“Hi, My Name Is Mary, and I STILL Love Gymnastics.”
There are lots of reasons why people are turning away from the sport of gymnastics. All of the problems surrounding USA Gymnastics, plus the ongoing issues that they are having with coaches and Safe Sport violations are not helping.
I believe that gymnastics is a great sport, and there are many reasons to still love it.
I grew up in a gym atmosphere that encouraged me to make my own goals and work hard to reach them.
(There was only one time in my life that I felt like I was doing gymnastics for someone else — another story for another time, and that only lasted a very short time because I refused to do it — it wasn’t fun; it took away the charm.)
Gymnastics offers gymnasts the opportunity to learn a great many important life lessons. These lessons don’t happen via osmosis, however; they must be nurtured. Coaches and parents need to get together to help their gymnasts develop these lessons in a positive manner.
It’s always sad to me when a former gymnast says that she learned to go for her skills because she was more afraid of what her coach would do if she didn’t go for the skill, than she was of the skill itself.
Or that she learned to stick beam routines because if she didn’t she had to climb the rope an ungodly number of times.
Or that she learned how to manage her weight because she got weighed in everyday and had to run if she was “up” one day.
These examples show that life lessons are learned, but in no way are they nurtured in a positive environment, and in no way do they cultivate a love of the sport.
I believe that I still love gymnastics because my coaches cared about me and put me first. They wanted me to succeed for me, not them. My parents wanted me to achieve my goals, not the ones that they had in mind for me.
So, yes. My name is Mary, and I still love gymnastics. And I’m proud to say that I do.
And I’m proud to say that I am developing a program to help other gymnastics coaches and parents give their gymnasts the tools they need to thrive in the sport and beyond, learn valuable life lessons, and cultivate a love for the sport.
