University of Minnesota Athletics
My Gymnastics Story: Hannah Hitchcock
11/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Nov. 24, 2015
The sport of gymnastics is no easy feat. The years of tough training both mentally and physically push gymnasts to their limits in order to succeed at the highest level. Gophersports.com sat down with the University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team to learn where each of these 14 women came from in order to call themselves Golden Gophers.
I just want to start off by saying that I love absolutely everything about gymnastics. I was one of those little girls who was obsessed with gymnastics (I wore a gymnastics shirt everyday to school, had a pull-up bar over my bedroom door, didn't take my leotard off until hours and hours after practice finished, etc.). Surprisingly, my love for the sport remains the same today.
In my opinion, the best part about gymnastics is how hard it is. I love having rips all over my hands, being covered in chalk, being so sore in the morning you can barely sit up and most of all, I love the fact that you can always improve. There is no limit to gymnastics, so as long as you are in the sport, you have more to learn. I LOVE THAT. If I could be a gymnast until I was 100-years-old, I would…Maybe I will, who knows…anything is possible, kids! I think I already said this but I love this gymnastics.. like a lot.. more than I love bananas, which is a lot.
Gymnastics has made me into the person I am today and I am not sure where I would be without it. It has taught me discipline, hard work and most of all, time management. When you spend 25 hours per week at the gym since the age of five, you are forced to manage your time effectively. Besides teaching me an endless amount of life lessons, gymnastics has brought me so many relationships that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. My club, Edge Gymnastics, brought me so many amazing friends. They are the reason I have this opportunity to compete in college and although we are now dispersed across the country, I know that they will be people I can count on for the rest of my life.
Gymnastics has also, of course, brought me my team here at the U. These girls are more like my sisters than my teammates. The mutual respect we have for one another creates a bond that is indescribable. We laugh together, cry together and most importantly, watch the bachelorette together. I love each one of them with all my heart and I am so thankful to be a part of such a hard working and passionate team.
Being a gymnast here at the U of M has created so many wonderful opportunities for me and for that, I will forever be thankful. It has also brought me my best pal, Rachel Rowland (I feel that it would be wrong to write a blog without mentioning my best pal).
I am so in love with the sport of gymnastics and I am grateful everyday for the opportunity to live out my college dreams here at the University of Minnesota.
- Hannah Hitchcock (aka: Hitchy)
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