Blood, Sweat and Chalk

[Antione Hoefflin]

Coach Antione Hoefflin strode into his studio and threw his clipboard onto one of the benches that lined the walls. He'd just received a not very nice email from one of the other elite gyms, all but challenging him to a meet to prove his girls' skills against the other gym, and because of this he wasn't in the best of moods, not that he ever seemed to be in a good mood.

As the girls trailed in, he pulled the scales out of their alcove in the wall beside his office and placed them front and centre. Still brooding, he watched as the gymnasts began stretching out and warming up. "Line up for a weigh-in!" He finally barked as he retrieved his clipboard and walked to stand by the scales.

One by one, the girls stepped up onto the scale, and, true to form, Ant just grumbled about what he wrote down on his sheet of paper. He knew too well the issues that girls faced with their bodies, gymnasts more so than the regular female, so he never told the girls that they were fat or too heavy, once or twice he did suggest that they should go and have a word with the nutritionist - Ms Tigani - more because he felt that they didn't weigh enough.

After he'd put the scales away, he faced his girls again. "The coach of Summervale Heights has challenged us to a friendly competition." He told them. "I have neither accepted, nor declined his challenge. I thought I'd leave that decision to you. We have a big competition in a couple of months and Coach Mathers wants our little clash to happen before then. We'll talk about it again after practice." He looked at each girl in turn and sent her to where he wanted her to work. "Oliver, floor. Toman, vault." 

As he strolled over to stand by the vault, he knew that he had given the girls their weakest apparatus to work on, but that was the only way they were going to get better.

Gymnasts
@breakablerider
@sunny
Elizabeth Toman
Serenity Oliver
@adalina4

OOC: As your character steps up onto the scale, you can put their weight into brackets if you want to.

[Elizabeth Toman]

Elizabeth stretched as her alarm went off. She lived for the early morning gymnastic sessions. In fact, she'd been living them for the past seven years of her life. At first her parents wanted to call a quits to the early sessions, but Libby had managed to talk them around - or beg, plead and throw a tantrum as an eight year old did.

After dressing into a pair of short shorts and a crop top, she pulled her tracksuit over the top. She then threw everything she needed into her gym bag, pushed her feet into her running shoes, and headed out of her dorm room. The place was a bit of a mess, but she'd tend to that later... or she'd pay someone else to clean it for her.

Heading down to the gym, she smiled triumphantly as she noticed that she was the first to arrive. Placing her bag on one of the benches, she shed the tracksuit, socks and shoes, and headed over to the floor mat where she started walking around to get her heart rate up until she was side skipping around the edge of the mat. She then moved onto stretches. The sight of the scale, and the force their coach put it down, gave her some hint that the man was in a foul mood - nothing new there then.

She shook her head at the idea of an unsanctioned competition, and as she walked up to step on the scales (85 pounds) she looked at the coach. "Don't say yes." She said. "I can guarantee that the competition will be no more than a week or two out from the big one. All he'll want to see is what we are doing for the event." She glowered as the coach offered her some advice to go and talk with the school nutritionist. Rolling her eyes, she walked back to the mat and continued her stretching.

She bounced to her feet when given the vault and she skipped over to the vault and set the spring board to where she wanted it and then sauntered to end of the runway, she glanced at Bradley as she chalked up her hands and feet. Standing at the end of the running mat, she bounced on the spot a couple of times and then shot forward. As she neared the end; she did a round off, doing a half turn in the middle of the round off, her feet pushed off the springboard and she finished off the Yurchenko with a move called a Cheng, as she pushed off the table she did a front straight salto (or layout) with two and a half twists before her feet found the mat. She bent her knees as she landed, throwing her arms into the air, and grinned when her feet remained solidly in place

[Deleted]

He wasn't usually a morning person, but he'd woken early thast morning with excitement coursing through his veins. Torsten took care as he got up and dressed to not wake his roommate and quietly slipped through the door and left the place of his living quietly, so as to not disturb anyone sleeping in or trying to catch more rest.

