Gymnastics Family PreSeason Meeting Notes
November 3, 2022
Welcome!
Co-Op Changes
New this season - we no longer can COMPETE as the Waukesha Combined Co-Op Team of all four
schools due to WIAA regulations on the number of schools that can make up a team. At meets, we will be
two teams, Waukesha 1 and Waukesha 2. The teams are comprised of West & South, and North & CMH.
Splitting this way makes us all of us eligible for team competition.
Communication
● Facebook
Private Facebook group titled: Waukesha High School Gymnastics Team. All gymnasts and
parents should search for the group and make sure to have Facebook notifications set to ON. We
will do a lot of our communication via Facebook. Feel free to post questions to the Facebook
group as there might be other parents with the same questions. We will do our best to reply
quickly. If you are a returning parent who knows the answer, feel free to chime in.
We will also use this Facebook group to post results and pictures from the meets as well as bus
time reminders, practice changes, etc.
● Emails
You can expect emails on a regular basis with the week’s pertinent information, primarily from
Mari but sometimes from other coaches. Please use Mari as your point of contact to simplify our
communication with so many staff members this season. For now: [email protected]
● Gymnastics Website on westwolverines.com
https://www.westwolverines.com/page/show/873745-gymnastics-2013-2014-
Here you’ll find all the basic info, coach contact info and downloads. You may find it easier to go
to westwolverines.com and choose “Winter” then “Gymnastics”
● GroupMe App
We will once again use an app call GroupMe for text communication with the gymnasts. This is a
simplified way of sending out a “group text”. Once we have all the gymnast phone numbers, we
will send out a link for all gymnasts to join the group. It is very important that all gymnasts
download the app and turn on notifications. We will send gymnast communication via that app.
1st week of practice
We begin on Tuesday, November 8th . Practices for the first week only will be at West in court 4 of the
field house ALL WEEK. We will meet on the following schedule for just this week.
Tuesday 11/08, Wednesday 11/09 & Thursday 11/10 6-8PM
Friday 11/11 5:30-7:30PM
We will get to know each other, condition, organize our equipment, meet with the gymnasts, and review
program goals/expectations. Tennis shoes are required every day of practice during the first week. If you
choose, you do not need to wear a leotard on the first day of practice (t-shirt/tank and shorts are
acceptable). After the first day of practice, a leotard is required every day.
Practice Schedule
The practice schedule is largely set. The practice schedule beginning week two (11/13) is as follows:
Sundays: Practice at Salto, 9:00-11:30AM. Times may vary occasionally based on the birthday party
schedule at the gym but plan for them most often to be 9:00-11:30AM.
Mondays: OFF – we practice on Sunday and take off Monday
Tuesdays: Practice at Salto 6:30-9:00pm
Wednesdays: Practice at West 5:30-8:00PM
Thursdays: Practice at Salto 6:30-9:00PM
Fridays: Practice at West 5:30-7:30/8 OR 4:45-6:45pm (we are limited by coach & gym availability but will
do our best to give us a few early practice days/accommodate team dinners!)
Saturdays: OFF from formal practice.
The above practice schedule starts the week of November 13th (when we’ll begin going to Salto). We are
very fortunate to be able to train at Salto. This limits the times we practice at West and need to setup our
equipment. The cost for training at Salto (during the season) is covered by the West booster club.
Attendance
Attendance at practice is mandatory. If you are missing practice, you are missing an opportunity to
improve. We also have a lot of information that is passed out at every practice. We will not work around a
weekly absence (for example - work). This is a team sport so please make sure you can honor your
commitment to your teammates when you join this team. We understand there are excused absences
that arise and we will work with you on an individual basis. Practice the day before a meet is mandatory
as is attendance at all meets. We will discuss this more in-depth with the gymnasts during the first week
of practice. Please plan appointments on non-meet days.
Meet Schedule
The meet schedule is very close to being finalized but is not yet available. Here are the three home meet
dates in the meantime: Thursday 12/08, Wed 01/18, Thursday 02/02. Mari will get the meet schedule up
on the website and out to you as soon as it is complete.
Meet Transportation
Busing continues to be a sticking point. This year there is zero busing available from 1:30-4:30PM on
weekdays at all. We will be planning to utilize the school vans for weekday meets any time we would
need to leave school between 1:30PM and 4:30PM where feasible. We will continue to use buses for
invites and if we cannot use the vans for weekday use.
Meet Volunteers
We will likely need family volunteers to flash scores/time events (6 total). If that is the case, a signup will
come out prior to the meet.
