Begin Here – Go Anywhere!
Our Boston Rhythmic family is full of wonderful examples of growth, resilience, learning, transformation and leadership… In this regular newsletter column we are sharing the story and growth of one of our team gymnasts and the lessons she learned along the way. They are all wonderful role models for our younger athletes!
We asked Polina, Level 8, to share a few insights into her gymnastics life and her growth as an athlete. Polina started gymnastics at Boston Rhythmic when she was 5 years old in July 2012. Her first coach was Ada, who coached Polina over the next 8 years through pre-team and levels 3 to 7. She transfered to coach Iliana this year, in Level 8. Here is what she shared with us:
What is your favorite gymnastics memory?
Some of my favorite gymnastics memories were when we had to travel for competitions. My very first competition when we had to travel was in Level 4 in Puerto Rico (4 years ago). Many girls from our team and other teams came there, and in addition to competing we got to walk around San Juan, go in the pool at the hotel together, and so much more! It was also a very successful competition for everyone on our team.
What is your favorite apparatus?
My favorite apparatus is clubs right now, but it is always changing. When I was younger I thought clubs were much harder than any of the other apparatuses and I was very scared of them. Now that I have had a clubs routine for many years, I actually found out that I’m much better at clubs than most other apparatuses, so doing my clubs routine is much more enjoyable. I also love this year’s clubs routine, since it has a fun music and I like the style of it.
Can you share about a challenge you overcame as a gymnast?
The biggest challenge I overcame as a gymnast was going to gymnastics competitions. During my first year on the team, I was very scared of competing and never wanted to go to competitions. The first few competitions, my parents made me go. Gradually I got more used to competing and by the end of my first year on the team, I was much more confident during competitions. Now that many years have passed and I have gone to many competitions, I don’t get nearly as nervous.
Knowing everything you know now, what would your older self tell your younger self? How would it help and why?
If I could tell my younger self something, I would tell her to not give up, even when training gets very difficult. When I just started doing gymnastics on the team it was very hard and there were many challenges, but over time they went away and it was not so difficult.
Keep working hard and reaching high!