As a kid, I had done every "typical" sport you can think of: soccer, softball, cross country, and track and field. I played all of these for my high school, I still run a few times a week, and I even played intramural soccer last semester for my sorority, Theta.
But, the one sport I've always wanted to try was gymnastics. My oldest cousin, who's a year younger than me, had been a gymnast until she was eight, and a girl I babysit is an acro gymnast, and I always have seen her doing aerials and front walkovers everywhere she goes. I also am an avid watcher of gymnastics every four years during the Olympics. I'd always want to copy their moves, I mean, they're defying gravity, but I just didn't know how to.
The thing is, you can't just pick up gymnastics as a sixteen-year-old, because all the girls who do it at that age are professionals; they are competing at high levels. I'd be training with the babies, I thought. So, I dropped the idea.
It wasn't until my senior year when the idea of taking classes crossed my mind again. The summer after my senior year, I had nothing planned. I was about to go to college, so I wanted to relax and didn't want to take any summer classes/courses or work so I could relax for once. So, with gymnastics on the brain, I googled "adult gymnastics classes", and sure enough, Empire Gymnastics Academy offered one. The week after I graduated, I threw on a running top and a pair of leggings, and showed up to the 7:30pm class to be confronted by adults that were a bit older than me, but so much more talented than I was. I mean, they were incredible, doing back tucks and other skills I could only dream of. I worked my hardest, and did the drills Coach Alex asked of me. I didn't do any insane tricks that day, but it was so much fun. I got to use actual equipment, a springy floor, and I got to meet an awesome coach and adults who have similar ambitions to myself, to pick up gymnastics again.
A year later, and I've learned so much. I've learned how to do an aerial, the one trick I wanted to learn since the first day of class, a back handspring, front handspring, and so much more.
However, I won't stop there. While I've gotten this far in a little over a year, I want to continue to keep learning and growing in the sport. My goal for this year is to get a roundoff back handspring and a back tuck.
It's never too late to learn a new skill, especially one you've wanted to learn from a while. While the stigma was against me (because, like I said, not many 18 year olds want to learn a new sport, let alone gymnastics) I decided to pursue my new interest anyway because it's what I wanted to do. And I'm glad I did because I've had so much fun learning and improving in the past year.
Me, doing a dismount from the high beamElizabeth Gainey
