A very impressive sport that Morton East offers is Gymnastics.

Gymnastics was originated in Ancient Greece as a mental and physical sport, it became an Olympic sport since 1896. Girls gymnastics in Morton East has just started, and we the privilege to have some of the most amazing girls on the team. The team is lead by coach Angela Tomkins with the help of the managers, Suni Zuniga and Isabel Gomez. The team will be practicing in the gymnastics gymnasium every day from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. We encourage all students to support and encourage our girls gymnastics.

Like any other team, girl’s gymnastics can face some difficult challenges. These girls have slowly learned to face their challenges, grow as people and as gymnasts. Here we have Coach Tomkins and members of the team who share a few details about their experiences about some of the challenges that they have faced in the team.

“Some of the challenges I face are I have no additional Coach Assistance. I’m the only gymnastics Coach. We wait for the bus and sometimes the bus is late, I have many different girls with different levels of gymnastics and it’s difficult to group these girls to help them with their skills,” girls gymnastics coach Angela Tomkins said.

There are 25 members on the team but only two managers.

“As the head manager of the girl’s gymnastics one of the biggest challenges is having to manage everyone and trying to support everyone at the same time. Helping 20 people when is only me is not easy,” senior gymnastics manager Suni Zuniga said.

Of course, athletes themselves have different types of challenges at all levels.

“One of the biggest challenges I’ve had was that since I am a beginner it is a challenge to learn the tricks and master them, I have fallen so many times but it teaches me to always get back up on my feet and keep on trying,” gymnast Julissa Cisneros said.

Girls Gymnastics spend about two hours per day practicing together after school. The girls get to practice their skills, but their favorite part is to talk to each other about their day and their hobbies. The girls join the team without knowing each other, but they quickly get to become friends and call each other family. Here we have the members of the team who tell their favorite part of being in the team.

“My favorite part of the sport is definitely team bonding; everyone is so friendly and heartwarming…My best experience so far is getting to meet all the girls. They are all so kind to me, they give me faith in humanity,” gymnastic Julissa Cisneros said.

“I believe my favorite part of the sport is coach Angela Tomkins, she is amazing, such a vibe,” senior gymnastics manager Suni Zuniga said.

“The gymnast’s favorite part of the sport is the bonding part. All the girls start off the season as stranger but them once the season continues these girls are like family. The enjoy sharing their love for gymnastics with each other,” girls gymnastics coach Angela Tomkins said.

Gymnastics is a beautiful, breathtaking, challenging sport. All the girls in the team are very brave and amazing. Girls start gymnastics with different levels of knowledge in gymnastics but at the end of the season they will all have improved and will have become better gymnasts. The girls become more and more confident with their skills and they become proud of themselves. Girls gymnastics coach Angela Tomkins and the manager Suni Zuniga share about the growth of the team physically and emotionally.

“My experience so far has been easy, and I feel good encouraging other people and seeing them try harder each time. I see them become more confident with themselves each day. It is beautiful to see how proud they are of themselves,” senior gymnastics manager Suni Zuniga said.

“The best experience as a gymnastics coach is watching these girls grow into confident gymnasts. These girls come into the gymnastics team sometimes with no experience whatsoever in gymnastics or with some gymnastics skill and I help them grow and expand their skills.  Toward the end of the season the growth of these girls have made in the sport is incredible. They absolutely astonish me with their growth! My favorite part is helping the girls,” girls gymnastics coach Angela Tomkins said.

Overall, gymnastics has positively changed the lives and the confidence of each one of the girls. It is important for the students of Morton East high school to appreciate how brave and impressive these girls are and to always support them.