The Blog

Everyone from the EDGE please let me know if you have read any of this.  I'd like to decide if we should continue blogging each time that we travel.  What did you like?  What was missing?  Should there be more superhero photos??!!

Next planned post will be in preparation for our next team travel to Metz, France for the World Championships and World Age Group Championships!

Jamie

A post-Post!

Hello!

Here is my catch-up post about the finals day.  We are home now safe and sound but the story cannot go untold!

All of our girls had competed in the Open category which put them alongside the top athletes from around the world.   The top 8 in DMT went on to the final round.  In the final were 3 athletes from Portugal (Ana Simoes, Ana Robalo and Sylvia Saiote), 1 athlete from the Rebublic of South Africa (Bianca Budler), and all 4 of the girls from Canada's National Team (Kim Evans, Gillian Bruce, Julie, and Corissa).

It was an interesting final.  The format laid out had the announcers setting the pace with one athlete in the Open women's DMT,  followed by an U13 DMT athlete followed by a tumbler, then one of the trampolinists, then another trampolinist.  All before the next woman from Open DMT.  This meant 10-15 minute waits between routines and Corissa who was going last had to wait absolutely forever before even taking her first turn.

Julie went for her first routine and despite a bit of crookedness executed a nice HOT FFT.  This is a pass that she doesn't normally do but was perfect as an easier routine given her beaten up ankle.

Julie's second routine (HOS FOS) was fantastic and she lifted the dismount and stuck it dead.  Shortly afterwards I was signaled by people from 3 different countries in the stands that the DD judges had decided that Julie's HOS was not straight enough and had been considered piked.  They were even offering their cameras to me to help with requesting a review.  This cost 3.2 off her score and was a surprise.  After taking a second look it was ultimately decided that they were correct and Julie would have to rely on the beauty of her execution for her score.  Yay for stuck landings!

Corissa went last (as she was ranked 1st after prelims).  She was competing a HFT FOT and the mount was high and clean but a little long which resulted in a small struggle in the FOT.  Strong and confident though.

The final pass for Corissa was HFS FOS.  She was the only woman in the competition trying such a difficult mount and she found herself a little long and had to rush the dismount a bit but saved the routine without too much given away.

In the end Julie and Corissa tied for 1st and were only separated by the tie breaking rules.  Both had pulled through and had trained and competed with great aplomb especially considering that as of the Friday before we had not even been sure that either of them would be able to travel.  Amazing heart and effort.

This day was also, finally, Bianca's chance to tumble!  She found herself competing against only 3 girls but all were very competent.  She found the experience inspiring and came away ready to train bigger and better routines like the girls she was competing against.  Her tumbling was long and strong and she debuted her new 3 Back fulls pass without a problem.  Way to go!  Ironically Bianca actually earned some prize money for her eventual 3rd rank placing (as did Julie and Corissa).  When I asked her what she was going to do with it she immediately replied that it was going to her mother to help pay for the trip.  Wise girl.

That evening we decided to forgo the banquet and, instead, had a nice dinner back at the resort.  It was great and we enjoyed a low key evening before heading to bed for some rest before our vacationing day at the aquarium and the beach.

What a great trip and what a great team.  I am lucky to be working with them and we were all incredibly happy to have Marthe as team manager and judge.  She was an enormous help and we would not have been able to have the girls travel without her.

Thanks everyone!

Jamie

Heading Home

Hello, everyone.  What a great experience this trip has been for all of the athletes but also for myself as a judge and a manager.  I wanted to provide you some pictures that were taken throughout the trip, but also some of the last day at the beach and at Zoomarine.  I am sure that Jamie will provide you the last video and update of the final day at the competition when he has a moment.

We had a free day on Sunday to visit Zoomarine and then spent the rest of the day at the beach.

What a great show the dolphins put on!

At the end of the show, there was a little mishap with Caitlin Brown having a slip and fall and hurting her ankle.  She ended up being literally carried around for the rest of the day by Jamie to ensure that there was no further damage being done to the ankle!  This made it possible for her to still enjoy the day without having to be left out sitting at the hotel waiting for everyone to come back.

By mid-afternoon, everyone was ready for the beach.  We spent the rest of the day enjoying the water and beautiful view.

The trip home was long and a bit frustrating with having to be in lineups due to a mix-up when Air Canada initially made changes to our tickets, but we made it to all of the flights on time.  Everyone was happy to be home, though, to finish off a great trip. 

