Memoirs of a gymnast....Introduction and chapter 1. | jenni855's Blog

Introduction
Chapter 1_Beginnings
Chapter 2_Entering the squad
Chapter 3_ The trio and our first competition
Chapter 4- Camp and Food
Chapter 5_ Weight issues
Chapter 6_ I want to leave
Chapter 7_ Caroline
Chapter 8_ Time to go
Chapter 9_ A new group
Chapter 10_ Weight issues part 2.
Chapter 11_A mental block and the end.



Introduction- I don't know where the inspiration came from to start writing about my gymnastics career. All I know is that I want my story to be heard. I am hoping it will be a theraputic and liberating experience. I have demons that date back to this time in my life and now is the time to speak out about it. Being a professional gymnast is tough, both physically and mentally. My story will detail just that. I hope you enjoy reading it.


Chapter 1-Beginnings:
I can't remember the exact moment I got into gymnastics but I knew as soon as I saw the sport on television that I loved it and wanted to do it myself. My idol was Shannon Miller a US gymnast and still in my opinion, one of the best gymnasts the world has ever seen.
I remember one morning, I was watching gym on the telly and I asked my father if you had to be in a squad to get to the world championships! I was only 7 at the time but I laugh at how naieve I was!
My parents soon enrolled me in a gym club and my friend Katie came along with me. I remember our first leotard was blue. We started off just doing Saturday mornings. I don't remember the name of my first coach but I do remember Mike who we had later on as a coach. I had just turned 8 when I started gymnastics and that was considered late. Most gymnasts start out a lot earlier. However, I was picking up skills easily and I always remember the vault and attempting front handsprings over it. Mike was really encouraging and I felt so pleased to be doing what I loved.
It must have been a few months in when the event that would change my life happened. It was a normal Saturday and my group were all on the vault. A woman called Alison who ran the elite sports acrobatic team came up to Mike. She ran the team alongside her husband Bob. They spoke for a while and it was then that myself and Katie found we had been selected for the squad that Alison ran. It was as quick and simple as that. I don't know if we got chosen on ability or simply because we were two of the younger members of the group but that's what happened. Despite wanting to be as good as Shannon Miller, I cried when I got home as I didn't want to do it. I was happy in Mike's group and liked doing artistic gymnastics. I wasn't sure about switching to sports acrobatics and as I say, I didn't want to do it. I think my mother must have persuaded me as suddenly I found myself standing in a line of other newbies in the sports acro camp, all standing in a line. Instead of just doing Saturday mornings, we would have to attend every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon as well as Saturday mornings. Little did I know what it was going to be like.  From that day on, my childhood changed forever.