D3 SPORTS
JUMANA ALSAADOON
Gymnastics resumes after one year hiatus
JOSIAH WICKLINE
Gymnastics season is up and running, with that
brings new training, team building and challenges.
Coach Michael King is in charge of preparing the ath-
letes for all the meets and events that come with the
season. Gymnastics skills work a lot with balance,
strength, endurance, flexibility and coordination.
King is working hard to make sure athletes can get
the most out of their season and still be successful.
King tries to push his athletes as much as he can
“[My plans for training are] developing a condition-
ing base and introducing gymnastics basic skills. And
then working towards routine building,” King said.
King also has a list of goals he would like to accom-
plish that go along with the season plans.
“[My goals are to] create team unity, develop
strength [and] improve basic skills [throughout the
season],” King said.
King’s ongoing love for sports has had a huge im-
pact on inspiring him to be a coach.
JANUARY 21, 2022
LEAP Eighth grader Abby Gibson prac-
tices her leaps during gymnastics practice
after school. Photo by Adrian Kavazovic
“I want to coach because I love working with people
and loved sports,” King said. “[My] favorite thing about
coaching is to see the athlete be successful and develop
a relationship [with others].“
Like many other things COVID-19 has affected the
way the gymnastics season will continue this year.
“COVID-19 basically delayed the development of
student gymnastics skills and conditioning. So, stu-
dents will not have stronger routines and not [have]
enough time to develop. Also [we will have] less meets,”
King said.
Though King enjoys seeing the progress and rela-
tionships built by his athletes in gymnastics, he also has
a love for the sport itself.
“[Gymnastics] has always been interesting and
challenging [to me]. What you are able to do with your
body, and there are many different ways and levels. It
is exciting and rewarding. [It is a] self esteem booster,“
King said. “Gymnastics is [a] sport that can benefit all
sports, because you develop more body awareness. It is
[a] huge confidence builder.”
As the fall cheer season concluded, many of
the same athletes transitioned into gymnastics
season. Gymnastics is a physical agility and
coordination sport. Gymnasts compete in four
different exercises: the uneven bars, balance
beam, floor, and vaulting horse.
Junior Lizzie Gotay returned to gymnastics
this year after doing it her freshman year.
She initially tried out for the sport because
of her sister, who also did gymnastics.
“I started because my sister did it. Then,
[as] the years went on I started liking it more
and more. It’s kind of an escape from every-
thing,” Gotay said.
Gotay has experienced both the physical
and mental challenges of gymnastics through
her career.
“It’s really hard mentally because you put
your body through a lot,” Gotay said. “I tell
myself [to] switch [my] mindset to put every-
thing into [the] sport,” Gotay said. “Pushing
yourself in this sport can be easily done.”
While she has overcome such challenges,
Gotay also knows the importance of recogniz-
ing her limits.
“[My advice is to] push yourself as much as
you can,” Gotay said. “Not to the point where
you mentally hurt yourself because that can
[also] happen,” Gotay said.
Despite gymnastics being a solo competi-
tive sport, there is still an environment built
for gymnasts to have a support network in the
sport.
“The coaches are really good at checking in
and so are our teammates. We do practice with
two or three through other schools, so it’s kind
of like a big team,” Gotay said.
For returning athletes like Gotay, seeing the
same people from last year, and the new ones
is really exciting.
“There’s a lot of new people. [During] my
freshman year, most of them were juniors
and seniors, [so] they all graduated. My fa-
vorite part is seeing new people and working
with the coaches again and getting to try new
things,” Gotay said.
Many gymnasts also participate in fall
sports such as cheerleading. For Gotay, gym-
nastics helps her maintain her agility, but also
improves her skills for other sports.
“Theres a lot of [cheerleading and gym-
nastics] season crossover. It’s usually the same
people that do [cheer], so you get to be around
your teammate. We have a relationship [and] it
really helps with [team building],” Gotay said.
Read the full story on hhsmedia.com.
PAGE DESIGN BY MAYA WAID