Get ready to come along with me as I chronicle my day as a high school gymnast. Every meet with the team is different. In some competitions, we do amazing at showing off and completing our skills but other times we have our moments. With either a hard time or a strong meet, as a team, we always end up pushing through and persevering.
At our third high school meet of the season, we competed in a tri-meet against Massillon Tigers and Perry Panthers at the Massillon YMCA on Thursday, December 28.
The day before the big meet, we had a two-and-a-half-hour long practice, 3:00 pm-5:30 pm, to prepare. We perform a “mock meet” where we do a timed warm-up and show all of our skills to mimic how the meet will feel.
“Our main focus is getting the girls to gain more confidence in their routines,” Ally Mangano, assistant coach said. “One way we are trying to do this is by, of course, practicing their skills that they struggled with at previous meets.”
To start the day off we arrive at Wadsworth High School at 3:30 pm and our bus leaves at 4:00 pm. We get ready for the meet by doing our hair and makeup. We put special paw prints or W stickers on our faces to represent our school spirit.
We give out gifts to our “little sisters,” a team bonding exercise for us. I usually give a gift bag with yummy snacks, drinks, and a fun item to boost spirits.
After loading the bus with our springboard and sting mat, we listen to our favorite songs from a playlist we created to hype us up.
“High school gymnastics is a lot easier on your body compared to club gymnastics and more fun,” Ella Mattle, a freshman on the gymnastics team said.
At the Massillon YMCA, we unload our stuff into the gym and start our stretching and line drills. We go through our stretches and then do a few practice skills to warm our bodies up.
Once we were finished with this, we started our timed warm-up.
After we finished warming up our skills we introduced ourselves to the crowd by waving when the coach of Massillon called our team. Then we stood for the National Anthem and finally, we circled up and chanted “Go Grizzlies”.
The meet started by competing against Massillon and Perry on beam and vault and then we moved on to bars and floor.
After we finished our competition our team packed up our stuff and put our warm-up clothing back on to congratulate the top gymnasts of the meet during awards. Many of the girls on our team placed in ranging places in each event and even on all-around scoring.
After the stressful competition, we gathered our things and headed back to the bus to drive back to Wadsworth High School. On the ride home, we ate the snacks and drinks that some gymnasts volunteered to bring for the team and coaches.
When we finally returned to the school, we helped pack the springboard and mat into our coaches’ cars. We said our thanks to the coaches and bus driver and went home to get a good sleep before our long practice the next day.
“This wasn’t my best meet at all, but it was good for the team because we won,” said Mattle. “But, I think we could be more focused on each event.”
At this meet, we did not have our dream competition but our team still ended up on top, beating both Massillon’s team and Perry’s team. We end in victory by keeping good vibes and cheering each other on. Our meets are always full of laughter, singing, and dancing to make our teammates feel included and loved.
“Although this is only my second year with the team, I don’t think there has ever been a practice we aren’t having fun and laughing,” said Mangano. “I love the personalities of each of our athletes. I am very proud of how well the girls get along and take care of each other.”
Our team is still undefeated this season. It will stay this way, but only if we continue to push ourselves and have a positive attitude not only at the meet but especially during each practice.
“Each meet they get better at things they previously struggled with. As we start to approach the second half of our season, especially with our more intense meets coming up, we hope the girls continue their hard work and thrive in the new year,” Mangano said.
