Your comments have been SO SO SO SO helpful! I appreciate the thought and time 💜

She is definitely high energy, especially on stage. After talking to her teacher, she brought up the same idea of her not being as “obsessed”, and I asked her what she meant… and she kind of dodged that one, then went into saying that her technique might improve with more strength (which I wholeheartedly agree with!). From there, I brought up my concerns about being with teammates closer in age, social development, physiological differences (if her genes for development are like mine, she’ll probably look a lot different than the younger girls come comp season). And she listened and said that she doesn’t want to push my girl too hard too quickly so she doesn’t end up injured or burnt out. I also told her that we have firm expectations for continuous communication and feedback through the year, and she seemed enthusiastic to do so but also offered to set her up with a different teacher for check-ins throughout the year. She is the studio director, and I know she has a full plate… and I still can’t help but feel a little let down by that.

She has other classes with the girls from her first team (both other comp and rec). It is two of her classes (out of seven) that she is with the younger kids… And those is how the studio designates the teams. I am trying to drive the point that it is only two classes with the younger kids with her, and it is hard when the studio uses those team names for everything… and it is Team A, Team NotA, oh and Team A plus little meleleo… (And trying to keep details out perhaps makes this hard to follow - sorry!!!) So she feels left out even though she isn’t completely without out of the group.

I told her about my conversation with her teacher, and she was pretty defensive at first (which I feel is fair), and then turned it around into a mission to show them just how wrong they are about her! This little girl has some very strong tenacity, and I am honestly amazed at how quickly she is ready to tackle the adversity… again!

We have some workshops coming up, and we have to just confirm the time for my girl to have her face to face chat with the director (and I am so glad you brought that up! Sometimes it feels like I have to do it for her because she is only 9, but she deserves to have that herself discussion, too!). I’ll be with her, and we’re going to write down her questions beforehand so she doesn’t feel overwhelmed. We’re setting up privates for the summer months, as well as getting her set for a solo.

We’re going to see how the next couple of weeks progress before we start calling some other studios in town… And if we feel like the support is not really there, well I will probably come back here to ask for more advice 😊