Gymnastics – Not Just a Girls’ Sport

When I was a little girl, I watched Nadia Comaneci score a perfect 10 and win three gold medals in the 1976 Summer Olympics. I enrolled in gymnastics shortly thereafter. I loved the sport. I loved doing back handsprings on the mat, fumbling on the bars and trying to keep my balance on the beam. I competed a bit but was far from fabulous.

Shaking out the wiggles

Even as a young kid, it didn’t escape me how the small group of boy gymnasts, some younger than me, were chiseled like little Hercules. It wasn’t exactly a sport boys were lining up to do. Football, baseball, wrestling – those were boy sports. Gymnastics, like ballet, was a girlie sport. At least in my young eyes.

But then I saw the Turning Point. And the amazing Mikhail Baryshnikov. And I gained a deep respect for men who had the strength and grace to engage in sports usually reserved for girls.

That’s one of many reasons I enrolled my son in gymnastics. He’s the only boy in his class, but next year he’ll be old enough to take the all-boy class. He loves it, but best of all, he comes home exhausted. And it’s nice to see my darling son sit still once in a while.