Reese Bailey, left, of Pittston, and Emily Grover of West Gardiner at Saturday’s Never Give Up Never Quit Invitational gymnastics meet at the Augusta Armory. Photo courtesy Delani Sher
AUGUSTA — Having participated in gymnastics since she was 2 years old, Emily Grover has learned plenty about beams and vaults.
But the sport has also taught her plenty about the real world, too.
“When you fall off the beam, you have to get up and finish the routine,” said Grover, a West Gardiner resident and a senior at Gardiner Area High School. “That’s much like life and school and other sports. It’s taught me that you can’t give up and that you have to finish it.”
Indeed, sports and life converged at Saturday’s 7th annual Never Give Up Never Quit Invitational meet at the Augusta Armory, which benefits the Travis Mills Foundation.
High school students have plenty on their plate — Grover divvies her time between three sports at Gardiner “and a lot of homework,” she added with a smile. Gymnastics helps her maintain her focus.
“It’s about life lessons, never giving up,” said Grover, who along with the rest of her Decal Gymnastics senior teammates Saturday received a signed copy of Travis Mills’ “Bounce Back: 12 Warrior Principles to Reclaim and Recalibrate Your Life.”
“You always have to show up and put in your best,” Grover added. “I feel like this meet in particular has so much fun and such a good message around it, that it doesn’t really matter if you mess up, as long as you’re having fun.”
Emily Grover of West Gardiner parpasres to grab the bars at Saturday’s Never Give Up Never Quit Invitational gymnastics meet at the Augusta Armory. Photo courtesy Delani Sher
Grover and fellow Gardiner senior Reese Bailey compete for Augusta-based Decal, one of several clubs represented at Saturday’s meet. Decal boasts a football-sized roster of 67 athletes from ages 6 to 18; about 30 purple-clad members were in action Saturday in front of a spirited crowd of a few hundred.
Grover (Xcel Diamond junior age division) and Bailey (Xcel Diamond senior age division) both came away with first-place all-around trophies Saturday.
“This event’s exciting because it’s like a home meet for us, so the kids can invite their school friends, their teachers, and everybody can see what we do,” said Delani Sher, Decal’s co-owner and co-head coach. “Unless it’s an Olympic year, you don’t see a lot of gymnastics.”
While the season features about 10 meets from November through March, dedicated athletes such as Bailey work at their craft year-round. Bailey practices three days a week and spends the rest of the week in the gym. The gymnasts will take a couple weeks off for the holidays, but are usually back at practice the day after Christmas, Sher said.
Reese Bailey of Pittston completes her floor routine at Saturday’s Never Give Up Never Quit Invitational at the Augusta Armory. Dave Bailey/Kennebec Journal
Bailey, a Pittston resident who also does some coaching, said it’s nice to interact with people outside the usual circles of family and school.
“I like the challenge of competing and doing new skills,” Bailey said, “but I also like environment of all the people you get to meet through gymnastics and the family you get to build with them. You just get to go into the gym every day and see your teammates and get to talk with them and catch up on life, and it’s just a little bit different than outside.”
There are perks to being an experienced gymnast. While the younger, lower-level gymnasts are assigned their routine music when they perform on the mat — the same slow piano tune played many times over the speakers Saturday — the athletes who compete at higher levels get to choose their selections. Bailey and Grover prefer fun, upbeat, modern music.
“I try to smile and have fun with it the whole time,” Bailey said.
Having fun while learning about life, too.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