I had a great time with the girls and Jamie, and was so happy to see all of the athletes do so well at this international competition.  I will sign off now with two of my favorite pictures, and let Jamie provide you the final details on the competition and the overall trip.  If you have found this blog helpful and fun to follow the trip to Portugal, please let Jamie or the staff know so that he can decide if this is a good means of communication for future trips also.

Poolside at our accommodations

Yoga session on the beach!

Marthe



Amaaazing Mini!

Well.

I'm writing this post about yesterday (for us) which is still today for you all back home (midnight anyway) but by the time you read this it will likely be tomorrow (for you) which will still be today (for us).  Phew.

Yesterday was a great, great day for us.  We had some time in the morning and headed off to the beach.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the water was perfect.  Everyone played in the waves, built a sand castle, and took photos of handstands, back tucks, and poses on the breakwater.  The only exception was our wonderful Team Manager / Judge who was working away judging the tumblers alllllll day.

DMT prelims was spectacular.  Our Edge athletes stepped up with the big girls and showed routines with the best.  The Open competition included Senior athletes from Canada, South Africa, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, and more.  At least 4 World Championships medallists were in the mix!

Bianca's first pass (SB DP for 3.1 difficulty) was high and had lots of rotation.  We need to learn to kick out!  A bit of a stumble resulted but the second pass (BS HOP for 3.4dd) was amongst her best ever.

Alex presented a very solid 1st pass (F HOT for 3.3).  High, cleaner than ever, and stuck in the centre of the box.  Her second pass (SB DP for 3.1) included a kickout and some very fast footwork to save the landing and stay upright.

Caitlin Dube had her personal best performance, bar-none.  Both passes were stellar with new-and-improved lifting in dismounts!  Both the 1st pass (SB DP for 3.1) and the 2nd (R DT for 3.2) were strong and Caitlin was thrilled.

Caitlin Brown (aka Shiny) also performed with great style 1st presenting a DF HOT (3.9) that had been giving her trouble in training but was solid in the end.  Her 2nd pass was a beautiful R DP (3.6) that kicked out HUGE and raised her coaches expectations for future kickouts :-)>

Janelle showed a HOP DP (5.2) and a HOT DS (5.2) for her passes.  She showed great positions and solid landings and it's becoming obvious that it's time to step up to even bigger passes.  Janelle came very close to making finals while competing with some of the worlds top athletes.  She is set up very nicely to compete for Canada at the World Age Group Championships in Metz, France in 7 weeks.

Our National team athletes likewise had stellar performances.  All four Team Canada girls made the top 8 and qualified for finals with Julie and Corissa leading the way.  Both were the class of the competition with the hardest passes shown out of the 30+ competitors.

Julie injured her ankle only 2 weeks ago and we only decided Friday that she would still be able to attend.  Despite this she competed extremely well and you would never have known.  Her HOT FFT (6.0) was a little sideways but kicked out beautifully and her HOP FFS (7.2) was absolutely gorgeous.  We were both very pleased.

Corissa was rock solid for both passes and nailed both her HOP FOS (6.4) and her HOT DFOS (6.8).  After an effort filled last week of training Cori made competing look easy.  Top passes done beautifully.  Awesome.

Check in again tomorrow and I'll pass on the details of the final round.  Julie and Cori in DMT and Bianca in Tumbling when she finally gets to show routines after skipping prelims today due to low registration.

GO AIRDRIE!

Jamie

Day One Competition and scheduled training

Today was a long but all-told satisfying day.  The athletes had their official training times on the equipment at the gym.  Problems were found and then overcome.  When we first got to the gym, the training gym double-mini was not set up and there were no mats.  After some quick talking and stealing mats from a nearby tumbling floor, the training gym mini was set up in time for our athletes' training.  Another challenge was encountered as I had both teams in two different gyms.  With the athletes watching out for each other, and the kind assistance of Calgary Gymnastics Centre coach, Mary McPhalen, the athletes had great back gym training before coming out to the competitive space.  Eyes were a little wide at first, but they performed their routines and prepared for next day's competition along with several hundred other athletes in the gym at the same time.  It was hot, it was busy, and it was loud. 

Today was also Day One competition in the evening, and after a short rest by the poolside at the hotel, we headed back to the gym for Caitlin Brown's and Corissa's trampoline prelims.

Corissa was in the first flight and warmed up very well, and stepped onto the competition floor first up and prepared for her 30 second one-touch before competing.  There was some drama as I realized after Corissa had started bouncing that the judges were gesturing to each other and pointing at Corissa, and I asked her to stop.  She did, luckily, and we learned that there was no one-touch.  She needed to compete immediately.  Despite the potential distraction, Corissa did a great compulsory routine, which was then followed by a great first three skills of her optional, and then some unfortunate sideways travel on a double pike that put her on the side forcing her to stop.

