Sofia S., Centerville High School
The Championships
I had finally reached my destination. My gymnastics session was about to begin, and my coach was waiting for me inside. I made it to Level 8 Region 5 championships, which includes Ohio and most of its bordering states. It is also one of the hardest divisions in the nation, and I couldn’t have gotten there without staying true to myself.
First, let me explain the situation that I was in prior to the competition. During our team’s summer training, I injured my knee on vault. More specifically, I pulled two muscles in the back and side of my knee. I couldn’t participate for a long time, and it was strenuous for me to be happy and optimistic about the future of my gymnastics career.
Eventually, the gymnastics competition sneaked up from behind, and there was almost no way that I would be able to compete. I continually pushed myself to the limit to ensure that I could make it to at least one competition that year. It was so tantalizingly close, like a carrot on a stick in front of me that just barely touched my fingertips. In fact, I was so close that my coach suggested that I could just compete bars. The problem was that in order to qualify for State Championships, I had to compete in all four events.
I went to a qualifying competition. Once I got there, my coach asked if I had recovered enough to do all four events. It would be risky and come with a lot of pain, but there was no way that I could pass up this opportunity. I put on my knee brace and put up a satisfactory all-around score. I didn’t win anything other than the privilege of being able to go to State Championships.
I competed in some competitions before State Championships and improved my score every time. When it came, I was incredibly nervous, but I did quite well that day. I made it onto Team Ohio. This meant that instead of competing for my club, I would compete as a representative for the state of Ohio. Ever since the news was released, there was an immense amount of pressure on me to do well.
At Regionals, I gave it my all. I was fully focused on what I was doing and had minimal mistakes. I had my highest score of the year at the most important competition in Level 8. I even won a silver medal on balance beam. After the competition, I began to wonder, “Why didn’t I choke? How was I so calm at such an important competition?”
The answer was self-confidence. I was frequently asked, “Will you be able to compete?” Once I began to face reality, I came up with an attack plan that ultimately worked in my favor and got me all the way to Regionals. Many obstacles were thrown at me, and I was able to jump over them due to my self-confidence and truth to myself.
