in a competition in 1.5 weeks! There are 11 in her group, so she has no medal expectations, but she is just so proud of the axel, she wanted to move up.

She is doing it 2 times in the program, once just the axel and one axel toe loop. I am proud of her 8 year old self!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMXWbYwfsD0

After that, she goes toward the corner for a lutz, toe loop, loop combination!

Good for her! I bet she will do a great job! That's great she wants to challenge herself!

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

Thanks, the jumps and spins are the least of her issues!! LOL- she just isn't as smooth in delivery as some of the other kids, but she is 8 and has time for that I suppose. Even in no-test, I suspect many of her competitors were older than she. She is tall, so it is hard for me to tell!

That's exciting! She looks strong and confident. I'm sure she'll do great.

My daughter is also doing her first competition at pre-pre 3 days from now. She started landing her axel suddenly back in March. It was a beautiful jump. Then two weeks later, just as suddenly, she began falling on the landing. She was pretty frustrated and a bit depressed. But the worst part was that she became afraid to work on it. Eventually she stopped falling, but is having problems with over rotation and still hasn't quite got the timing and coordination right. We know she can do a beautiful effortless axel, but it's not really there right now. However, she'll have to go out and do the best she can this weekend.

It's been interesting reading the stories about falling and axels and sportsmanship lately. They all seem to relate. I just want her to prepare the best she can and then go out and skate well. (But I'm still a nervous wreck.) I've told her the placements are almost meaningless as she's competing with some who have been at this level for a year and others who are just moving up, like her. Hopefully she'll be a good sport about it all.

That is so true. A friend of hers has been doing this level for going on two seasons (she is also 2 years older than her) and will be in her same competition group.