Snowflake Ambassador, Emma
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. For this week’s blog, we decided to hand things over to one of our lovely ambassador's mom so that she could tell you some of her daughter's gymnastics stories and experiences! Here's Kristin, Ambassador Emma's mom.
Emma comes from a gymnastics/cheerleading family! Her great-grandma, grandma, and mom were all cheerleaders and gymnasts so it only made sense for Emma to join one of those sports!
Emma started gymnastics at 18 months in a Mommy and Me class. She moved onto the regular little gym class and at 3, we were told she needed to go to an actual gymnastics gym since she had maxed out of their program.
Emma began gymnastics at a local gym where she was asked to be on the Pre-Team based on her skills. Once they found out she was only 3, we had to wait a year to actually be on the team. When she did join the Pre-Team at 4, we started driving to their larger gym across town. She spent a few hours there a few days a week and eventually moved up to Level 1.
After her Level 1 season, we decided to switch gyms to one that was closer to our house. We ended up taking her to Love Gymnastics and fell in love with the program and coach. Emma was put on the Level 2 team. Her coach pushed her to become better at gymnastics and Emma’s scores really rose that year. After competing in Level 2, Emma was asked to join the morning group. The morning group is for those girls who can come 20 hours a week and attend school afterward. The morning group gave Emma the opportunity to get some more hours in, spend time with her family in the evenings, and train for TOPS. Emma really blossomed in the group and enjoyed the longer time with her gym friends and coach.
2 weeks before the Simone Biles Invitational in 2019, I got a call from Emma’s coach that she had broken her arm on the trampoline. We took her to a Pediatric Orthopedic and found she had broken her left elbow. Luckily, she did not have to have surgery! She did have to wear a cast for 4-5 weeks and keep her arm in a sling to keep the bone from moving as it healed. It was a hard time for her because she wasn’t allowed to run, get on the high beam, do the bars, etc. She did a lot of leg conditioning! Plus she also got her cast autographed by Simone Biles at the meet! Once the cast was removed, it took about a month and a half for her arm to fully straighten. Not only did she have to come back from being behind her friends, but she also had a fear of the high beam since she had been off it so long. It took her a few months to gain her confidence back and when it came time for the Texas State Meet that fall, she placed 1st on Bars and Vault, and 3rd All- Around!
This year in Level 4, Emma had a great season! She earned MANY 1st place medals and placed 1st on Floor and Beam at the Texas State Meet and 2nd All-Around. She is really looking forward to attending the Texas Gymnastics Banquet in the summer since last year it was canceled due to COVID-19.
She is currently training for Level 5 and is currently competing. Hopefully, she will get a high enough score to skip Level 5 in the fall and move to Level 6! She and her coach have already been looking at some music choices and Emma enjoys making her own Level 6 routines at home!
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