Saturday, December 10, 2011

Champion

"During my childhood anything that brought me close to death happened at your house."-Sela Fadness( pictured above on bottom left) As I was visiting my sister's gymnastics practice last night our mutual friend made that comment to us and it really got me thinking about all of the dangerous activities I took part in. Both Abby and I have been involved in gymnastics for as long as we can remember so when my dad put up a park sized swing set in our yard we started to practice the uneven bars on its all too thick rails. " Remember when we put two of your Dad's paint buckets upside down and a 2X4 on top for a beam?"-Carolyn Hackel( top right) The list could go on forever! Floor routines on cement floors, or tumbling on wet grass across the sprinklers! Thinking about these things made me cry I was laughing so hard! How could I have been so careless in thinking I was invincible? Well it only took me about a minute to realize that it wasn't recklessness that made me do these things, it was my passion that drove me. I walked into the YMCA gym as a bright eyed eager 7 year old with the desire to be everything I could be. 12 years later I know that my drive to succeed, and some patient coaches are what put me where I am. Sure there were bumps along the way, I had my share of injuries and let downs, but those aren't what shape a gymnast. Attitude. Resilience. Courage. If a gymnast can look at a broken ankle and say " It looks like I'll be working upper body for a while" she has a good attitude. If a gymnast can go on to win bars after she took 3 falls on beam, she has resilience. And if a gymnast can suck everything up inside her and just go for a pass that could kill her, she has courage. "Be scared, don't be a coward."- Mark Raymond ( coach) Today I had the opportunity to watch the Austin High School Gymnastics team take their second win of the newly begun season. They have good attitudes. Each one took at least one fall on beam. They have resilience. They all threw their hardest, scariest tricks and preformed them with a smile on their face. They have courage. Every girl who practices gymnastics and gives it all shes got, is not just a gymnast, she is a champion. I got to be that at one point, but now it's my turn to cheer the new ones on to victory!









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