Greetings from San Diego!!
Although most of us are currently either already at the airport or on our way there, we had a great time in San Diego. We had a great time and are sad to leave, but we are very happy to be returning to our family and friends.
Training camp began on Sunday with every member of Team USA gymnastics flying to San Diego with their respective State delegation. Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania delegation had some hiccups in their journey - they were rerouted through Dallas, Denver, and Las Vegas before they were finally able to join us at about midnight. Thank you to Team USA gymnasts Mark and Jeanette for hanging in there during their long journey!
For the rest of us who arrived earlier on Sunday, we all met our new coaches and teammates at dinner that night. It was great to get everyone together, make new friends, and reconnect with old ones (Mandy, Lee, Coach Mary, and Coach Glen were all together at the last World Games in China). After dinner, we all went to our rooms for a good night's sleep to prepare for our upcoming training sessions!
On Monday morning, we ate a healthy breakfast and headed over to Oceanside gymnastics. We warmed up and played a game to get everything going. Then we split up into groups and began concentrating on gymnastics! In addition to working on our skills, we also did yoga, zumba, and learned about sign language with Coach Mary, and Monica, and nutrition with our Sport Managers Jen and Amber. We took a break to have some delicious Subway sandwiches for lunch and then kept practicing for the rest of the afternoon. It was a long day but everyone worked very hard!
On Monday evening, Team USA put on a fashion show. Team USA gymnastics was represented by Lee, wearing general Team USA wear, as well as Monica and Colby, who modeled our competitive wear for gymnastics. Everyone loved our leotards and warm ups - an extra special thank you to Coach Mary for all her hard work with GK and Snowflake who donated them! Also, an extra special thank you to the rest of our gymnasts who cheered on their teammates and did a great job supporting Lee, Monica, and Colby.
Tuesday, we headed back to the gym for more practice. We learned about the importance of being a team, Jen taught us all about Greece, and we also practiced more zumba, especially Coach Glen! We once again had Subway for lunch and more practice in the afternoon. We even had a dance party in the vans on the way back to our hotel.
Tuesday night, we attended a San Diego State University baseball game. This was exciting for all of us but especially for Jan, who had never been to a baseball game before. After the game, we headed back to bed to rest up for our final day of practice.
Wednesday, we had a "mock meet." Some local gymnastics coaches, including the owner of Oceanside gymnastics, watched our routines and gave us some tips and feedback on what we can continue to improve on as we prepare for Greece. We also got to wear our new Team USA leotards!
On Wednesday night, we returned to State mode and saw a slideshow of all the Team USA sports and Greece at dinner. We enjoyed traditional Greek dancers and music. Each sport also performed a Team USA cheer, and Team USA gymnastics received second place for their stellar performance! We were all very proud of this award.
Speaking of awards . . . several were given out during the week. Coach Mary brought a "spirit bear" that was awarded to the gymnast who demonstrated hard work and positive attitude at each training session. The spirit bear was awarded to Monica, Mark, Emily, Mandy, Jan, and Jeanette. Great job!!
We also had a "smile" award for the athletes who also kept a positive, upbeat attitude and encouraged their teammates throughout practice. Recipients of these awards were Shailah and Colby.
Wednesday night finished up with a dance and everyone going to bed to head to the airport early.
We'll update more when we arrive back home and more photos will follow.
Thanks again for a great time everyone!
