ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Ten-year-old Kathryn (Kate) Colyer is a fourth grade student at Wards Creek Elementary School in Saint Johns County, Florida. She enjoys swimming, staying active, and spending time with her friends and family. For the last two years, Kate has spent time training as a gymnast, and this past January marked the beginning of her inaugural competition season.

Kate competes for WGV Gymnastics in Saint Augustine. She is a member of their Xcel Bronze Team. Gymnastics is unique, as it is both an individual and team sport. Kate’s favorite part about her sport is her team. She said, “My team is very welcoming and we are all very good friends. My team makes the whole sport better.” Being a member of a team has reminded Kate that it isn’t just about her. She and her teammates work together to accomplish something bigger! Before every meet, the girls talk about what they can do better and improve on. They cheer each other on in hopes of earning the highest team score, almost forgetting they are also competing for individual titles.

Kate’s personal goal is to enjoy herself and never stop having fun when doing gymnastics. In fact, she remembers a mentor telling her, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t do as well as you hoped, just remember to have fun.” When Kate steps out on the mat she wants to be confident and allow her enjoyment to show. A big challenge is addressing mistakes. Not only does she have to figure out what she is doing wrong, she has to correct it so she can move on to the next skill.

During competitions, even the smallest mistakes can lead to a low score. In one of her meets, she made a mistake, and it gave her the ambition to do better next time. According to Kate, “I saw the opportunity to make room for improvement, so I worked extra hard on beam and it paid off!” Not only did Kate improve, she earned a perfect 10, a rare occurrence in this demanding sport. Teammate, Haylee Mazza, remembers calling her grandparents after that meet and yelling, “My friend Kate just got a 10.0 on beam!”, forgetting to tell them about her own achievements.

Kate has not only proven to be a valuable member of her team with the many high scores she earned, but she is an inspiration to all her teammates. Her poise, determination, and positive attitude will continue to be an encouragement to all those she meets.

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