My dad hadn’t showed at my next meet due to other obligations. Who would’ve guessed, I stuck my beam routine with clean execution. That put a true smile on my face as I saluted the judge.
Later that night when I got home, my mom joked that the reason I stuck my beam routine was because my dad wasn’t there. At first we just took it as a joke, but the superstition started to become true. At each meet my father watched, another fall, like cannons going off in The Hunger Games. I didn’t understand why I kept falling, I had great routines in practice. Sure I wobbled sometimes, but rarely did I fail to save myself. “You’re rushing. Slow down, think about your skills, and you’ll do better.” My coach told me.
The night before Newton High’s last ever home gymnastics meet, I was speaking to my parents. “Dad, can you leave the gym when I go on beam? I don’t mean to be rude, it’s just that the competition you didn’t go to, I stuck my beam routine.” He laughed and agreed to my …show more content…
Once we got to beam, my dad left the gym so he couldn’t see or hear anything going on for my routine. Everything suddenly seemed as if it were going in slow motion. As I was waiting for the judge, I shook the nerves out of my body, and thought to myself, “This might be the last time you will ever do a beam routine at a home meet. Give it everything.”
Saluting with a smile, I mounted on the beam. My first skill was my tuck jump half to another tuck jump half. I stuck it with a little wobble. My switch leap extended well and hit perfectly. I was hesitant on my cartwheel series, but the encouragement from my team helped me stick it. “Here goes my full turn,” I thought to myself. Preparing with a plie, I spotted one of teammates standing at the end of the beam. “Look at her as long as you can.” I told myself. Stepping out of my full turn with my head held high, I had stuck my routine.
Giving my teammates hugs and high fives out of joy for my no-fall routine, I spotted my dad out of the corner of my eye. He was walking back into the gym with an excited look on his face, after looking at my mom, who had two thumbs up and a grin bigger than her face. Having my best personal beam routine all season helped me even more on floor. Our team won with a new record for Newton High, 107.9. From now on, my father leaves the room as I compete on