Perfect Ninety

-2

I stood on the beam and took a deep breath as I prepared for my tumble. I attempted a back handspring step out but my right foot slipped off of the beam and I didn't think quick enough to adjust my weight onto my left.

My coach--who has let us call her Debra for as long as I can remember--looked at my with the most embarrassed expression.

"Anna, you've practiced this routine for months. You've done it on the trampoline and the..."

I rolled my eyes and thought, sure why don't you try it? These last 10 years, I haven't seen you do anything.

Well, I am a level 9, I should be able to do a back handspring step out by now. I should practice more. I shouldn't have an attitude with the coach.

Gymnastics is a lot harder than it looks. It's an elite sport. You practice for hours in the gym. Your practice makes you experienced in the art of falling on your face, butt, back, hands and breaking at least one bone in your body every year. It also prepares you for the real world. The judges will, guess what, judge you to death. Every movement you make is either a point or a deduction. The rules are revised just about every year but some judges are extremely old fashioned. This sport prepares you for both physical and emotional pain. It also reflects the struggle of repeating levels ( levels in gymnastics are like levels in a video game--except in gymnastics, there are 10. Seeing as how there are only 10 levels in this video game should express the difficulty of it.)

Everyone assumes that gymnastics isn't a sport because we 'only do flips.' If you ask someone how often a gymnastics competition is on TV, they'll reply with 'once every four years.' It's only because we aren't as popularized. Nobody cares about gymnastics unless it's on the Olympics. That's the only time gymnastics is popularized. Some sports just don't get the attention they deserve. Nobody even watches NBC unless the Olympics are on. NBC today is where most shows have gone to die. Nobody even watches the news on NBC. At least this is true in this town. We are one of the most hardcore athletes out there. All sports are hard in general but it's a slap in the face when you tell someone that you're a gymnast and they talk about how awesome they are at football--which is not the hardest sport out there. Or they picture the Olympics as the only career for a gymnast. (Not every gymnast is going to the Olympics!) Or when they ask us to do a cartwheel and beg us to do that flippy thingy. Or they say that cheerleading and dancing are the same as gymnastics. They are all total opposites. The only reason all of these close-minded people think that is because of the flexibility and tumbling. No one appreciates how hard anybody works to achieve success. They could copy the choreography of a routine they saw in 'High School Musical' and think that's the same thing as a gymnastics dance routine. Most don't know the difference between a roundoff and a cartwheel. The difference between wolf jump and a sissone.

I guess that's why I work just as hard or maybe harder than the 7 other kids in my level. The people on my team range in age between 14-16. They are all talented but all the focus goes on me. Everyone expects me to be the best so I bring it to them. I focus on what I can improve on so my team can still trust me. I have always been used as an example for the senior gymnasts. I try to be as close as perfect as I can be. They think I should be happy having the highest rank in reality, I wish my friends knew how good they were.

You know, it's a sin for a 15 year old to work hard for their favorite sport. 'Take a break.' I've already taken a break and I won't take another one until I land this layout step out. 'You are too focused on this gymnastics stuff.' No, I found myself in gymnastics. Everyday we have practice, I want to die but I am filled with satisfaction when it all pays off. Maybe if I cheated my way to success, then a bunch of no-life fans would support me. That's not true success. That's not respect. If you cheat your way to fame, you end up doing more work than if you just worked your way up the ladder. Maybe if I was someone else or in a different sport, I'd get more support for working as hard as I do but the thing is I DON'T CARE. I'm not in this sport for them. They weren't with me when I was first signed up. They will just pretend to be my friend if they see a college meet on TV--for once.