He wore a pair of soft jogging pants and a fitted t-shirt, as he hadn't met the gymnastics coach yet nor had he gotten his gymnastics outfit, but hoped to today. Tori had been doing gymnastics since he was a child, and had grown to love the sport like no other over the years, to the point that he'd done several competitions, both winning some and losing some. A good sport, even when he lost he was never upset, only resolved to work harder next time.

Getting to the gymnastics studio, Tori entered quietly, noticing that the coach seemed to be annoyed at something. He wasn't sure what and didn't know if he wanted to know, but he had to speak to the man, so approached him, clearing his throat to get the mans' attention. 

"Hello." Tori said, giving a friendly smile, "I don't know if I'm on your roster yet, but I've been put into your class. I'm tori, but on the roster it will probably say 'Torsten'. Um..." Tori wasn't sure if the coach would want to know his strengths, but told them anyway, "I'm best on the Vault and Floor."

[Serenity Oliver]

Serenity loved early mornings and was often up and about before her alarm went off for gymnastics, and alarm that was now under her pillow and on vibrate so that she didn't wake up the room mate she had yet actually to formally meet. This morning was no different and already dressed in her gym uniform, leotard and tracksuit, she quietly feed Luna on her mat in the bathroom. Once she had applied the needed red and silver glitter to her hair and face, she left the room, with bag and shoes in hand. Putting her shoes on at the bottom of the stairs, she hurried out of the House and into the frozen tundra of the early morning. She paused to breathe in the sharp crisp air that surrounded her, and with a smile on her face, she made her way toward the gym.

Once she had entered the studio and removed her shoes and tracksuit, she walked over to the mat, where Libby was already warming-up, and started her own warm-up. She arched an eyebrow as she watched the coach. Her nose curled at the idea of a competition with another school, no matter how friendly, right before a big meet, but as she had never really seriously got into gymnastics in the past, she left her thoughts unspoken.

When it was her turn on the scale, she stepped up and waited for their coach to play with the weights until he had her weight. She knew that she was lighter than she should be, and it wasn't from her trying either. She had always been what people called fragile and willowy, it was a running joke around home that she had really been left to them by the fairy Queen and they had spirited away the human child.

She stepped off the scale and listened as she was given her assigned area for the day. She couldn't help but pull a face as she trudged over to the floor exercise mat. She despised floor exercises, and found them incredibly boring. She kept this to herself as well though as she shoved a CD into the small stereo by the mat and pushed play. Jogging to the far corner of the mat, she struck a pose and waited for the music to start.

The tune for Phantom of the Opera started and she went into her routine: Round-off + Back hand-spring + Layout with two and a half twists into a Step-Out, then a Round-off with a Whip, then Tucked Double-Double followed by a Punch Front. Next came a Layout with a double twist, which she didn't time properly and her Step-Out, to finish it off tripped her up. Jumping to her feet, she went into a Round-off with a Whip Full, then a Full-Twisting Double Layout and a Tucked Barani. Next came a Triple Turn in Tuckstand, then a Quad Turn. Dancing across the mat she did a Switch Ring, followed quickly by a Split leap with one and a half turns. Her finishing move was supposed to be a triple Arabian, but she didn't manage to get the height she needed and ended flat on her back.

Reni nodded to herself as she caught her breath, now slightly winded, and knew what she needed to work on.

[Antione Hoefflin]

As the girls stepped up onto the scale he adjusted the weights so that the bar sat even. He listened to Elizabeth's advice and nodded. "I would like you to go and speak with the nutritionist." He said quietly, so that only the girl he was talking with could hear him. "See if she can offer you any advice on what you should be eating to maintain your... form." He arched his eyebrows at the look she offered him. As the next girl stepped up and he adjusted the weights again, his eyebrows rose even more. "I might just get the nutritionist come and speak to you as a team." He muttered.

As the girls scattered to their assigned areas, and he walked to the vault, he paused as a boy entered the room. Antione stood by the vault as he listened to the boy speak, though it seemed that the coach's attention was on the girl as she completed her vault. "Could be better." He said and pointed back to the end of the run way. He then turned to face the new student. "If you are here to do gymnastics, it's no wonder they put you on my roll." He snapped. "As I am the only gymnastics coach here at the Academy!" He arched an eyebrow as he looked the student up and down. "Follow." It was as if the students thought that the teachers didn't talk to each other. He knew that the boy was going to be at the training sessions as soon as the student's class schedule had been decided.

