TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucked away in a quiet corner of Vail, there's a place that many gymnasts call their second home. Hundreds of athletes practice gymnastics at Springs Gymnastics every day. So this week, they're celebrating their hard work as it leads up to today, National Gymnastics Day.
Shelly McNulty, a gymnast and director of Springs Gymnasts, said they planned a whole week of different activities from crazy hair day to spirit day.
"We feel like with gymnastics, we want to celebrate what we do," she said.
"I spend more time here than I do at home," Madysen Brown, one of the gymnasts, said.
For her and her fellow athletes, there's nothing they'd rather do after school than flip, twist and turn on beams and bars. Brown has practiced at this gym for four hours a day for the last eight years and it's a skill she hopes to continue past high school.
"I want to get better and I want to improve my skills and I want to get better at being strong," she said. "I think I'll be a coach or at least a part of an athletic programs."
The drive that these athletes possess is something that keeps them going back to the gym. For 10-year-old Ava Moreno, it can be hard to sacrifice so much for a sport. But in the end, she said, it's worth it.
"It’s hard because some days you don’t want to go to gym and then you come here and you’re like 'oh my gosh all my friends are here',” Moreno said. "What keeps me coming here are my coaches and the confidence they give me."
Moreno hopes to be a coach one day and maybe make the decision to do gymnastics on the world's stage.
"My family members keep asking me if I already got invited to the olympics," she said.
But until their big careers start, they'll keep coming back to their second home.
"There's so many memories here," Moreno said. "You'll find that you belong here."
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