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In a year that has been anything but normal, the athletes at Xtreme Athletics in Troy are trying to get back  a sense of normalcy. Troy will host the Tricks and Treats Meet on Saturday morning beginning at 9 a.m.

Troy will compete with Auburn on Saturday. The two teams will then meet in Auburn on November 14 in the Battle at XA.

“Early on we started discussing what a meet season will look like,” coach Paul Diaz said. “There was a lot of uncertainty with how that was going to unfold. We made the decision to host our own meet.”

The Troy gymnasts have practiced four days a week despite not being able to compete in any meets. Saturday’s competition will provide the athletes the opportunity to compete.
“It’s really important,” Diaz said. “We saw some teams cancel their compulsory season here in the fall. Allowing them to have some type of season, albeit shorter than what they are used to, I think it’s important.”

Although it will be a fun atmosphere that will, Saturday’s meet will be official. Each athlete will have the opportunity to secure a spot in the State Meet.

“This gives them an opportunity to qualify for the state meet that will be held in December,” Diaz said. “With this being a sanctioned meet, if they get their qualifying score they will have the opportunity to compete at state this season.”

The meet will include all levels on Saturday and it will include all the events of a normal meet.

“They are going to do every event like they would at a normal meet,” Diaz said. “We have opened up to all levels. Typically the optional season starts in January. We decided the kids who are capable of competing now will have an opportunity to get a score, which will qualify those kids for state in March.”

Diaz believes with all their practice, his participants will be ready to go on Saturday.

“They are ready to compete,” Diaz said. “They have been anxious to compete, especially those who have advanced to the next level. They are ready to get out there.”

People coming to the event will have to adhere to safety guidelines on Saturday. Everyone will need to get their temperatures checked and there will be a limited amount of people inside the gym at one time.

“We are only going to allow one parent in per event,” Diaz said “We can’t allow everyone into our facility the entire time because of spacing. We will do it in groups. Parents will be able to come in and watch their kids on the vault and once their child is done competing that group will exit and the next group will come in.”

Diaz is also working on live streaming the event so all family members can watch their loved ones compete.