The coach strode toward his office. "Oliver! Why are you wobbling all over the place? Imagine that you are at a meet, your every move is being judged!" He walked into the office and pulled open one of the large cupboards that looked like lockers, and riffled through what was there until he pulled out one of the male team uniforms, and held it out toward the boy. "Change into this, and then I will decide what you are good at."

[Elizabeth Toman]

Libby's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open at the coach's words. She frowned as he walked off, and one of the assistant coaches stepped up to the vault to spot her for the next one as she stalked back to the end of the runway. She was steaming mad, how dare he tell her that she could do better! The vault she had just done would have racked up the highest scores at a competition.

After chalking up her hands and feet again, she wiped the scowl off her face and by the time she was standing at the end of the runway, she once again had her champion smile on her face as she saluted the invisible judges and then propelled herself forward down the red mat. This time As she neared the end; she did half twist, into the round off, doing another half turn in the middle of the round off, her feet pushed off the springboard and she finished off the Yurchenko with a front piked salto, with one and a half twists. She landed on the blue mat with the landing strip on it, knees bent, facing the vault, she bounced back an inch as she straightened up. She then glared at the assistant, daring him to comment on her vault needing work.

[Deleted]

outfit

Standing in the gymnastics studio, Clara was resisting the urge to yawn, but not because she wasn't a morning person - she'd woken up at four to work on reviewing her notes for English Literature. Unfortunately, at the mention of a 'weigh in', Clara felt painfully awake. Although she knew that maintaining health and stamina was an important aspect of all athletic participation, Clara had always been a bit sensitive about how stick-skinny she was. It was hard for her to tone up; to put on muscle. One time when she had been wearing a swim suit with her hair up in a cap, her sister had commented that Clara had the physique of a twelve year-old boy. While comments about her appearance didn't bother her as much as they used to, having to be weighed in a room full of people brought back a tinge of nervousness.

Weighing in at 104.5 lbs, Clara held back the urge to sigh - she'd lost weight, it was probably the stress from catching up on study and all the early morning starts - and stepped back, schooling her expression into calm attentiveness - she wanted to make a good impression on the teacher. The news regarding Summervale Heights was interesting, but given that she was still a new student, Clara didn't really feel qualified the need to speak her mind in front of everyone. Although she was a bit surprised by the small girl's blunt manner, a small part of her couldn't help but mentally agree. There was no point letting the cat out of the bag early and showing Summervale what they would be using for the competition.

Seeing that she had not been addressed by the coach, Clara stood there awkwardly for several minutes - it seemed that the other members of the team had dispersed to the four corners of the world to practice their own routines - waiting for him to come back. She wanted to introduce herself and when he finally appeared in her line of vision again she made a beeline towards him with all the efficiency of Grandma Lim at an antique book sale and, with a moment's reflection upon what had happened to the other new kid who had tried to introduce himself, decided to keep it short and simple.

'Hello, I'm Clara Lim. I'm another one of the new students.'

[Serenity Oliver]

"Yes Coach!" Reni called back, cringing at the man's words. She knew that what she had been doing had been a little sloppy, she juust hadn't expected to be called out on it when she had last seen him heading to spot at the vault.

Rolling over, she pressed her hands into the mat as though she was going to do a push-up and then walked her feet up until she was in a piked position and then holding her core muscles tight, she straightened up and stretched her arms behind her until her shoulder blade touched. Walking back to the stereo, she pushed play once again, this time putting it on repeat and promising herself that she would do a little better this time. Jogging to the corner of the mat, where she had started last time, she struck a pose and waited for the music to float over to her. The stereo was loud enough so that she could hear the music, but not so loud that she was disturb the other gymnasts.

She then went through the routine, the coach's words running through her head: Imagine that you are at a meet, your every move is being judged. Reni hated competing, for that exact reason, though she competed for the Academy and knew that she could easily get taken off the team if she didn't sharpen her skills. She concentrated on the parts of the routine that she had slipped with the first time around. Doing the triple Arabian, she still didn't manage the height and once again landed flat on her back. She lay there for a moment with her eyes closed, catching the breath that had been knocked out of her.

