Both Kayla and Haley are home-schooled by Mom Kim. The third member of the family, Wyatt is now a little over one year old and has been attending gymnastics meets since he was born.
· The Edgin Family supports the gym in every way they can – they never miss gym unless ill and they travel an hour coming to the gym and forty-five minutes returning to their home outside of Alexander. They travel the route four times a week and practice fifteen hours a week. I have never seen a meet when both parents were not attending, with their cameras in hand. I just now remembered - the first time that I ever saw Kim was before the girls came to Jax Gym and she was on her knees in front of us taking pictures of the kids competing.
The girls were both straight A students when they were in the public classroom. Kayla graduated elementary school with the Presidential Award, an academic award that was set up by the Federal Government across the country. Both girls were Alpha students. They are currently students in the Arkansas Virtual Academy (a charter school for the state) and this is their third year to be home schooled.
I felt that what Kim Edgin (mother) told me about the girls was very important.
· “Both girls say their favorite event is floor. If I have to credit my girls with two important things – it would be:
· One: They are goal oriented for themselves. They set goals and work for them. They compete against themselves at the meets. They try to outdo themselves and to raise their score on each event from the last time.
· “And Two: They have learned “how” to compete. They know that falls and “non-connects” happen. They know how to make the best of the rest. If you keep focused and keep on like nothing happened, then you can still get a good score on that event and do well on the next events. It doesn’t have to destroy the rest of the routine or the rest of the meet. Both girls have had falls or “non-connects” (which each carry a .5 deduction) and have still broken a nine and taken first on that event and in the AA.
· “I feel also that my girls conduct themselves with good sportsmanship. They have always made friends with gymnasts from other teams, wished them well, and cheered them on and have even taken them presents a few times. When their own team mates have been their hardest competitor, they have been more excited about how their team mate did than themselves. As proud as I am of their gym abilities, I am even prouder of how they handle themselves.”
Kayla - click here Haley - click here
· Starting competing at Level Five at age eight
· Moved to new gym and competed Level Six at age eight-nine
· Competed second year Level Six, age nine-ten, Level Six State Floor Champion for her age
· At age ten, Kayla and her family moved to Jacksonville Gymnastics Team at Huff ‘n Puff
· Kayla competed first season with Jacksonville Gymnastics as an eleven-year-old Level Seven. Her mom said that “That first year at Jax Gym was her most successful year to that date and her most successful season yet … needless to say, our first year at Jax was the best and it just kept getting better.”
· Her Level Seven year, she was Beam Champion and Second Individual All-Around Champion. (Note from Sheryl – And Kayla has just continued to progress and only get better each season.)
· Kayla was moved to Level Eight at age twelve and she competed two years as a Level Eight. Last season (2006-2007) at age thirteen, Kayla took Second Place Individual All-Around at State and qualified for Regionals where she placed with a score of 9.575 on beam.
· 2007 – 2008 Kayla, age 14) was moved to Level Nine (the first for Jax Gym) and at her first meet of the season –the Pepsi Challenge --won First-Place Individual All-Around.
· Haley began competing at the age of six as a Level Four gymnast. (Arkansas only recently began competing Level Three Gymnasts.) Note: She was bumped to team just two weeks before the Level Four Fun Meet--same as State Meet for Level Fours. She didn’t even have a leotard to wear to the meet and had to wear an older team leotard that belonged to sister Kayla. But she did compete and broke a 9 and won first place on her vault at her first meet.
Haley, at age six, came in for Second-Place Individual All-Around State Champion (losing to Jax Gym former gymnast, Erica West).
Right after that State Meet, their gym closed and Haley and family moved to Jacksonville Gymnastics.
· After coming to Jax Gym, Haley, at age seven) competed Level Five, and won Second-Place Individual All-Around, losing again to Erica West by .15 of a point.
· In 2005 – 2006, her second year at Jax, Haley, at age eight, competed Level Six and she won Individual All-Around State Champion and was a member of the first State Championship Team for Jacksonville Gymnastics – the 2006 Level Six State Championship.
· 2006 – 2007, Haley at age nine, competed Level Seven. She swept first at State Meet and won the All-Around. She was also chosen, along with another Jax Gymnast, to be two of the six gymnasts to compete at the Level Seven Hall of Fame.
· Haley has always been the youngest gymnast from her team on each level that she has competed. And she still is the youngest at age ten and on Jax Gym Level Eight. In fact, we think she is the youngest Level Eight gymnast in Arkansas.
