The GymTide had several goals in mind for the season-opening Super Six Challenge. Among them: to set a 'baseline' for the season, against which the team's improvement in the weeks to come may be measured; to start the annual process of getting a feel for rule changes; to get their large freshman class some experience, especially in a 'National finals-like' setting; to win the meet, of course; but, most importantly, to return to Tuscaloosa with just as many healthy gymnasts as they took to Baton Rouge.

Goals met, goals exceeded.

The judging at the Super Six Challenge, although fair and consistent, was very strict. Far from being a bad thing, the gymnasts received revealing insights into how the judges view the strengths, weaknesses, and execution of their routines. As Coach Sarah Patterson remarked to Tom Roberts on the 'Hey, Coach!' radio program on Monday night, "I think it's just a great learning environment...I've even seen it in practice the last two days. I think the competitive spirit has helped everyone, and they're moving forward already."

The relatively strict scoring should also help the coaches begin the process of getting a handle on the impact of the rule changes for 2006. Most of these changes center on the idea of adding more variety to the gymnast's routines. The rules for adding 'bonus' to the routines to push the gymnast's start value up to a 10.0 were already complex enough before these changes, but every year seems to bring some new area of emphasis from the judges. Last couple of years it was hitting those handstands on the uneven bars, this year look for the gymnasts to concentrate on performing some unique combinations of leaps, jumps, and/or tumbling skills on beam and floor.

The importance of gaining some experience for Bama's largest-ever freshman class should not be underestimated. No matter how talented you are, there is just something different about doing something for the first time. And the freshmen will be facing a lot of 'firsts' for the next few meets. For one thing, they have another meet this weekend. In upper level 'club' gymnastics, they virtually never had meets this close together. I remember someone, maybe Jeana Rice, commenting about coming to practice the Sunday after her first college meet and suddenly realizing, oh yeah, we have a meet coming up this weekend, too! (And the weekend after that, and the weekend after that, and the...)

I saw some anxious looks out there before the meet, from newcomers and veterans alike. I imagine 'butterflies' were flying around in several stomachs as the start of the meet approached. Then, to make matters worse, Bama went on a 1st rotation bye before bars. Now, uneven bars is not a bad event to start on, not really. One thing about it, though, bars - like beam - is more of a 'technical' rather than a 'physical' apparatus. It requires focus and precision, the very thing in short supply when the butterflies are active.

All in all, however, the freshmen seemed to handle the pressure pretty well. True enough, they had a few bobbles and falls, but the upperclassmen did, as well. And while nerves were undoubtedly a contributing factor, I think the fact that the gymnasts had only six practices after the Christmas break to tune up and regain their timing and conditioning must also be considered. The coaches definitely took all of these issues into account and adjusted routines and rotations accordingly.

The Tide did win the meet - and returned home without any injuries. They have a lot to work on, but in my estimation, almost limitless potential. With luck, every meet this year will afford the GymTide as good an opportunity to take a step forward as the 2006 Super Six Challenge, especially if they seize that opportunity the way they did down in Baton Rouge. All in all, a great start - a 'perfect' victory!