Rolling over and rising to her feet, she walked over to her drink bottle and took a sip before she walked to the corner of the mat, knowing that she needed to focus on her triple Arabian, as there was no point doing the routine if she couldn't do the finishing move.

[Antione Hoefflin]

Antione looked at the girl who had approached him. "Follow!" He barked as he once again led the way to his office. He looked through the female team uniforms in his cupboard - that was designed to look like a bank of lockers - and after sizing the girl with a quick sweep of his eyes, he pulled out a leotard and tracksuit set and held it out to her. "Leave the suit by your bag, put the 'tard on and then you can show me what you can do on the beam!" There was no hint of warmth to his voice, as this was the one man who was here to do his job. There was no room in the sport for gentleness and he couldn't stand the coaches that did coddle their gymnasts.

His eyes swept over the room. He arched his eyebrow when he watched Serenity run diagonally across the mat, prepared to yell out but then stopped when he saw that she was working on sorting out the move she was failing on and closed his mouth again. "Toman! Get to the bars!" He knew that the small girl had come from an Olympic dream, but he had yet to see why she should be heading that way. Sure, she was full of herself and knew the apparatus well, but she lacked the passion for the sport.

[Elizabeth Toman]

Libby gave the assistant coach a triumphant smirk as she turned on the ball of her foot and marched over to the uneven bars, shuddering slightly when the assistant coach shadowed her movements. She knew that she needed the other coach still, as someone needed to remove the springboard once she'd used it.

She walked up to the bars and reached up to the lower bar. She then worked at lining the springboard exactly where she needed it, knowing that if it was in the wrong place, she was seriously going to hurt herself. Once that was ready, she walked over to the chalk bin and after misting her hands with water, she buried them into the white powder and then clapped her hands together.

Standing at the edge of the mat, she looked from the spring board to the bars and then raised her eyebrows toward the man who was watching her every move. She then gave a bright smile and raised her hand in a salute before she jogged forward a couple of steps, went into a handspring and pushed off the springboard with enough force to do an Arabian salto over the low-bar and closed her hands to hang on the high-bar and then cast to handstand, making sure she hit her vertical, toes pointed perfectly.

[Deleted]

Although she was feeling a bit put out by the coach's attitude, Clara felt slightly comforted in the knowledge that, compared to the other new student's welcome, hers seemed slightly more welcoming. Following the coach to his office, Clara had a few seconds to ponder the subject - perhaps he simply took a while to warm up to people; although given his attitude to the other gymnastics students, Clara was beginning to think that maybe the coach didn't warm up to anyone. Ever. It was hard to tell.

Mentally shrugging it off, Clara gave a short, 'Okay, thanks,' and went into the changing rooms - which she had passed by on the way into the studio - to get changed.

Honestly, she was beginning to feel a little nervous. Clara had only done gymnastics back at her high school in Colorado because joining a sports team was mandatory, and it was either that or she had to do bowling. Sure, she'd managed to keep up with the class and had reasonably good time. Her parents had encouraged her to keep it up at Blue Ridge (Clara had an inkling that it was easier for them to brag to their friends about their daughter 'doing gymnastics' as opposed to 'sitting on a horse all day' at dinner parties) but here the class mood was completely different. It was so competitive. Had anyone cracked a smile once this entire class?

Clara made it back into the studio just in time to find the coach barking at the small girl - Toman. (Liddy? Lily? Clara couldn't remember actually meeting the girl, and resolved to.) The girl's routine was clapping-worthy impressive, but Clara doubted that the coach would appreciate that. A slightly snarky voice in her head wondered what he was going to find in the girl's routine to complain about. She tried to smile at the girl to show her appreciation, but quickly made her way over to where she was supposed to be.

Clara didn't want to stand around too long - there was no need to look idle. She was relieved that she'd been asked to use the balance beam first - it was one of her stronger areas. After swinging up onto it, she began a simple routine that she felt comfortable with, showing off what she had been taught back at home. In the middle of a full turn, Clara felt her knee buckle slightly and momentarily was caught off balance - she bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying anything, hoping that none of the other students (who were literally cartwheeling circles around her) had noticed. By this stage she could already tell that the coach never missed anything, but in the very least she hoped that her peers had been a bit less attentive and missed her mistake.

