“C’mon!” “You got this!” “Stick it girl!” “Run hard!”

Chants from my teammates are yelled everywhere as I perform my last vault at the Connecticut State Gymnastics Championships. My head is spinning with doubts: “I’m not going to land this” “I’m going to get hurt, again” The judge salutes me and then I’m off. As I start to run the chants grow louder and louder, telling me I can do this, I can land this. The support from the crowd and my teammates motivate me to push through and do the amazing vault I was trained to do. The board comes closer into my line of sight. I hurdle a few feet to where my feet come in contact with the board. There was no going back now.  I muster all the strength I can plus the added adrenaline and the chants from my teammates and flip over the horse. And stick. Salute.
Gymnastics is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports in the world. The tricks gymnasts have to train are almost inhumane and quite dangerous without the proper equipment and coaching. As the wise gymnast Ivana Hong once said, “Gymnastics is 30% physical, 70% mental”. That saying is quite true because from experience I have injured myself many times. My mind doubts my abilities and I balk on a skill that I know I can execute properly. That is mainly how I broke my tibia just over a month ago. Anyway, the mental strain gymnastics has on every gymnast would make any sane person want to quite. The only reason why we gymnasts push on is because of the team support we have for each other.

Now I know what you are thinking: “Gymnastics isn’t a team sport” “They only get individual awards”. I am going to dispel that myth right now. Yes, we do get individual awards on events because to some extent it is an individual sport since we compete by ourselves on events. Yet, the biggest award of any gymnastics competition is the team award. If anyone watches the summer Olympics, the most important award in the sport of gymnastics is the team award. That is why the selection for the women’s Olympic gymnastics team is highly selective. Only the best of the best can make that team in order to combine talents and take home the gold.
Although, there is a team award in gymnastics that is not what defines gymnastics as a team sport. Going back to the mental aspect of the sport, have the mental capacity to get push through the sport because of the team.

What really defines a team sport is the mutual support and respect each teammate has for each. Literally the only reason that I have been able to make it so far in the sport is because of the support of my team. When I’m having a rough day at practice, when my mind gets the better of me, my teammates always have encouraging words that motivate me to work hard and do everything to the best of my ability. I have come too far to give it all up. My teammates remind me of all the sweat, blood and tears throughout my time in gymnastics. It reminds me of why I started this sport in the first place, why I fell in love with it. I would never want to do anything else. It sounds insane that I would pick the daring sport of gymnastics out of all the other ones.

Gymnastics has taught me more on how to work with a team than any other sport I have tried. And yes, I have done softball, soccer, tennis, cheerleading, and etcetera. But it’s gymnastics that is the true team sport. The only way that sport can thrive is through teammate support. Without it, I don’t think anyone would want to go through that mental and physical pain alone. The sport would fade into oblivion. A team is what really drives the sport. It gives all gymnasts the heart and motivation to keep going. To never give up.