The past week has shaken the gymnastics community yet again. And while I certainly have my opinions about the situation that has transpired over the past few days, I’m only going to say I am extremely proud of every single competitor who stepped into the spotlight and did the best they were capable of in that moment.
Because the past year of gymnastics has shaken our family, most dramatically, our brand new 11 year old who walked confidently into the gym this birthday morning, and walked out with a smile on her face this birthday afternoon.
But, it was just under a year ago when I started watching the unraveling of my child. I watched as she lost her spark for gymnastics. As she began to doubt her passion, drive, ability. And as she pushed through each and every practice, never considering not going, I didn’t see the diminishing of her entire being. Because, when it happens slow it’s almost imperceptible.
It wasn’t until we had talked, problem-solved, and cried together (sooo much crying!) over a few months that she finally realized she wasn’t okay. She realized that she needed different. And so, we made a gut-wrenching, life bending, hardest-moment-of-her-little-life-so-far decision: she needed to find a new gym home.
She needed a place where she felt valued. Where she felt seen. Where she felt supported. Where she felt respected. Where she felt safe. Some place where she mattered.
And it wasn’t until she walked out of that new place for the first time that I even realized I hadn’t seen her smile about gymnastics in months. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how far gone she had been and how much fire had been lost.
Her first year of double-digits wasn’t anything that she would have ever wished for. She didn’t want to leave her team. She didn’t want to leave her old coaches. She didn’t want to miss out on competing for an entire season (after 4 months of lock-down that prematurely ended her previous season). But she did it all. She stepped up and said “I am not okay, I deserve better.” And that’s what she got.
Over the past year she’s melted perfectly into a new team. She’s built solid relationships with new coaches. She’s added new skills to her repertoire, fixed ones she’s struggled with, and perfected old ones that no one cared about before.
She got better, both in gymnastics and in life, because she believed she was worth it, and was brave enough to speak up and do the hard things when gym didn’t feel right anymore.
Because strength isn’t just found in the physical feats we can accomplish, it’s also in the way we make hard decisions and how we come out on the other side. And I know this kid is going to only get continue getting better during her 11-year old year.