[Serenity Oliver]

It seemed that no matter what she was doing, Reni was missing the height for the Arabian each time. There was always the possibility of taking the move out of her routine and exchanging it for something more simple, but that would also deduct points for her overall score and she didn't want to do that to their Coach.

Going back to the corner of the mat and circled her shoulders. Her back was beginning to protest being slammed into the ground again and again. The floor exercise area wasn't as forgiving as the mats under the other apparatus, and landing on the springy floor a few too many times took it's toll. She knew that she would need to nail the move, and soon, or else she would have to sit out the rest of practice, and she didn't want to bring the wrath of the Coach down upon herself. And, more than anything, she would be disappointed in herself.

Standing at the corner of the mat, making sure that her heels were snug against the inside of the white line - where she would be during the routine before her final pass. Circling her arms to loosen up the knots she could feel forming in her back she sprang forward. Half way across the diagonal, she went into a front handspring, followed instantly by another. She made sure to give a big push off her hands so that she could repeat the same force with her feet when they touched the ground again. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she bent her knees and pushed the balls of her feet into the mat as she launched herself into the air and tucked her body as she did a half-turn in mid air while she did three saltos and landed on her feet, both of them together. "Stick that landing!" She cheered as she cartwheeled across the mat.

She then straightened her leotard, nodded to herself and walked over to her drink bottle.

[Antione Hoefflin]

Antione was waiting by the beam when the new girl came back out. He would take this time to watch what she could do and see where she would sit as far as the school team went. He was also using this as a chance to observe the other gymnasts while seeming to give all of his attention to the Korean girl.

"Would you rather use the baby beam?" He barked as he watched her wobble. "Not too much vertigo when you're only a couple of inches off the ground." He knew that his words were one of the biggest insults that a coach could give a seasoned gymnast, as unless a gymnast was working on a newly skilled routine, they normally left the baby beam by the time they were in grade school.

"About time, Oliver!" He called when the fourteen year old finally managed the skill she had been working on. "I was about to offer you the use of the belt." Which he would have done if she had continued to fail to gain the height she needed for the Arabian, as once she was attached to the harness, he could help her work out where she was going wrong. However, this also made some gymnasts become reliant on the harness to get the move to work and they were still unable to do it unassisted. "Oliver, get on the beam!" He wondered if having another girl working next to her would help or hinder the new girl, but either way, he couldn't leave the young girl working on one skill for the entire session.

"Tap, Toman!" He yelled as his attention moved to the uneven bars, where his assistant was spotting the other Freshman. "You are supposed to be elite level and you train like a beginner!"

[Elizabeth Toman]

Libby worked her was through her routine: Stalder (free straddle circle backwards through handstand) with 1 and a half pirouettes, Straddled jaeger (swing backward to salto forward) with 1/2 turn, Straddled Jaeger (swing backward to salto forward). Cast handstand, Back giant to double turn, back giant with full turn (Blind Change)Forward giant in L-grip with one and a half turns on 1 arm, Markelov(Swing backward to straddle with 1/2 turn in flight) and Gienger ( handstand followed by a swing backward and release after 3/4 of a revolution around the bar). She continued to work between the bars and finished the routine with a Ray dismount (double twisting, double straight salto).

She had been half way through her routine when she had heard the coach's words and she glowered at him as she stuck her landing. "Train like a beginner, do I?" She muttered as she walked back to the chalk box and shoved her hands in once more. "And how many beginners do you know that do E value mounts?" This coach was supposed to be one of the best, so far she had seen nothing more than a man who wanting nothing more than gold, and got it by belittling his gymnasts... making him almost like every other coach she had worked with in the past. She clapped her hands together as she shook those thoughts away and walked back to set the springboard up once more, slapping away the hands of the assistant coach. "Get it through your head, I set my own board." She snapped.

Standing at the edge of the mat, she jogged forward, did a round off onto the springboard and then did an Arabian over the low-bar to hang on the high-bar, before going into a cast to handstand, holding the vertical for three seconds before continuing to swing around and going into a free straddle circle backwards through handstand with one and a half pirouettes.