Jenna
Jenna came to us when she was 12, and she has been a gymnast for 13 years, and has been competing for nine of them. She will be graduating from high school this year. She is one of the strongest leaders and apprentices in the gym who is always helping her teammates see the positive side of things.
Her story is about how her coaches throughout her life shaped her perspective on the sport, both positive and negative.
When she first began competing, Jenna simply “wanted to win and get the highest scores out of my entire team. Once we made team, the only focus was on competition. High scores were the ultimate thing at the end of the year.”
“The first year I was happy. [It] was great — I had pretty high scores (high 8’s and low 9’s), and I was happy after every meet.”
“In my second season, the coaching changed. They completely focused on winning as a team. They wanted our team to win each age group. The coaches praised the ones with the highest scores, and pushed those who weren’t winning to the side. The coaches didn’t pay attention to the kids who weren’t winning, even at practice. They were focused on making the team look good, and each individual was a means to get the team success. If you didn’t get first place, [your routines] didn’t matter.”
When asked what that was like for her, Jenna responded, “I would cry all the way home from meets because my performance didn’t matter. I didn’t think I was good enough to move up because my coaches didn’t move me up. But my scores were high (9.4’s and 9.5's). Move-ups were not based on anything clear.”
When asked what her parents’ reaction was, Jenna said, “They were upset with me for being so upset at my meets. But they didn’t understand the worst of it because I didn’t tell them. If I did, they would be upset with my coaches, and I didn’t want that. But my parents intervened before I said anything. They saw that the coaches contradicted themselves when they said that all that mattered was to have fun and work hard in practice. Their actions did not match their words. My parents talked to the owner of the gym, and nothing changed. They decided to move me and my sister to a different gym.”
When asked how her perspective shifted when she moved gyms, Jenna said, “At first, I still really focused on winning and trying to beat my old teammates. But then I realized that the focus was actually what the coaches said it was. It was on progress and to move to a higher level, not just to win. It was a whole different way of thinking about gymnastics. It was the stuff that the old gym would say to us, but not what they would expect. It was then that I started to tell my parents how bad it was after I realized how toxic that place was.”
When asked what changed for Jenna, she said, “I wanted to move up levels. I realized that I could get bigger skills sooner [rather than merely perfecting routines]… I could experiment with new skills. Meets were about trying new skills. It was better… I became more confident in myself. I have so many friends now; I’m much more secure. I had so many insecurities. I laugh things off now rather than literally crying about it the rest of the day. Here, I am able to say something if I’m uncomfortable. [At my old gym] there was no catering to the individual. Here, it helps to know that I have an opinion; I feel important. If I’m hurt, I can talk to the coaches. I started to realize that I, as an individual, am important within this sport and to the team.”
When asked how her goals changed, Jenna said, “Before, my whole life revolved around gymnastics. I realized that it was just a sport. This is not my entire life, and it is not going to decide my future. It is more about the challenges and the values that you get out of it.”
When asked if she is happy, Jenna replied, “Yes. The values now match — what my parents teach me [and] what my coaches are teaching me.”
An “Individual First” philosophy helped shape Jenna into the strong, independent, and confident young woman that she has become. What coaches say and do matter. It matters what their guiding philosophy is. All coaches shape the minds and perspectives of the gymnasts we work with, for the positive and the negative.
We can create a NEW gymnastics culture, one gymnast at a time.