Competition Leotards
We ordered brand new, beautiful, sparkly competition leos last season. These are owned by the
gymnastics team and will be on loan to gymnasts at the beginning of season and returned at the end of
season.
Team Gear
We will have required team gear as well as optional team gear this season. The required gear will include:
● Team warm up jacket (all need new this year - we do alternating years to purchase and this year
is new jackets)
● Tank top (to be worn during warmups - alternating years to purchase and were purchased new
last year, only new gymnasts need to purchase)
● Shorts (Nike pro shorts are the same as last season so any returning gymnasts will not need to
buy those unless they need new ones)
● Team tshirt.
Fundraisers
We have 2 fundraisers on the books so far (Kwik Trip gift cards and the Youth Clinic), but we could use a
couple more. Does anyone have any ideas? If you have ideas, please look into them and touch base with
Mari.
Youth Gymnastics Clinic
On Sunday, November 20th we will be hosting a gymnastics clinic (similar to cheer clinics). All gymnasts
will be required to be at West that day from 12-4. Our gymnasts will lead the clinic including stretching,
session planning/instruction, demonstrating, etc. Coaches will be there as adults supervising but we are
really hoping to use this as a great leadership opportunity for our gymnasts. See our Facebook page or
reach out to Renee Knoll for more details. Please share this with anyone who has kids K5-5th grade.
Superfan T-shirt Sales
This has been our main fundraiser for years. We will have a design in the near future. We ask all
gymnasts to sell superfan gear to their family and friends. The gymnast that sells the most gear will earn a
FREE superfan shirt! We are looking for a parent who is willing to organize the orders. Please reach
out to Mari if you can help.
Team Dinners & Team Snacks
We will have team dinners on Friday nights before Saturday meets. Ann Pascavis organizes these via
signup genius and will get that rolling as soon as the meet schedule is ready.
Team Bonding
In years past, there has been a team bonding painting party for the moms and gymnasts. Is this
something you would like to do again? Would anyone like to organize? If anyone has any other
suggestions for team bonding/outings, please let us know. The Ludtkes have offered to host a team
dinner early in the season - we are working on a date for that.
Booster Club Support
We request funds from each of our 4 schools to help cover the cost of gymnastics related purchases. This
is huge for our team and we need a BC representative from each school. The reps we have from each
school are:
CMH – Tim Norgal
North – OPEN
South – Jen Stillman
West – Heather Andersen
Volunteers for North?
Beam & Floor Routine requirements
If you don’t have a beam or floor routine yet, please begin working on this ASAP. Options for
choreography include: other teammates, old coaches, UW Whitewater. Email Mari for skill requirements.
Gymnasts need to have their floor routines choreographed no later than Sunday, November 27. We will
start full floor routines at that time.
Gymnast/Coach Meetings
We will be scheduling gymnast and coach meetings during the first week of practice. These meetings will
go over goals, current skills, and routines. Don’t panic now if you don’t know exactly what you are
supposed to be working. We will work with each gymnast individually.
Commitment
This team is a lot of fun! And any of the returning gymnasts will tell you that… But it is also a lot of work.
We expect a lot out of the girls and love to share in their successes. Winning is fun but winning doesn’t
come without a lot of hard work.
We love the friendships and relationships that come from this team but remember that this is a
gymnastics team and not a social team. When you make the commitment to join this team you are
committed to working hard at practice, competing, and supporting your teammates. We will push you to
be your best.
This year, with changes to the coaching staff, we know this is a big transition for those returning to the
team. We personally can all remember times when we lost coaches we loved and had to start fresh with
people we didn’t know. That’s not easy for anyone. We really need your commitment to giving us a
chance and being open minded. We all want the same thing at the end of the day! Let’s work together
and have an amazing season!
Needs to be done in order to be able to start practice:
1. Code Cards/Athletic Participation Verification – Each of the schools have requirements for athletics. I
believe everyone has gone to electronic forms to complete. Please work directly with your school to have
this completed this week. Don’t wait until the last minute. I will be contacting each school this week to see
who has completed their requirements.
2. Contact Info/Profile – Print this and complete. All gymnasts will fill out their goals so we can discuss
those during the first week.
3. Gymnast/Parent Agreement – Please sign by both gymnasts and parents after you read the handbook.
It is the gymnast’s responsibility to know the program expectations.
4. $50 Gymnastics team fee – this is a fee required for all gymnasts. This goes to offset minor equipment
upgrades (chalk, tape for the floor/vault), flowers, etc. Checks can be made out to: Waukesha
Gymnastics.
Registration is done online. You can bring the forms and checks the first week of practice.
