The purpose of competing and the goal of competition

Just a reminder as we get ready to kick off the "regular" season of JO trampoline and tumbling that the purpose of competing and the goals of competition are two very different things.

The purpose of competing is to measure yourself, usually against others but sometimes - especially in our sport - against yourself. The purpose of training is to learn, to grow; the purpose of competing is to find out if you are growing, to understand what you have learned, and to help guide future training.

The goal of competition, on the other hand, is to win. Not to win at all costs or any way you can, but to win because you are the best at that competition. Only by having the goal of winning can you really put all you've learned to the test. And only by striving to win by being the best - and not 'gaming' the system - can you really measure your accomplishments.

If your purpose in competing is simply to win, you've already lost.

This sentiment is not, of course, unique to trampoline and tumbling. For a more detailed discussion of this, I encourage you to visit the True Competition website.

Key concepts: Eligibility, qualifying, and mobilizing

Three key terms that J.O. athletes and their parents learn about early on are Eligibility, Qualifying, and Mobilizing. You don't really have to worry about them this early in the competitive season, but they are all good things to be aware of as the season progresses.

ELIGIBILITY: Commonly used to refer to the "regular" season meets that lead up to the State and Regional Championships. An athlete must compete in at least two "eligibility meets" in order to be eligible to compete at State or Regional Championships to attempt to qualify (see below) to compete at the National Championships. An athlete can compete at State/Regional if he hasn't met the eligibility requirement, but would not be able to qualify for Nationals no matter what score he receives.

QUALIFYING: In order to qualify to compete at the Junior Olympic National Championships, an athlete must achieve a qualifying score appropriate to event and level in at least one of the two qualification meets - State or Regional Championships. Without a qualifying score at one of these meets an athlete can't compete at Nationals, no matter how good they may have done at meets earlier in the year. For some athletes this is even more important than the competition for the State or Regional titles (though those are nice, too!). We'll talk more about qualifying and qualifying scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.

MOBILIZING: Once an athlete has gone as far as she can at her current level, she will want to move on - or mobilize - to the next level. In order to mobilize, the athlete must achieve the mobilization score appropriate to the level and event. She must also be able to perform the appropriate "mobilization skills" for their level. We'll talk more about mobilizing and mobilizing scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.

What do you mean that skill didn't count? "Interruption" explained

For an artistic gymnast, nothing is more painful - physically or emotionally - than falling off an apparatus. Imagine how you feel when you watch that happen to an athlete; that doesn't even come close to how they feel. And then, for them to have to get back up, on the beam or the parallel bars, and continue the routine. Wow. Of course, if you ask a T&T athlete what they think about that, you might get a response along the lines of, "At least they get to get back up and keep going."

If you are new to T&T, especially if you are coming over from an artistic program, you may be wondering what in the world I'm talking about. This is a good time to introduce the concept of the "interruption".

INTERRUPTION: If, during a pass in any T&T event, an athlete fails to perform a skill, fails to properly perform the skill, or performs a skill that is not part of the required routine, that pass will be "interrupted" at that point and judging will cease for that pass.

In other words, if you "fall" during a T&T event you don't get to get back on and keep going. This is very important to know and keep in mind, especially for new parents, because there will come a time when you see a very low score for your athlete - after what you thought was a great routine - and you will wonder, "What ???"

We'll talk more about what constitutes an interruption when we discuss judging and scoring in a couple of weeks.

Key Concepts: Eligibility, Qualifying, and Mobilizing

Three key terms that J.O. athletes and their parents learn about early on are Eligibility, Qualifying, and Mobilizing. You don't really have to worry about them this early in the competitive season, but they are all good things to be aware of as you prepare for the upcoming competitive season.

ELIGIBILITY: Commonly used to refer to the "regular" season meets that lead up to the State and Regional Championships. An athlete must compete in at least two "eligibility meets" in order to be eligible to compete at State or Regional Championships to attempt to qualify (see below) to compete at the National Championships. An athlete can compete at State/Regional if he hasn't met the eligibility requirement, but would not be able to qualify for Nationals no matter what score he receives.

QUALIFYING: In order to qualify to compete at the Junior Olympic National Championships, an athlete must achieve a qualifying score appropriate to event and level in at least one of the two qualification meets - State or Regional Championships. Without a qualifying score at one of these meets an athlete can't compete at Nationals, no matter how good they may have done at meets earlier in the year. For some athletes this is even more important than the competition for the State or Regional titles (though those are nice, too!). We'll talk more about qualifying and qualifying scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.

MOBILIZING: Once an athlete has gone as far as she can at her current level, she will want to move on - or mobilize - to the next level. In order to mobilize, the athlete must achieve the mobilization score appropriate to the level and event. She must also be able to perform the appropriate "mobilization skills" for their level. We'll talk more about mobilizing and mobilizing scores in a couple of weeks when we discuss the competition levels in more detail.

Show your support for the US WAGC team with this t-shirt

T&T mom Heather has created this t-shirt to help us all show our pride in and support for all of the athletes representing the US at the upcoming World Championships and World Age Group Competition.




Visit Heather's blog on the T&T Network for information on how you can get a shirt or two.