For my project, I chose to volunteer at Juergen's Gymnastics Academy, which is where I train. JGA is a gym off of 1960 that has been providing training for gymnastics, cheer, and tumbling since 1986. On December 2, 2015 I officially became a gymnastics coach when I volunteered to help a level 3 class.
Earlier that week I talked to one of my coaches and asked if there was anything I could do to help in the gym, he responded by telling me one of the classes did not have enough coaches, so I agreed to coach the class. I chose to volunteer at JGA because it's not just any random place to me, it's my second home. I've been training at JGA for the past 9 years, and I've loved every minute of it. I knew that if I chose to spend my time volunteering at JGA it'd go to the same little girl I was when I started gymnastics. The next day I showed up and was handed a "Juergen's Staff" t-shirt, after 9 years of being coached by people in this shirt it was unreal that I finally had one of my own.
I was assigned a level 3 class with about 20 girls. There were only 3 other coaches meaning these girls didn't get as much attention as kids in smaller classes. I took my group of kids to floor where we worked on half turns and back handsprings. It gave me a sense of pride seeing them do the skill better each time they practiced it. Their next day of practice was on Thursday, so I was elated when I showed up and was greeted with hugs and smiles. We went to bars where I had the kids work on front hip circles, and one of the little girls managed to finally be able to do it all by herself! When practice ended I gave each of them a hug and a gold star for their hard work, but I was sad that I had to say goodbye to my little group of gymnast.
I just gave these kids spots and corrections, but they gave me so much more. They gave me happiness knowing I was able to be apart of their dream of doing gymnastics, even if it isn't always their dream. I know that my act of volunteering isn't...