Technique Magazine had an interesting article this month titled “Six Reasons Why Gymnastics is Great” written by Julie Cross. The article goes into detail about the little things that you’re children develop when interacting in the sport of gymnastics. In my opinion gymnastics has the best fundamental building blocks a child could ever hope to climb. You may not think of it in quite the same way now, as you will in the future, but I can tell you that my future was made better by the sport of gymnastics. So what exactly did I learn? Along with the 6 mentioned in the article; confidence, discipline, body control, strength, flexibility (they actually miscounted and only listed 5…haha oop’s!), I want to talk about the not-so-obvious-but-very-important attributes that gymnastics has taught me. Teamwork- In my gym, you would never get on an apparatus without a teammate shouting your name, or giving you compliments during routines. This gives each gymnast a confidence that cannot be learned.  It taught me how to be selfless, and showed me that sometimes the best thing a teammate can do is cheer for others when it is there time to shine. Those 35 hours in the gym each week definitely gave me some of the best friends a girl could ask for, while shaping my personality to be a friend that someone could rely on. Sacrifice- Growing up doing gymnastics I had to sacrifice a lot of things. The fun nights out with my friends, school dances, movie nights, birthday parties, other sports, even my prom. If you were to ask me back then if it bothered me, I would have said “absolutely, my friends think I’m a freak because I don’t do anything besides gymnastics”. But now looking back on my gymnastics career, I wouldn’t have changed a single thing. People still today ask me if it was worth it. Was it worth going to school, heading right to the gym, eating dinner on the car ride home, doing homework when I got home, and then going to bed and doing it all over the next morning? I say “Yes it was worth it, because now, everything else feels like a piece of cake!” In all honesty, sacrificing those things for me was very difficult, but I did it because I had a love for something and I wanted to see that through. Which leads into our next topic… Commitment- Gymnastics taught be about commitment. It isn’t a sport that you can do when you feel like it. You can’t just wake up one day and say “I think I’ll play basketball this year, and then next year I’ll play gymnastics.” Ha! This is why gymnastics is different from every other sport. It isn’t a sport you can just pick up in the snap of your fingers. Unlike other sports, you need to have years and years of background in the sport before you can even get to a level where you are above or equal to a really great football player. Where do you think that quote came from? “If gymnastics were easy, it would be called football”. Well this is why! Problem Solving- Now let’s be realistic. In a gym filled with 1,400 kids, and 5 coaches, do you think the coaches can answer every single question each gymnast has? No. This meant that a lot of skills we actually learn on our own. Along with problem solving, (hmmm why am I constantly falling to the left side of the beam on my layout step-out?) gymnastics also taught me a lot about independence. Having to solve some of my gymnastics quirks on my own, showed me that I could accomplish what I wanted to, while using the skills I had accomplished with the help of my coaches.  It made my brain function, and actually helped me out in the long run…even in school. Now, because of everything that I learned as a gymnast, it has made me a much better coach then I ever imagined I could be. Like I said, I could go on and on, but I just really wanted to share with you my top 4 things that gymnastics has taught me in my 24 years of the sport. Bottom line: what I sacrificed in my life to be completely committed to gymnastics does not compare to what I have achieved in my coaching career using problem solving throughout. Nor will anything ever teach me more about friendship the way teamwork has. Well it’s getting late for me and I’m sure you have to get your kids up early for gymnastics practice It’s about that time again…summer schedules! Remember, tell your kids to constantly drink water even if they’re not thirsty! Peace, Love, Gymnastics Krystal Olympic Gymnast Jaycie Phelps and Me