Brooke’s tournament day plan

An all-star competition — a long day, a lot of waiting, hair and makeup, and one two-and-a-half-minute routine the whole team has been building for months, judged in real time. The goal is to keep her calm, warm, and ready to perform full-out, and to keep the nerves from making her shrink or mark it.

Uniform, bow, shoes, makeup, and everything on the team's list packed the night before. A real breakfast that sits right, hydration starting early. Hair and makeup take time, so build in plenty — a rushed, stressed morning is how nerves spike before she ever gets to warm-ups.

The team warm-up is structured by the coaches, but her personal focus is sharp motions and full-out energy — a few motion sequences hit and stuck on the count, a couple of full-out sections so her performance gear is awake, and staying loose and warm. One focus taking the mat: sharp, on the count, full-out.

All-star days involve a lot of waiting in full hair and makeup, which is where nerves build. Keep her calm, warm, and hydrated, and keep the energy up without letting it turn to anxiety. A little visualization — seeing the routine hit — is great; over-thinking every skill is not. When the nerves rise (they will — it's one shot in front of judges), the reminder is simple: you've hit this a thousand times in practice, perform it full-out like you own it.

Her pattern under the lights is to shrink — mark the motions small, pull back the energy, play it safe on the tumbling. And if the block-skill balks in the routine, that's a team moment, not a solo failure. If you see her tighten, the message from the stands is calm and warm: perform full-out, sell it, it's one routine. And remember all-star is a team sport — a mistake is the team's to absorb together, and dwelling on hers helps no one.

You're not her coach today, you're her calm — and cheer is a big, loud, emotional environment where she reads your energy. Cheer the performance and the effort, not just whether they placed. Never let disappointment show if the routine didn't hit; that's the fastest way to make a nervous performer more nervous, and it's a team result, not hers alone. She performs biggest when she knows you're proud of her regardless of the score.

Let her lead. If she wants to break down the routine, go with it. If she's quiet, let it be quiet. Whatever the placement, the one line that always works: "I loved watching you perform today." Leave it there — and mean it regardless of how they placed.