Hawaii Academy Championship 2010

Hannah and Sammy have been going to the Hawaii Academy gym once a week since last Fall. They both really enjoy it, and even though their schedules are getting full with swimming and basketball, they look forward to Saturdays when they go the gym.

For over a month their coaches have been encouraging them each to participate in their annual Trampoline Championship meet. I honestly didn't even consider it because they had only been taking classes for less than 6 months and I figured it was for more serious gymnasts. Well, as it turns out, both Hannah and Sam practically begged me to let them compete. They said they wanted to try to earn a medal. Actually, Sammy said he knew he was going to get a medal. So, I registered them for it.

The actual meet was last Saturday, the day before Easter. We arrived a little before 8am and didn't leave until 1pm. (BTW, it severly cut into my Easter-craft-preparation-time so I had to eliminate some projects.) I didn't even know what they were going to be competing in, but I found out when we got there. They were in different categories, but competing in the same 3 exercises. One was trampoline, another was tumbling, and the third was something called the Double Mini. From what I gather, it's a mini routine that you run through twice and they add up your scores (or something like that). I hate to sound so ignorant of the inner workings of the competition, I just didn't know the kids were taking it so seriously. I just take them to the gym to get a good workout, get out of the house, and have some fun on the weekends.

Hannah did really well. She was very calm and tried her best and ended up earning a medal for her work on the trampoline. (To receive a medal one must place in the top 3.) Sam, on the other hand, had a bit of stage fright. After the warm-up, when they all started to line up, he started looking at me across the gym with a very forlorn expression on his face. He came over to me and said he wanted to go home. I gave him a little pep talk, you know, the one with "winners never quit and quitters never win" as the mantra. He didn't seem to be buying it, but he did compete. Ever the ladies' man, he got a few of the female coaches to hold his hand and give him plenty of hugs before each round. He, also, ended up earning a medal in trampoline by placing third.

While the final scores were being tabulated, all of the participants got to run around the gym and play games and win prizes. They had ring toss, basketball, etc. Sam had a blast and won a cool dinosaur. After that, they had the ribbon ceremony (the medals will be passed out during their usual class time to encourage their classmates to register next year). It was really sweet because the children got to stand on a winners' podium and strut their stuff.

At the very end of the meet, they had a little raffle for 5 lucky winners. Sam was the first name called so he got to pick his prize. He picked a 4 pack of mini Tonka trucks. He was so thrilled and I was happy for him that he got to end the competition on a high note.

As expected, I made a short video of their first meet...

Hawaii Academy Trampoline Championships 2010 @ Yahoo! Video

Way to go, Hannah & Sammy! It takes a lot of courage to go out there and perform in front of a gym full of strangers. I couldn't be any prouder!