All-Star Tiny Team Help!!

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My daughter's gym has 4 tiny teams. The youngest tiny prep team has 3 girls- they have ruffle bottom shorts and pigtails for competitions. When they come out there is tape on the floor for them and the coaches are heavily involved. The first comp 2 came out and the third was not having it. The next comp all three were there...but the one cried through the whole routine. The next comp she stood there, some what smiled and even did a few motions. A lot of their routine is about waving, jumping forward and back and doing a roll. I see growth and I LOVE seeing that one tiny do more each time. The other three tiny teams are at different levels but you can see really changes from comp to comp for each team. While I had always thought tiny teams were cute I never really saw the point- until we were here and get to see a team over and over and see they do actually learn things. Good luck with your team!
Thanks it's going great so far!
 
What ages are you dealing with? What are the attention spans and personalities? Honestly, depending on the age you may be best to focus on the real fundamentals (behavior on stage, no toileting accidents while on stage or away from parents, how to just do a routine, how to smile on stage in front of a crowd, how to not freak out in front of a crowd on stage, how to behave at a competition, how to work as a team, and the fundamentals of tumbling). If you are dealing with a bunch of 3 to 4 year olds, your focus will be different than if you are dealing with kids ages 5 to 6. Tiny level is such a tricky category because of how little ones are. Working with preschoolers is a lot like herding cats.
Oh god... the fact that preschoolers can poop themselves on stage just make me squirm. Thank goodness I'm not four anymore, accidents are no fun LMAO.
 
I have a Tiny Prep team that consists of 6 girls, the youngest being 3.5 and the oldest just turned 5 last month. We are always getting complimented on how well the girls know their routine, they know their formations, and can space themselves out correctly, and they hit all of their stunts. Granted, they only stunt on the thighs of a girl sitting on her feet (if you can picture that) but they do heel stretches, arabesques, and learned how to clean, and snap their motions. The key for us was repitition. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Once we made up the routine, we try not to make too many changes, bc they're little minds have tried so hard to remember one thing, its pretty hard to all of a sudden switch it up on them. The hardest part of their routine for them is setting up on the mat once they are announced. That is sometimes a mess, and so far, i've taken the deduction and had one of my junior coaches assist them in lining up on the mat to start their routine. (In case you were wondering, a coach walking on the mat is a 1 point deduction). Fingers crossed they can do it by themselves at their next comp!
 
I have a Tiny Prep team that consists of 6 girls, the youngest being 3.5 and the oldest just turned 5 last month. We are always getting complimented on how well the girls know their routine, they know their formations, and can space themselves out correctly, and they hit all of their stunts. Granted, they only stunt on the thighs of a girl sitting on her feet (if you can picture that) but they do heel stretches, arabesques, and learned how to clean, and snap their motions. The key for us was repitition. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Once we made up the routine, we try not to make too many changes, bc they're little minds have tried so hard to remember one thing, its pretty hard to all of a sudden switch it up on them. The hardest part of their routine for them is setting up on the mat once they are announced. That is sometimes a mess, and so far, i've taken the deduction and had one of my junior coaches assist them in lining up on the mat to start their routine. (In case you were wondering, a coach walking on the mat is a 1 point deduction). Fingers crossed they can do it by themselves at their next comp!

I can understand that being a deduction for a mini team. But for tiny level, given the age range and variations of development for these kids, it is a bit much to deduct for that.
 
I have a Tiny Prep team that consists of 6 girls, the youngest being 3.5 and the oldest just turned 5 last month. We are always getting complimented on how well the girls know their routine, they know their formations, and can space themselves out correctly, and they hit all of their stunts. Granted, they only stunt on the thighs of a girl sitting on her feet (if you can picture that) but they do heel stretches, arabesques, and learned how to clean, and snap their motions. The key for us was repitition. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Once we made up the routine, we try not to make too many changes, bc they're little minds have tried so hard to remember one thing, its pretty hard to all of a sudden switch it up on them. The hardest part of their routine for them is setting up on the mat once they are announced. That is sometimes a mess, and so far, i've taken the deduction and had one of my junior coaches assist them in lining up on the mat to start their routine. (In case you were wondering, a coach walking on the mat is a 1 point deduction). Fingers crossed they can do it by themselves at their next comp!
Our kids know there spots so I'm not worried about that! They knew it the first performance they had! Are there usually a lot of tiny teams that compete?
 
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Our kids know there spots so I'm not worried about that! They knew it the first performance they had! Are there usually a lot of tiny teams that compete?

Depends on the competition and the area. This weekend the competition we went to had 3 competition tiny's and 2 that were exhibition. When CP was a Tiny up north, one comp had so many they had to break it up until 3 groups and still there was 6-7 per group. I don't think we ever went to a competition with under 5 Tiny teams competing that year. Tiny's and Mini's generally tend to be saturated because there is nothing to break them up level wise so everyone is together.
 
Keep in mind that per scoring updates, two stunts connected by a person standing on the floor is NOT considered a pyramid. So for example two thigh stand heel stretches holding hands with a center person will be scored as two stunts even though it "looks" like a little pyramid. In order to receive a score for pyramid the two stunts must be connected (ex the two thigh stands have to hold onto each other)

With five kids you're probably never going to score incredibly well in pyramid, but you should be able to fair pretty well in stunts. 5 is enough for a prep cradle, or a prep level one leg braced by the 5th person. A lot will really depend on the age and skill level on the kids. If you have 5 4 year olds I would strongly recommend taking them exhibition.
 
Keep in mind that per scoring updates, two stunts connected by a person standing on the floor is NOT considered a pyramid. So for example two thigh stand heel stretches holding hands with a center person will be scored as two stunts even though it "looks" like a little pyramid. In order to receive a score for pyramid the two stunts must be connected (ex the two thigh stands have to hold onto each other)

With five kids you're probably never going to score incredibly well in pyramid, but you should be able to fair pretty well in stunts. 5 is enough for a prep cradle, or a prep level one leg braced by the 5th person. A lot will really depend on the age and skill level on the kids. If you have 5 4 year olds I would strongly recommend taking them exhibition.
Thanks
 
I have a question about Tiny teams and i thought i may put it here. its about keeping tinys focused in big gyma like with more that two mats (for an example itty bitty kitties from CA they have a really big gym with alout of floors in) how do you keep the little ones focused with all the noise and the other teams around them? is it a question of alot of playing or do you practise at odd times when there is no other teams training? may be a weird question but its been bugging me for a while now.
 

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