Emma's Gymnastics Story

I'm Glad

I was getting ready for my second gymnastics practice. I used Morgan's scrunches to tie my hair so that it's be tight. I also wore my new leotard. It was so pretty. It fit me perfectly. My hair was bummed and I had already eaten a granola bar and brushed my teeth. I packed my gym bag too. It said I love Gymnastics! And it was blue with purple polka dots. It fit all my gym essentials perfectly. I had my water bottle, grips, an extra scrunchie, lip balm, a roll of tape, and a change of clothes.

I told my dad that I was ready and he drove me to my gym.

"Love you Dad!" I said and hugged him.

He did the same to me and watched me walk into the gym, then he drove away.

When I got in there I greeted Katie and then my friends. My friends that I made last week are Bree and Amiyrah. They're nice and I hope to make more friends today!

"Alright, guys! Let's work on our butterflies!" Katie said.

A butterfly is kind of like having crossed legs but it's different. After our stretches we practiced doing handstands against the wall. Then we practiced doing it on the floor. I was able to do a four second long handstand! Then we did cartwheels. We also practiced doing bridges. It's kind of scary to fall into a backbend because it's like you'll fall on your back instead. After doing that, we tried to do a handstand and then fall into a bridge. Our coach said it's called a front limber.

After floor, we worked on vault. She said to try to be straighter when you fall down. We all had our turns like last class, and after that we had some fun! We each got to swing on a rope over the foam pit as high as we can. Then at anytime we could drop into the foam pit! It was so fun! When it was my turn, I climbed on the rope pretty high and my coach gave me a head start by pushing me and I swung through the air. I could just feel the breeze and it felt good. It was really fun. Then after four times swinging across the foam pit, I dropped in the middle. It was so fun! I made my way out of the foam pit.

Then we moved onto the beam. We practiced our mount on the beam. Then we practiced our dismounts. We also did some split leaps on the floor, so we could try and do one on the beam. Katie said to try a handstand on the beam. She held our legs up so we wouldn't fall. Then we did some other stuff, and moved on from the beam.

Our last event was bars. She told us to get our grips. So I got mine. And if we didn't have one, she would give them one to use for now. Katie also told us why we use them and helped us put it on our hands. I don't think I'd ever be able to put this on myself! My own coach even had trouble putting it on! She said to do pull ups on the bars. She helped us to do it and then showed us her doing it. Then she told us to each try doin a pullover ourselves. I'm not sure I can do this, considering I've never tried it myself. My coach mostly did the work for me. But when it was my turn, I tried to do it. I almost did a pullover but I couldn't get to the other side, so my coach helped me.

After that, we played a game! It's called the Gymnastics Tag. We have to do a gymnastics skill and tag someone. If you get tagged, you're out. And to free someone, you have to do a gymnastics skill and then touch them. It was fun! I did a cartwheel, and then ran to tag Amiyrah. She laughed and fell down to a sitting position, waiting for someone to tag her. I told Bree to not free her. Then as soon as I was gonna do a handstand, someone tagged me. I giggled and sat down. Her name was Loren. We were friends now. Bree freed me out by doing a backbend. After a few more minutes of playing, the game was over and it was time to go.

I went to the locker room and drank water. Then I took my gym bag and said bye to my friends and my coach. I went to my dad in the entrance room and we went into the car.

While he was driving I told him how fun was gymnastics today and I told him what we did.

"I almost got my pullover on the bars!" I exclaimed.

"Wow!" Dad exclaimed. "I am so proud of you. I'm glad your mom got the idea to enroll you into gymnastics and I'm happy you like it! That's what I like to hear from my daughter—enthusiasm!"