Jakoby's Gymnastics Journey
If you follow us on social media, you know our brand ambassadors. These gymnasts work hard both in and out of the gym and share their love for gymnastics and Snowflake leotards with the digital world. They are influential figures for gymnasts of all ages.
Jakoby is a Level 4 gymnast working hard to achieve her gymnastics dreams. Her mom Lisa tells the story of Jakoby's journey into gymnastics and how they faced their struggles entering a new sport. This is a story that many gym parents can relate to.
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Jakoby’s path into competitive gymnastics has not been easy, but I’ll tell you that if she can do it, anyone can do it.
Jakoby was born into a single-parent household. There was no shared custody or financial responsibilities, so things have always been a little rough and tight. At age 3, like most kids, Jakoby would not sit still and was always moving! Perfect time for Jakoby to start a mini gymnastics class! But once again, things got tight and Jakoby had to quit. A few years later, at age 5, Jakoby tried again and started taking classes at a real gym. She moved up the ladder quickly; from the Kindergarten class to the 2nd graders class, to Tumbling and then Advanced Tumbling, all when she was still 5 years old. She ended up hitting a plateau though and had learned AND conquered all that she could on the ‘recreational’ side of the gym. She was bored. Unfortunately, the team side was not a reality due to the finances, so once again, Jakoby had to quit gymnastics.
Over the next couple of years, Jakoby tried all sorts of other things: getting involved in school activities, ballet classes, hip hop classes, acro classes, modeling, acting, swimming...but she constantly went back to “I just want to do gymnastics. So at age 8, she started a class again at that same gym she dominated at before, and was quickly asked to try out for team. By now, this is just clearly what Jakoby wants to do and she naturally has the talent for it, so I gave the okay not really knowing any details. On her 9thbirthday, Jakoby tried out and made the JO Level 3 team!
Now came the hard part. There’s a rumor that gymnastics is a “rich kid” sport and Jakoby and I were told we would never be able to do it…and to be real honest, once I found out all the pricing information, I had a good cry in the car of the parking lot while Jakoby was inside at practice. “How were we going to do this on our own, it's next to impossible."But the more people that said "you can’t,"the more Jakoby and I were pushed to believe that “yes, yes we can and we will.” Jakoby wasn’t going to be a statistic and not get an opportunity to do something she’s great at and loves just because we were dealt a crummy set of LIFE cards. So with the help of her supportive immediate family, a plan was put together to pursue her first competitive season.
As many gymnasts do, Jakoby had some setbacks and some fears that she had to overcome as the new kid. She had broken a bone in her foot and was not able to do much for 3 months. Watching her push through practices in a boot was priceless though, definitely a learning opportunity for her. She also had a very hard time with those pesky uneven bars! Jakoby ended up finishing off her first JO season taking 2nd All Around in her age category at the State Gymnastics Championships!
Jakoby is now a Level 4, training 5 competitive gymnast, and is headed into her second season. She wasn’t sure if she would make it to see another season, but the more we learn about the industry and the more that opportunity arises, Jakoby and I are feeling more optimistic about funding and supporting Jakoby’s competitive future. Jakoby is genuinely a very good kid and anybody that really knows her will tell you that. She’s smart, she’s sweet, she’s funny, she’s just that kid that everybody likes and she deserves a shot. Gymnastics teaches these girls so much about independence, the strength they have inside them that they never knew they had, and the importance of patience and persistence. Jakoby’s future goals are to get a full-ride gymnastics scholarship to an elite college one day and to be a coach!
Thanks to Jakoby and her gym mom for sharing their story. We love to hear about how our ambassadors got started in gymnastics, and how they became the great gymnasts we know today!
