Foundation Academy student spends summer earning trophies in gymnastics competitions

She’s been wearing sparkly leotards and learning to perform impressive flips in mid-air since before she could form memories.  After starting at age 2 in a “mommy and me” recreational class, Kayla Smith’s passion has remained the same — gymnastics.

Twelve years have passed since that first taste of the sport. Smith, 13, now spends nine hours a week training her body to perform stunts with pinpoint accuracy and  powerful execution. She launches her full body into the air, commanding it to bend and twist in myriad positions as she flies through the air and finally lands on her feet, perfectly still.

Smith’s love of defying gravity has earned her several medals and trophies throughout the years. Last summer, she competed in both the United States Tumbling and Trampoline National Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, as well as the USTA Florida State Championships in Stuart.

T&T

As a trampoline and tumbling gymnast, Smith performs in three events: trampoline, double mini and floor. In the national championship, Smith placed 10th in the trampoline event, 13th in floor and 15th in double mini. In the Florida state championship, Smith placed second in double mini, third in tramp and sixth in floor.

For her hard work and success, Smith was named to the 2015-2016 USTA Florida All-Star Team, a recognition given by the United States Trampoline and Tumbling Association for outstanding performance.

“I just clear my mind and just focus on that one event and go through the routine in my head,” Smith said about the pressure a large competition presents.

One of her favorite gymnastics memories occurred while she was competing at nationals: Smith went for a pass in the double mini apparatus and felt she “was on the edge of flying off.” But she saved it and stuck the landing. 

“It was the best moment ever because I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m going to fall off and get lots of points taken off,’ but then I tried to keep it together and did my best to stay tight,” she said with a shy grin. “I spun off in a really bad position, but I still stuck (the landing), and it felt good.”

EVERYTHING IS DONE IN THE CAR

As school resumes, Smith has mentally prepared herself to begin her routine of balancing both gymnastics and her grades. After years of training and what was a nearly 45-minute commute from her home to the gym, Smith has basically mastered the art of studying for tests in a moving vehicle.

“She does homework in the car,” said Kris Smith, Kayla Smith’s mother. “Everything is done in the car to make it work. She’s become so good at it because she’s done it for years. … She knows if she wants to keep with gymnastics, she has to do her schoolwork. She just whips out those books and gets to work.”

Smith is starting eighth grade at Foundation Academy and is now training on obtaining skills needed to advance to level eight in gymnastics. One of those skills is the double back, a stunt in which gymnasts do two back-tucks in rapid succession in midair. 

To acquire those skills, Smith is moving to a new gym called Reflex Gymnastics because her previous gym in Longwood does not have the equipment necessary to accommodate more advanced skills. 

Smith hopes to someday be chosen to join the Olympics for T&T gymnastics and has her eyes set on a college in New Jersey that has a high rate of training T&T gymnasts that have made it to the Olympics.

“I would try my best to (make it), but even if I don’t, it would still be a great experience,” Smith said.
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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected].