The word “gymnastics” may conjure images of athletes flipping and flying in pursuit of Olympic glory, but there’s more to the sport than cool tricks and shiny medals. In fact, studies show that participating in gymnastics improves brain function and social interaction. “In addition to the physical benefits, gymnastics boosts confidence and self-esteem in children,” says Jodi Levine, owner of Jodi’s Gym on the Upper East Side. “Gymnastics classes improve children’s focus, listening skills, goal-setting skills, social interaction and cognitive development.”
With all these benefits, why not see what the big deal about gymnastics is? We spoke with six young gymnasts about the joys and challenges of this demanding—and exhilarating—sport.
JON GOMPRECHT, 9
What do you like best about doing gymnastics? Maybe the activities because we have, I think, one event every 30 minutes.
So, how many per day? Maybe three or four events a day. Four if it’s a good day, but some days we only do two or one.
What do you think about while you’re doing an event? Well, on the pommel horse I think about how to do it. Like where should I put my hands, because that’s the most important thing.
Why do you like going to Asphalt Green? The coaches are nice. They tell us how to improve. And I like the other kids.
Are the other kids competitive or do you guys play around a lot? Well, we play around a lot.
INDIA DOBBIE, 10
Why do you like doing gymnastics? Cause it’s a fun and interesting sport. And there’s a lot of nice friends there.
What is it like to do the vault? It’s really different from floor and stuff. The first year going over the table, sometimes it’s hard and sometimes you mess up, but I just try to go over and I have to be confident that I can do it.
What are you practicing on the vault right now? I try to do a front hand spring onto the vault table. And I’m not going over the table with it yet, but we practice doing roundoffs onto mats and that’s really fun.
Why do you like going to NYC Elite? Because the coaches are really nice. We have this thing called “Big Sisters,” and they’re really nice and really supportive and they help a lot.
HANNAH PORTES, 12
What do you like most about doing gymnastics? It’s just really fun and it’s a beautiful and graceful sport. When you’re running, you can run as fast as you want, and when you’re doing flips it feels kind of like you’re flying.
What exactly goes into doing a floor routine? Half of the floor routine is prancing and dancing, and the other half is real gymnastics. We actually just got a new gym so we now have a spring floor, which is a bit bouncier than a normal floor.
What’s the best music to use while you’re doing the floor? For practicing it’s nice to have fast and upbeat music. If you need a lot of power to do a trick and you start off really slow, then the trick isn’t as good as it could be. For me it’s helpful if I have music.
Do you have a lot of fun with the other kids, or is it really competitive? It’s really fun. And actually there’s two kinds of teams: one for competing and one for normal practice. I’m on the competitive team with four other girls and then the recreational team is a lot of girls.
Have you gone to a lot of competitions? Well we just started this year. We’re practicing to get our routines perfect now. But I think we’ll be competing probably by next year.
MATHILDE VAN-DOOSELAERE, 10
What’s it like doing the balance beam? It’s fun and I like it a lot actually.
Is
it hard? It’s kind of hard to stay on and to keep yourself balanced
while you’re doing things, but it feels good when you’ve accomplished
something.
What
do you think about while you’re doing your balance beam routine? I
think I can do it. My teachers push me to do it, but they don’t push too
hard and they help me a lot.
How
do they help you? They spot you, and when they think you can do it
alone they let you try it. But they’re always there helping you.
Why do you like doing gymnastics? Well, you get to move your body and you get to let go.
ANDREW MATTSON, 11
What do you like most about gymnastics? I get to do different types of
tricks. Gymnastics isn’t a really common sport, like football, but
that’s what I like about it—it’s different.
What’s
your favorite event? The parallel bars. When I started I actually
wasn’t the greatest on there, but eventually I got better moves, so
that’s why I like it now.
What are your favorite moves to do on the bars? I like doing a press handstand, swing handstand and a fly tip.
How strong would you say you are? I’d say I’m in between medium and like really super strong.
GABRIELLA SELITTO, 10 
What’s your favorite thing to do on the uneven bars? A backward circle.
What’s a backward circle? That’s where we do a couple of casts, and then we do a really big cast and then we flip.
What’s a cast? We’re on the bar and our arms have to be straight, and we fling and then we push away or do a trick.
Why do you like going to Columbus Gym? I like the coaches there and I’ve made a lot of friends. And I like showing what I’ve learned in gymnastics to my friends at school.
Photos: Jon Gomprecht, Andrew Mattson and Mathilde Van-Dooselaere by Andrew Schwartz; Hannah Portes, India Dobbie and Gabriella Selitto by Daniel S. Burnstein.
