As you have seen on the home page here on Gymnastike, several NCAA competitions were held last weekend. I was lucky enough to cover one of them.

As a fan of the sport, the only major competition I had been to before this past Sunday was the 2003 American Cup. I was 15 then and I remember watching Ashley Postell, Courtney Kupets, Carly Patterson, Beth Tweddle and Blaine Wilson flying through the air. It is one thing to see gymnastics on television, but it is an entirely different experience watching it in person.

Being down on the floor on Sunday was also an entirely different experience. It’s one thing to see a Gienger on uneven bars from the stands, but to see it from seven feet away was somewhat of an overload. For the first time, it truly saw how much speed, timing, strength and courage it took for a gymnast to launch themselves into the air and re-catch a bar that is already several feet off the ground. The same goes for every apparatus. How wide four inches really is. How hard the floor has to be punched to do a double twist. How fast a sprint has to be to have enough momentum to complete a vault. It has made me look at the sport in a very different way and I am better for it.

The Lindsey Ferris Invitational at George Washington University in Washington, D.C was the first gymnastics meet and first sporting event I had ever covered. As a journalism major, I had covered different stories at George Mason University and took a class, Sports Writing and Reporting last spring which was my last full semester. But until now, I was not able to apply what I had learned in class. I learned many things last weekend, but there is one lesson I took away from that experience more than any other.

 

You Have The Knowledge, Now Apply It

As I said, I had never covered a sporting event before. However, just because you have never literally done something doesn’t mean you don’t know how to do it. I knew how to shoot video. I knew how to conduct an interview. I knew how to be professional. Even so, several days before the meet, I had to keep reminding myself of these points. Doubt crept into my mind. What if I can’t get an interview? What if my camera malfunctions and I miss a routine? What if? What if? What if?

For anyone who has a skill set, you have to remember that you do know what you are doing, even if it’s the first time you are applying it. Don’t let fear, nerves and doubt over run you.

Along with the knowledge of journalism, I also had to remind myself that this sport is my passion. I knew the names of skills both by what I call their “proper name” and their “literal skill name”.

For example:

Proper Name - “She performed a Podkopayeva on vault.”

Literal Skill Name - “She performed a round off, half on, pike with a half on vault.”

Once the competition started and I shot the first team on vault, I felt much more comfortable. It also helped that Marina M, a fellow contributor here at Gymnastike, made me feel welcomed and answered any questions I had. We covered the meet with three others and they were great as well. By the second of six rotations, I found my comfort and felt for the first time that I was truly a journalist.

This lesson can be applied to anything in life. Don’t let fear and the possibility of making a mistake stop you from doing something you want to do. It has been said that sports can teach you a lot about life and yourself. And after Sunday, I truly believe this.