Corissa's Preliminary Routine

Corissa's Optional Routine

Caitlin Brown was in the second flight which meant that she was warming up behind the curtain while Corissa was competing.  She prepared with great aplomb assisted by Caitlin, Alex and Janelle, who encouraged her and held mat in between running out and spotting Corissa while I was on the competition floor.  Caitlin performed one of the best compulsory starts of her life and a workable finish to the routine.  Caitlin's optional travelled a little bit, but stayed high and executed quite well, leaving her in the top 8 up until the very last competitors in the third flight nudged her out of finals.  A great debut as an open athlete!

Caitlin Brown's Preliminary Routine

Caitlin Brown's Optional Routine

Tomorrow will be an exciting day with every Airdrie athlete competing alongside the World Cup athletes from 14 countries.  Watch for the next post which will include all of their double-mini prelims.  But first in the morning, we will hit the beach.
Jamie

The Best of Travel Plans Gone Awry

As you may have heard, there were a few delays in the athletes getting to Loule, Portugal.  We were to fly to Newark leaving on Monday at 12:20 p.m., and then Lisbon and connecting to Faro, then picked up by bus and taken to the hotel with an arrival time of late morning on Tuesday.  Well, things did not go quite as planned.  Everyone arrived at the airport by 10:30 a.m.  Once we were through customs, we found out the Newark plane was delayed by two hours, which would mean we would miss our connecting flight to Lisbon, so Air Canada starting finding out what other alternate routes we could take to still get us to Loule by Tuesday.  We ended up staying in Calgary until 5:30, and then flew to Frankfurt, next to Lisbon and then to Faro, and then finally by bus to our accommodations.  With the extended delays and the change of plans, we actually arrived at the hotel closer to 1:30 a.m. on the Wednesday morning and not the late Tuesday morning as we had planned.  It was a very exhausting and long trip, but the girls were great.  They had to go through security four times, customs and passport control.  We had about six hours in Lisbon waiting for a connecting flight, so we had the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.  We went to the Oriente Gare and viewed where the 1998 Expo was held, had some time to shop a bit, and then had a relaxing sit-down meal rather than airplane food.  They girls have learned how important it is to be able to be flexible, to keep positive and to be able to work together.  Travel can be unpredictable, but they have proven that it can always be enjoyable!  Without all of the changes to our schedule, we would never have been able to explore Lisbon!

 

Alex, Caitlin D., Bianca Pye, Caitlin B. and Janelle in Lisbon, Portugal, at the Expo 98 site.

And we are off!

Janelle, Caitlin B, Bianca, Cailin D and Alex

They are all packed and ready, and will be taking off shortly.  The girls had their last training in the gym yesterday afternoon, and everyone is getting a bit excited.  The flight leaves at 12:20 today, but we are meeting at the airport at 10:30.  We will be arriving in Portugal tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful - 28 degrees above and sunshine!

Corissa, Julie and Jamie are travelling on a separate route and will arrive later in the day.  They are part of Team Canada on this trip and that is why we are travelling separately.  Jamie is playing a dual role and will

also be updating this blog to keep you as informed as he can, but with dividing his time between Team Canada and the Airdrie Edge Team, he might not be getting too much down time.  

The competition will be broadcast live at the website http://www.apagl.pt/ , and the times are as follows:

23rd September - 18h30 - 22h00 (Portuguese Time)

24th September - 12h00 - 15h00 (Portuguese Time)

25th September - 19h15 - 21h30 (Portuguese Time)

Finals 25th September - 10h00 - 14h00 (Portuguese Time)

The Loule World Cup will also be broadcast live at the official website of the event http://www.louleworldcup2010.com/ 

Once the final schedule has been provided to us at the event, we will update you with when the girls are actually competing.

Marthe

Travel Handout for Athletes and Parents

A travel handout has been given out to all of the athletes in preparation for the trip.  Contact information in included in this document.  If you have any questions that arise from the information, make sure to ask Jamie or myself in the next few days. 

Also if you have any tips that we might have forgotten to include, please bring them to us so we can pass it along to everyone.

Preparing for the Trip

I thought this might be a great way for everyone to come along to Portugal with the girls.  This is a first attempt by myself at blogging, but if you are all patient, I'll try to get as much information out and hopefully maybe even some video and pictures!