Alumni Update: Jade Beattie
7/3/2021
Jade Beattie competed as a member of the Gophers women’s gymnastics team from 2006-2009 and was a fierce competitor on all four apparatuses. Beattie, a native of Bismarck, N.D., was a top student, and earned one of the prestigious Top Five Awards for having one of the top GPAs among Gopher student-athletes. Read more about her time after graduating from the University of Minnesota in this spotlight!
What led you to the University of Minnesota?
The University of Minnesota provided my first introduction to collegiate gymnastics when meets used to air on the Minnesota Sports Channel (and were available to view in North Dakota!). I remember recording those competitions on VHS and watching them over and over. As I grew up in the sport, becoming an NCAA caliber athlete became my ultimate goal. The University of Minnesota was the first program to contact me as a potential recruit and I remember being so excited about the idea of becoming a Golden Gopher. The recruiting process confirmed for me that the quality of academics, the philosophy of the gymnastics program and the location were exactly what I was looking for. I was thrilled to accept a scholarship when it was offered.
You graduated in 2009, what have you been doing since your time with the Gophers?
It’s already been a decade since 2009, so I guess a lot has happened! I stayed at the University of Minnesota and started dental school in the fall of 2009. I was able to stay involved with the team by providing commentary for competition live streams until I graduated in 2013. I also did some coaching and choreography at local clubs in the Twin Cities. I moved to St Louis, Mo. after graduation and practiced dentistry there up until last fall, when my family and I moved back to my hometown of Bismarck, N.D.
My husband Jeff played for the Gopher baseball team and we met during our time on campus. We got married in 2011 and now have three kids. Brahm is four, Gideon is two, and Allegra just had her first birthday. The boys have already been introduced to the gym and love climbing, jumping and wondering if a new idea they’ve come up with is dangerous. I recently joined the board of directors at the gymnastics club where I trained growing up, and that has been a fun way to stay connected and involved with the sport.
Have you been able to watch and stay connected to the current team? What advice would you give to them?
I am still a total nerd about gymnastics, so I tend to keep close tabs on the team. I’ve been able to see meets in person most years and always keep up with television coverage, live streams and social media clips. My husband teases me about checking clips and scores during competition season, but I just love gymnastics! I also got to coach and teach dance for a couple of recent and current Gophers when they were much younger and it’s especially fun to see them shine!
The first and most obvious piece of advice I have is to enjoy yourself! Time moves so quickly and sometimes it’s hard to appreciate everything as it’s happening. The other advice I’d give is to embrace the changes that come with being an athlete as an adult versus being an athlete as a child. Many gymnasts are used to having a coach give an assignment or correction and simply following it. As an adult that relationship changes and becomes much more of a partnership. It seems like it would be an easy transition to make, but I don’t think I understood how to give my own input to my coaches, trainers, etc. until later. So speak up! You know so much about yourself and you have so much to offer!
What are you most proud of from your time as a Gopher?
As far as gymnastics is concerned, I’m proud to have been part of a Big Ten Championship team. More importantly, I’m proud of the way the program shaped my life and my path forward beyond gymnastics. I have a lot to be grateful for and gymnastics was the starting point for a lot of the great things in my world.
What is one thing you would like Gophers fans to know about you?
It’s not really important for anyone to know, but a fun fact is my only B in college was in ceramics
What was it like to win the 2006 Big Ten Tournament Championship?
Thrilling! I still remember a lot of the details from that competition. At the time it was a seven-team competition, so it was a long meet with a lot of time spent in the locker room between events. As a team we focused on our own gymnastics since that’s the only thing you have control over. We knew we had done well, but didn’t watch scores during the meet, so we didn’t know that we won until it was announced in the arena. I love a good surprise and that definitely qualified as a great surprise!
