountable. 

Also remember…

“Everything will slow down after tryouts…” Right? 🤷‍♀️😅🤣

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