Abby Potts

I have spent a large portion of my life in a gymnastics gym. Beginning around age 4, each week I would spend an hour learning new skills and running around in the gym. One of my biggest inspirations was actually my American Girl Doll, Mckenna, whose “story” was all about her gymnastics journey. Before I knew it, I was spending upwards of 16 hours in the gym every week, competing in competitions on the weekends, and spending my time at home stretching and practicing my skills. I continued this schedule throughout middle school, gained multiple state champion titles, and kept moving up levels each year. Eventually, going straight from school to practice and missing social events and family gatherings to go to the gym. In my last year of middle school, I quit competitive artistic gymnastics and started training for TNT (trampoline and tumbling). TNT is, coincidentally, just another form of gymnastics, so I was still spending the majority of my time at the gym and competing. Although this was a little bit different than what I had done for almost my entire life, it was still very similar to artistic gymnastics and didn't really solve the problems of missing out on a normal childhood experience. So, after about two years of TNT, I quit. At first, I loved having so much time to myself and to hang out with my friends, but I quickly became bored and felt the need to do something productive with my time outside of school. Coincidentally, at Target one day, I ran into my old gymnastics coach and his son and he offered me a job at their gym! Wanting to be a teacher, and loving gymnastics still, this was a perfect opportunity for me to do two things I enjoyed! Being back in a gymnastics gym made me realize how much I missed being a gymnast and how much I regretted quitting. So, as I was given free access to a gymnastics gym when I wasn't coaching, I tried to start practicing again. Although it proved to be very difficult and I definitely was not as strong as I used to be, I practiced multiple times a week and even ended up joining my highschool's gymnastics team! With my reaffirmed passion for gymnastics, I knew I wanted to continue coaching and practicing myself throughout college, especially after getting in to UGA (which is shown in the picture and happened as I was going to a gymnastics meet). Being a semseter into college, I have continued to coach at home and joined the club gymnastics team here! So, although at one point I was certain I was done with gymnastics for good, it has been a monumental part of my life, and I hope to keep coaching and practicing for as long as I can!