Two weeks later, we all hugged Coach Melissa goodbye. We wouldn't see her again until she got back in June. I hugged Collin goodbye, too. He was so cute. I would miss him almost as much as I'd miss Coach Melissa.
We left practice that night silently. In carpool, nobody talked. We just sat there quietly. I wish Coach Melissa didn't have to leave. Everything would be so different without a coach. Tuesday would be our first practice without her.
On Tuesday afternoon I walked in to practice to find Kyle coaching. I had seen him a few times, but not actually met him.
When a lot of people were there, Kyle said to get in a big circle for warm ups.
"Lexi, can you lead warmups?" he asked. At least this part was normal. Lexi or Cara usually led warmups.
After we had warmed up and stretched, he said that we could work on our routines. I saw that Becky was there tonight, and she missed a lot of practices, so I thought that it would be a good idea to practice double dutch. i asked her. "But Brandon's not here," she said. "I know that Brandon's not here," I answered. "But he's in Santa Barbara and we can practice with him later. Now we should make up our parts."
We started by making up our parts and writing them down. There are three requirements in double dutch. You have to have power, which is gymnastics, double unders, and dance. We decided that Brandon would do power, because he was really god at it. Then we decided that I should do double unders and that Becky should do dance.
We wrote down our parts and showed each other. We needed a third person for double dutch, and since there was only two of us, we got Emmie to turn for us. Emmie is really nice, and she's Becky's pairs partner.
Emmie and I turned while Becky did her part. Then we switched and I practiced my part. After a while Kyle said that we were going to do a speed workout.
The workout seemed to last forever and was really tiring, but it was over soon enough. I was really sweaty by then. Kyle said that we could work some more on routines after that. I thought that it would be good to practice pairs double dutch, but I found that everyone in my group was working on pairs. I wish that I had a partner.
I decided to work on singles. I was happy to see that Jenny and Jake were also working on their single rope routines, so we all worked on singles together. We would show each other combos and new tricks and give each other advice. It was way better than walking around wishing that I had a partner.
Practice was ok that day but it just wasn't complete. It was missing something. More like someone. A practice just isn't a practice without Coach Melissa.
Our next practice was Thursday. Before Coach Melissa left she said that Kyle would coach on Tuesdays and that Kelly would coach on Thursdays.
I had no idea what Kelly even looked like, let alone who she was. But my question was soon answered.
I walked into practice on Thursday to see a blonde, short, skinny woman there. This must be Kelly, I thought. Kelly had a big smile on her face and seemed pretty nice.
We were the first ones at practice, and Kelly came up to us immediately. "Hi Lexi!" she said and hugged her. That's one of the perks of being team captain. You know all the instructions and assistant coaches.
"Hi Kelly!" Lexi answered and then introduced her to us. "This is Jake, and this is Julie," Lexi said.
"Hi!" said me and Jake at the same time. We laughed.
"Hi, I'm Kelly," Kelly said. She laughed, "I mean, if you haven't already guessed."
Soon other people started to arrive, and then practice started.
This practice was pretty good too. Cara led warmups and then we worked on Chinese wheel.
Chinese wheel is a really cool thing in jump rope. You have two ropes and two jumpers. You switch handles with the other jumper and jump at opposite times. The way you move your arms is like you're swimming. It's really fun to watch, and even more fun to do!
After Chinese wheel we worked on routines, and then we finished with a speed workout.
We had a pretty good practice again, but it wasn't the same. Its just not the same without Coach Melissa. Practice isn't as, practicy.
On the drive home Jake talked about this special class that he was hoping to take next year when he was in middle school. I wish I had something cool like that to get my mind off Coach Melissa, but my school doesn't have cool classes like that.
I realized that this wouldn't last forever. Coach Melissa would be back some day. And Regionals was coming up soon! That would be exciting!
I decided that when Coach Melissa came back, I would want to be a better jumper than I was than when she left. A WAY better jumper. I wanted to show her that I was committed, and that I deserved a partner.
I had a good Friday, luckily. Friday's are always good. I had a half-day at school and I went to lunch with some of my friends. After lunch we went to ice cream, and then we went to the park.
I had a really good time. I was able to relax and enjoy myself. This was the first time since Coach Melissa left that I had a really good time.