Olympia High junior balances school, competitive gymnastics

At the end of the school day, most high-schoolers either come home and hang out with friends or stick around for after-school extracurriculars. 

But for Olympia High junior Joe Rabaja, a typical afternoon involves doing flips and handstands, flying in the air on the high bar or building core strength on the pommel horse at Orlando Metro Gymnastics.

His mom first put him in gymnastics classes when he was 6 years old — all of his four siblings have been involved in gymnastics at some point — and within a year or two, he was on the boys competitive team.

Now, as a level 10 junior gymnast, the 17-year-old has competed at the Men’s Junior Olympics Nationals three times and at the state level about 10 times. The love of the sport and the drive to compete and win is what has kept him going throughout the years.

“My parents have always been pushing me,” he said. “They go to pretty much all of my competitions with me. My brothers and sisters were both gymnastics for a while, so I’m the last one in there.”

For Rabaja, long days and early mornings are the norm. He practices at least five days a week for four hours each day, and has done so for the last 10 years.

“I go to school around 6:50 a.m., get home at 2:30 p.m. and have to do homework and come straight to practice for four hours,” he said. “I get home between 8:45 and 9 p.m., do more homework and try to get to bed at a reasonable time.”

Practices begin with stretching for the first half-hour or so before transitioning into conditioning, which generally consists of lifting weights, body-weight exercises, pull-ups, rope climbs and more. Then it’s time to practice each event and work on new skills before doing more conditioning and finishing with a cool-down stretch.

“My main focus is I’m into preventative coaching,” said Ian Jackson, Rabaja’s coach for the last 18 months. “As long as his health is there, and he’s consistent in coming in and working hard and pushing, that’s my main focus.”

Rabaja competes in all events — floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar. The high bar is his favorite, he said, because it’s very high flying and always exciting to gain new skills on it. And because of the sheer amount of time he spends training, it pays off. At the 2016 national competition, he tied for 10th all-around, out of 66 competitors.

There are struggles that come with being a male gymnast. With the sport often stereotyped as feminine, the teasing that sometimes ensues can be tough. But for Rabaja, the love of the sport and ability to do things most people can’t trumps it all.

“It’s hard sometimes at school to convince people that it’s not girly or anything, but all I have to do, really, is show them videos of me doing stuff,” he said. “They think it’s crazy I can do all the super hard skills they see on TV. They didn’t really think it was that hard to do everything, but they never really saw the team practice, so they’re impressed. Theres’s a couple kids that are like, ‘oh it’s stupid,’ but I don’t really care.”

Training for the Olympics hasn’t been crossed off the list, but with college looming on the horizon, Rabaja has one goal in mind: securing a college scholarship. 

He looks up to former teammate Sean Melton — who received a full ride to Ohio State and still trains at Orlando Metro occasionally — and wants to follow in his footsteps in getting the university’s attention. 

“He’s definitely stepped it up in his leadership role,” Jackson said of Rabaja. “He comes in determined and focused; I see his work ethic, and a lot of kids look up to him. He’s excelling very quickly and just has a good time doing it. He’s heightening his senses and increasing his awareness, especially when it comes to this sport.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].