Young gymnasts takes state competition
At an age when most girls are playing with Bratz Dolls and
watching Hannah Montana on television, Shiina Suarez is already a
state champion.
Young gymnasts takes state competition
At an age when most girls are playing with Bratz Dolls and watching Hannah Montana on television, Shiina Suarez is already a state champion.
Recently, the 9-year old Level 5 gymnast from Hollister captured the California state Junior B gymnastics championship, which took place in Visalia last month.
“I like gymnastics because you get to go on stuff and have a lot of fun when you learn new stuff,” said the fourth-grader from Ladd Lane Elementary School. “It’s a lot of fun.”
And it’s also a family affair.
Shiina’s older sister Maiko has also been very successful in competitions as well where she competes in Level 7 competitions. Last season Maiko took third place in both the floor and balance beam events in the state championship.
“Both of the girls do extremely well,” said their father Ray Suarez. “I absolutely love to watch them. I loved it as a kid when my parents watched me compete. The winning is secondary. It’s all about going out there and doing their best. I tell them that if they practice hard and work hard that good things will happen, and that culminated this year when Shiina won the state tournament.”
In the seven meets that Shiina competed in this year she finished no worse than third and also won the zone championship. Her sister Maiko’s season gets under way tomorrow where she will compete in a national qualifying tournament.
For the family, it’s a huge commitment. Both girls practice three days during the week after school and get in four hours more on Saturdays for a total of roughly 20 hours a week. To get to practice involves a 27-mile trek to Champions Academy in Morgan Hill.
“Every day one of the kids is at practice. I’ll support them as far as they want to go,” Ray said. “My requirement is that school comes first. But if their grades are good and the drive and interest is there, I’ll support them as far as they want to go.”
For both sisters, that would ultimately mean a trip to the Olympics.
“I think that every young child has that thought in the back of their mind,” Ray said.
To help them get there Jinjing Zhang – a former member of the Chinese National team and an Olympic Silver Medallist in the 1996 games, coaches the girls.
The two sisters were first introduced to the sport by their parents as toddlers, who signed them up for classes as a means to enhance their motor skill development.
“It’s just like what they do at Gymboree or at USA Sports in Hollister,” Ray said. “The classes really helped with coordination and motor skills.”
Today the girls compete in all events – the balance beam, floor exercises, uneven bars and vaulting. Shiina enjoys each event equally.
“I’ve been in gymnastics since I was 2,” she said. “My [main focus] is to be confident so that I don’t mess up. I don’t want to be nervous because that makes you mess up and when I’m vaulting I want to make it stick [perfect landing].”
