An Interview with an amazing gymnast.

Brianna is a Level 10 gymnast, hoping to receive a scholarship for her amazing gymnastics. She trains 25 hours a week, with a long 1 hour commute to the gym. One thing you don't know about this talented athlete is that she is deaf, but never fails to give an amazing performance, while inspiring other gymnasts to do the same. Brianna's role model(s) for gymnastics are Aimee Walker Pond, a BYU gymnast who was also deaf and blind in one eye. Brianna also attends her school's cheerleading practices after school, and afterward, heading straight to the gym. Read her interview she so kindly agreed to give to He Kexin = 14.



(HK14 is me, B is Brianna.)

HK14: What is your favorite event?
♥
B: Fave event is definitely floor! I'm not a very graceful gymnast, but I'm a powerful tumbler. Also learning my routine is so hard, but once I start to see the visual rhythm its very rewarding. And I'm super outgoing and love performing.

HK14: What is the hardest skill you've ever competed?
♥
B: Hardest skill, technically, is a full in full out, its an E skill. But since I have no cochlea and my inner ears are messed up anything on beam is hardest to me. My fave skill to compete is a Double Arabian Front because I love twisting, LOL.

HK14: Have you ever had any mental blocks? If so, how did you overcome them?
♥
B: Hmm, yeah. I had a hard time doing on flight series on beam. I just kept doing them over and over on the floor until I got it. I've had people say I can't do gymnastics because I'm deaf. Like, I had a high school coach who thought I belonged in the Special Olympics.

HK14: How do you overcome obstacles in Gymnastics that you face because of being deaf?
(Example: Hearing floor music, communicating with coaches.)
♥
B:
Well, I started gymnastics when I was 3, back when your parents are still around. My mom was allowed on the floor to help interpret what the coaches said for me, but really at that age it's more like 'Follow The Other Kids'. As I got older, my mom was still allowed on the floor. By the time I turned 7 and was invited to compete for the team at level 5, my coach had picked up on basic sign so my mom didn't need to be around. I've had the same coach since I moved when I was 5 and he's great. He promised to learn more sign as I learned more skills and he has. He went with me to TOPs National Camp when I was 9 and pretty much interpreted for me. I'm really lucky to still compete for him. As far as gym stuff, on floor my coach chooses my music and choreographs my routine. Then I start to learn it by practicing over and over and watching him. I'm pretty good at following visual cues and seeing visual rhythm. If I want to change a part of my routine because I think it looks better, my team helps me decide if it goes with the music. My teammates are a lot like my coach. We've been together since we were pretty young, since we're at a small town gym, and a lot of them picked up sign. When I compete in floor I get a visual cue from the judges when my music starts. On beam instead of a buzzer I get a flag from the judges for a time mark. Other than that I follow the rest of the gymnastics rules, when you're competing you don't really need to hear.

HK14: Are you training any new skills?
♥
B: Not right now, I'm just retraining my old skills. My one new goal is to get my full-in full-out consistent so I can put it in a tumbling pass for my floor exercise.

HK14: What is your gymnastics schedule usually like?
♥
B: I'm training extra right now. If I'm not sick, the weather isn't too bad, and I can borrow my mom's car or get a ride from my godfather, I'm in the gym about 25 hours a week. 4 every day after school and 5 on Saturday. At our gym you only have to practice 20 hours a week for level 10, I just want to be ready to go when season starts in January, and hopefully boost my chances of being allowed to compete in college someday.

HK14: What is some of the basic conditioning you do?
♥
B: All sorts of stuff. We run about once a week, do a lot of jump roping too, for cardio. I do so many handstand presses, and chin ups, and crunches, and v-sits, and l-sits I can't even count that high! Then a lot of stuff like squat jumps and rope climbing.

HK14: What are your Expectations/Goals for the upcoming JO season?
♥
B: I'm mostly just really excited to compete again. I don't know if I'll be able to qualify for nationals like I did 5 years ago, but it'd be cool if I did. By the end of the season I'd like to be competitive enough to place at state in the all-around and top three in floor.

HK14: What Colleges are you applying to and hoping to attend on a Gymnastics Scholarship?
♥
B: Well, I don't think I'll start off school with a gym scholarship. It's a long story but the Utah State coach got a hold of me and said that if I went back in the gym this year and really competed well, they'd love to have me come out and train with them and maybe as a sophomore compete. I'm also applying to Mesa State and Ft. Lewis which are both in-state schools for me and I can pay for through VR (Vocational Rehabilitation, it's this government program for people with disabilities). I also applied to CSU-Northridge (California) and Gallaudet. CSU-N has a notorious great program for Deaf students and Gally, in DC, is the county's only Deaf liberal arts school. Unfortunately only USU has gymnastics. If I don't get in there, I'll probably cheer at Mesa State, but the other schools don't have good programs. I've been mainstreamed in regular schools my whole life and for a while wanted to go to a Deaf school, but recently have changed my mind. So yeah, *crosses fingers for Utah State* It's my dream school!! Close to home but still far, a Deaf Ed program so a lot of ASL on campus, an awesome gym team... I'm pretty excited.


HK14: Okay, last question. Why do you love Gymnastics and why do you do it?
♥
B: Well, other than the usual, I had way too much energy as a kid, my mom put me in gymnastics because she thought it'd be a good way for me to be involved with a team but still do an individual sport where communication isn't an issue. That's still really true. I love my team more than anything else in the world, but when it comes to compete it's just me and whatever event I'm doing. I'm not the Deaf girl, I'm just another gymnast. I can really push myself as hard as anyone else. It's made me work harder in life and school and not think about my Deafness. Gymnastics is also an incredibly difficult sport that's even harder because you're supposed to make it look easy. I'm the kind of girl who will train her butt off and be all sweaty and tired, but still want to have glitter and cute ribbon in her hair. So yeah, pretty much I love everything gymnastics offers.

Thanks so much, Brianna, we hope to see you in College!


(Brianna in Cheerleading, executing a Back Tuck.)