I am currently going to practice 2 times a week (3-4 times a week during the week preceding a competition). Each practice is 2 - 3 hours, although it is more commonly 3 hours. I am going to start counting my practices as hours for Independent Component next week, when my doctor says I am fully cleared to start practicing again. Since I've been sick lately I haven't been practicing like I normally do. These last 3 weeks or so I've been taking it easy since I've been in bad health. However, this week I have been stunting and I threw my backwalkover at practice on Monday and Wednesday for the first time in over a month. I will be tracking my progress for Independent Component starting on Monday, the 10th of December.
2) The most recent piece of research I've gotten for my senior project would have to be my first cheer competition of the season. My team competed for the first time against another team and we got first place! I've been to many All - Star cheer competitions, but I've never competed in one before, so I learned a lot from my experience of being on a team and having to go through the day as an athlete and not a spectator. Being able to review the scoresheets from the competition and see what the different aspects of our routine were scored would have to be the most resourceful thing I got out of the competition. My science fair project has to do with the scoring of tumbling and stunting sections in routines and focuses on how to maximize the score of the routine. So this competition was very useful for that aspect of my project. In addition, since my senior project is focusing specifically on stunting and tumbling, the scoresheets were very helpful since they're divided up into three sections: stunting, tumbling, and dance/formations. This competition made me realize how crucial those aspects of the routine are, and it reinforced my confidence in choosing the right aspect of the sport to focus on. The next place I will be going to in my project will be to excel at these categories of the sport, which will be easy since my routine is currently under a 'makeover' process in which our choreographer is adding more difficulty to the stunting and tumbling aspect of our routine.
3) This is a picture of my team, coaches, and I at our competition with our 1st place trophy and banner!
