Joining a school sports team as a freshman can be especially scary since they are new to the school, but this experience can be even more intimidating for an eighth grader joining a high school team. For five eighth graders on the girls’ gymnastics team, this intimidating experience is a reality. These girls have taken on a huge role to be active competitors on a high school athletic team while still in middle school.
The 2024-25 Westford Academy Girls’ Gymnastics team is the smallest team the program has had in over 15 years. At the preseason meeting, there were only four students who showed up. Because of this, head coach Stephanie Coburn talked to athletic director Jeff Bunyon to plan out ways to bolster the team. Since Coburn did not want to expand to a co-op team, they decided on opening to eighth graders.
“In my 15 years I have never had such a small team of high schoolers.” Coburn said. “I think my first year I had 7 or 8, but we typically average 18 gymnasts. We have never had to call up 8th graders [before].”
With the gymnastics team being a no-cut team, everyone who wants to participate is able to, as long as they have experience. Because of this, the team was able to pull up five eighth graders eager to be on a school team. For high school gymnastics, it doesn’t matter what level someone is; everyone comes together and competes as a team.
“It’s a really cool opportunity, and I have enjoyed it a lot,” eighth grader Lucy Sullivan said.
This year, the team is on the younger side, not only because there are eighth graders competing, but also because there are no seniors. The two captains this year, Katie McDermott and Jynjer Jozokos, are both juniors. After last year’s seniors graduated, they have had to take on the role of being the most experienced members and team leaders for such a young group of gymnasts.
Provided by Jynjer Jozokos
“Having a really young team is turning out to be better than I expected.” McDermott said. “You never know what the eighth graders will bring to the team or what events they will be able to do, but these five eighth graders that have come up this year have been unstoppable.”
The chemistry and team bonding are easier to develop when everyone attends the same school and are able to interact with each other outside of practice. In this case, it is difficult for the high schoolers to really interact with the eighth graders outside of practice and meets, but the captains took initiative and are especially welcoming to the new gymnasts.
“[The captains] are great role models, and I am so lucky to have them [on the team],” Coburn said.
Coburn believes that the reason there is so little participation in high schoolers for gymnastics is a direct result of COVID. Many surrounding teams have also struggled with this, but they had decided to go co-op and combine with other schools.
Due to both captains being juniors, they are able to have two seasons with the eighth graders and are able to really form a bond with one another. They have already begun to establish a strong bond, so with another year they will have the chance to build an even stronger relationship, especially because they will all be in the same school.
“Being a junior captain means a lot. Having this privilege to work with a smaller team makes us bond more, and I couldn’t be happier about that,” Jozokos said. “No one on the team is left out, everyone is cheering someone on, and after competing, everyone runs up to say ‘good job’. Those things are very important when it comes to a high school team.”
With high school gymnastics, they don’t separate the team by skills. They all are on different levels and with them having different ability levels, it makes the team stronger, which shows with their record of 2-1. Gymnastics is such a supportive sport, with everyone cheering for each other no matter the team they are a part of.
According to Coburn, having a younger team can be an advantage because they will be on the team for longer together and will learn each other’s rhythms and grow together as a team. It also gives the younger girls a head start, so if they stick with the team once they get into high school, they will be a part of the team for five years. Not only will they grow and get better inside the gym, they will also grow outside, and become more fit and able to eventually take on leadership positions.
“Overall, having such a young team is more beneficial than people might think, and I think WA gymnastics [has] a very bright future” McDermott said.
