Three move on to national tournament
By Kyle LoJacono
Emma, Gabrielle and Samantha Flannery each won AAU state gymnastics championships this past year and have earned a spot in the national competition in July.
While the three have reached the top of the sport in Florida, none of them have been competing for more than a year. Samantha, 11, and Gabrielle, 8, started last spring and Emma, 7, began last fall.
“It’s pretty amazing to see them competing,” said the girls’ mother Tina Flannery. “It doesn’t seem to faze them that they are up there in front of so many people.”
The girls, who live in Dade City, train at East Pasco Gymnastics + Cheerleading, 35934 SR 54 in Zephyrhills. They started training at the gym, which has students from east and central Pasco County, four years ago for recreation before taking it up competitively.
Samantha competes in level four and Gabrielle and Emma are in level three and two respectively. The higher levels correspond to more difficult competition.
In total 1,250 girls competed at the state AAU event, including 169 at division 2 and 229 and 140 at division three and four respectively.
Samantha said her favorite event is the beams.
“It’s fun,” Samantha said of the beams. “It’s really challenging.
Emma prefers the bars.
“You can do lots of activities off of them,” Emma said. “The routines are really fun.”
Gabrielle likes doing the floor exercises.
“I like it because you get to flip around and have fun doing lots of things,” Gabrielle said. “It’s really exciting when you have a good routine.”
Many of the girls’ competitions happen around central Florida and they will not have to go far for nationals, which will be at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando July 1 to 4.
“It’s really exciting because I think I can win and be an all-American,” Emma said. “I’ll be nervous, but it will be fun.”
The three started in gymnastics when Samantha heard about the gym from one of her friends about four years ago. They participated recreationally for three years before they were invited to the competitive team.
“Sam has the heart of a champion,” said gym director Lisa Pitts. “(She is) a person to take into battle. She will always give her best on game day. Gabby is the fearless one. She will try anything, fall down and try again. Little Emma is the diva. Not as fearless, but born to be perfect. They are three very different, very special, little girls.”
Tina knows they did not get their ability or poise from her.
“I didn’t do anything like this when I was growing up,” Tina said. “I couldn’t do anything like this in front of people and I think that has given them all a lot of confidence…I’m glad we went that first day. They started doing cartwheels and never left.”
The girls may be able to perform in front of a crowd, but that does not mean they do not experience butterflies in their stomachs.
“I get really nervous sometimes, but then I do my best and I’m proud of myself” Gabrielle said. “It doesn’t matter if I do good or bad because I’m still proud of myself for trying my best.”
Tina said the family is at the gym every day except Sunday and Wednesday because the girls compete in the different levels. She added that they all focus on gymnastics most of the time.
“They also do horse camps through the gym during the breaks,” Tina said. “Even when they aren’t doing gymnastics they are doing something with the gym.”
Tina does not work for the gym, but spoke highly of the coaches and the facilities. The gym opened in 2008 with seven students and now has 38. The Flannery’s titles pushed the center’s total state championships to 11.
“The coaches are really nice and spot us when we need it,” Samantha said. “They show us what we are doing wrong and help us get better. They help us want to get better.”
The sisters attend Centennial Elementary School, which does not have a gym program. The girls plan to stick with gymnastics and participate in cheerleading in high school.
“We all love it and like getting better,” Gabrielle said. “I want to do it the rest of my life.”
Samantha and Emma echoed Gabrielle’s thoughts on staying active in gymnastics. However, Emma has one big short-term goal in front of her.
“I like gymnastics because the coaches help you do hard things that I see other people do,” Emma said. “I want to be able to do an aerial…That’s a no-handed cartwheel. I’ve seen people do it and I want to do it too.”
