Just turning 13 years old during the summer of the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, I found my hero and my inspiration. Like most spectators, I had always watched the sport of gymnastics with awe, and amazement as the gymnasts would tumble with power and strength and then in a split second show their elegance through dance. They would swing on the bars, moving from low bar to high, release and re-grasp, and dismount with their feet stuck firmly to the mat. Then they mounted the beam and tumbled like they were on the floor, (sometimes losing sight of the apparatus), flipping and landing on it. The fascination of this was that these tiny, but strong girls performed with incredible ease. At 13 I wanted to experience the victory that Nadia Comaneci and her coach Bela Karolyi acquired when Nadia scored the first ever perfect 10 in an Olympic Games. My dream was to someday meet this astonishing, inspirational woman. A few years after graduating college I decided to pursue this gymnastics phenomenon. After training with some coaches in NY I accepted a coaching job in a recreational and competitive gym in Maryland. There are many levels in competitive gymnastics. You usually begin at level 4 or 5, and move up according to how you progress. You can be young and move up quickly if you are talented, score well, and your coaches think you can handle it physically and mentally. As the years progressed and my knowledge of the sport became more apparent, I was assigned head coach of the level 5-6 team. These girls were between the ages of 7 and 14. I trained this team 3 days a week for 4 & a half hours a night. I began to learn and appreciate how special these athletes were. They came to the gym right after school, ate dinner at 9:00 o'clock in the evening, did their homework late, and woke up for school the next morning. They declined after school get togethers, movies, parties, and many other social events. They all had dreams. Huge dreams. Some wanted to go to the Olympics, some wanted to qualify to Regionals and Nationals, others wanted to get a college athletic scholarship. The discipline they had to show in the gym, flowed into their academics, and most of the girls were straight A students with top honors. They were caring, kind, friendly, and had a sense of team sportsmanship that brought tears to my eyes. Not only did they want to perform well for themselves, but they wanted the team to benefit from their performances. They also designed cards for each other for competitions, birthdays, injuries, and holidays, as well as cards for their coaches. Besides physical training, we did a lot of mental training. There were visualization drills, pep talks, and just positive reinforcement to boost their confidence. The energy of a coach is felt by the gymnast. If you are having a bad day, it doesn't benefit your athletes by yelling at them, and not giving them positive feedback. You get tired, and drained, but when your gymnasts bring home the first place trophy from a gymnastics competition, it makes it all worthwhile. Though I was not an Olympic Coach that trained Olympic Athletes, I still felt what Bela Karolyi felt. Smiles on my gymnasts' faces when they accomplished their goals, the cheering, and the medals they so well deserved, made me very proud to be their coach. I want every gymnast I trained to know how much they touched my life. I am a better person because of them. I want the spectators watching a gymnast on television or on the gym floor to remember that these are not only exceptional athletes, but winners in all aspects of their lives. My full circle moment was when I met Nadia Comaneci at the Gymnastics World Championships I attended in Indianapolis. I was at this incredible history making event because of her. As I spoke to Nadia, had my picture taken with her, and handed her a collectors pin of herself, I realized DREAMS DO COME TRUE. |