· The Edgin Family supports the gym in every way they can – they never miss gym unless ill and they travel an hour coming to the gym and forty-five minutes returning to their home outside of Alexander. They travel the route four times a week and practice fifteen hours a week.
The girls were both straight A students when they were in the public classroom. Kayla graduated elementary school with the Presidential Award, an academic award that was set up by the Federal Government across the country. Both girls were Alpha students. They are currently students in the Arkansas Virtual Academy (a charter school for the state) and this is their third year to be home schooled.
I felt that what Kim (mother) had to say about the girls was very important.
· “Both girls say their favorite event is floor. If I have to credit my girls with two important things – it would be:
· One: They are goal oriented for themselves. They set goals and work for them. They compete against themselves at the meets. They try to outdo themselves and to raise their score on each event from the last time.
· “And Two: They have learned “how” to compete. They know that falls and “non-connects” happen. They know how to make the best of the rest. If you keep focused and keep on like nothing happened, then you can still get a good score on that event and do well on the next events. It doesn’t have to destroy the rest of the routine or the rest of the meet. Both girls have had falls or “non-connects” (which each carry a .5 deduction) and have still broken a nine and taken first on that event and in the AA.
· “I feel also that my girls conduct themselves with good sportsmanship. They have always made friends with gymnasts from other teams, wished them well, and cheered them on and have even taken them presents a few times. When their own team mates have been their hardest competitor, they have been more excited about how their team mate did than themselves. As proud as I am of their gym abilities, I am even prouder of how they handle themselves.”
· Haley began competing at the age of six as a Level Four gymnast. (Arkansas only recently began competing Level Three Gymnasts.) Note: She was bumped to team just two weeks before the Level Four Fun Meet--same as State Meet for Level Fours. She didn’t even have a leotard to wear to the meet and had to wear an older team leotard that belonged to sister Kayla. But she did compete and broke a 9 and won first place on her vault at her first meet.
· Haley, at age six, won Second-Place Individual All-Around State Champion (losing to Jax Gym former gymnast, Erica West).
· Right after that State Meet, their gym closed and Haley and family moved to Jacksonville Gymnastics.
· After coming to Jax Gym, Haley, at age seven) competed Level Five, and won Second-Place Individual All-Around, losing again to Erica West by .15 of a point.
· In 2005 – 2006, her second year at Jax, Haley, at age eight, competed Level Six and she won Individual All-Around State Champion and was a member of the first State Championship Team for Jacksonville Gymnastics – the 2006 Level Six State Championship.
· 2006 – 2007, Haley at age nine, competed Level Seven. She swept first at State Meet and won the All-Around. She was also chosen, along with another Jax Gymnast, to be two of the six gymnasts to compete at the Level Seven Hall of Fame.
· Haley has always been the youngest gymnast from her team on each level that she has competed. And she still is the youngest at age ten and on Jax Gym Level Eight. In fact, we think she is the youngest Level Eight gymnast in Arkansas.
· The Edgin Family supports the gym in every way they can – they never miss gym unless ill and they travel an hour coming to the gym and forty-five minutes returning to their home outside of Alexander. They travel the route four times a week and practice fifteen hours a week.
· The girls were both straight A students when they were in the public classroom. Kayla graduated elementary school with the Presidential Award, an academic award that was set up by the Federal Government across the country. Both girls were Alpha students. They are currently students in the Arkansas Virtual Academy (a charter school for the state) and this is their third year to be home schooled.
I felt that what Kim (mother) had to say about her daughters was very important.
· “Both girls say their favorite event is floor. If I have to credit my girls with two important things – it would be:
· One: They are goal oriented for themselves. They set goals and work for them. They compete against themselves at the meets. They try to outdo themselves and to raise their score on each event from the last time.
· “And Two: They have learned “how” to compete. They know that falls and “non-connects” happen. They know how to make the best of the rest. If you keep focused and keep on like nothing happened, then you can still get a good score on that event and do well on the next events. It doesn’t have to destroy the rest of the routine or the rest of the meet. Both girls have had falls or “non-connects” (which each carry a .5 deduction) and have still broken a nine and taken first on that event and in the AA.
· “I feel also that my girls conduct themselves with good sportsmanship. They have always made friends with gymnasts from other teams, wished them well, and cheered them on and have even taken them presents a few times. When their own team mates have been their hardest competitor, they have been more excited about how their team mate did than themselves. As proud as I am of their gym abilities, I am even prouder of how they handle themselves.”