Clayton High School sophomore, AnMei Deck, has been competing in gymnastics for the past 10 years. Although she loves the sport and hopes to continue throughout her time at Clayton, Deck acknowledges that it is difficult to juggle amongst other activities.
“I am on the speech and debate team, and often have to skip gymnastics to go to tournaments, additionally I have to skip editors and build nights for VPEL because of practice,” said Deck. She often doesn’t return home until 9 pm and must complete her school work and other responsibilities. “There have been very stressful weeks and sometimes it’s really hard to drop one activity to do another.”
Like in any sport, Deck occasionally experiences “mental blocks” where she avoids a skill or move. Although frustrating at the time, “I always find it extremely gratifying to look back and see how far I’ve come. I am now doing skills I never thought I could ever do, but by continuing to push through and stick with things even when it felt impossible, I got to where I am today.”
Deck recently completed her level 7 season and hopes to reach a level 9 by the time she is a senior. However, despite her love and longevity with the sport, she is unsure if she will continue to compete after high school.
“When I was little I wanted to go to the Olympics like most children, but I realize now that’s a bit far-fetched,” said Deck. “I’m definitely not the best at the sport… so I don’t think about my future in gymnastics too much. It makes me sad to think after highschool I will probably be done with the sport, so I mostly just think about short term goals.”
In the State competition which occurred on March 27th, 2022, AnMei had the third best time on the bar. She also not only had the best time on the beam, but she also achieved the goal of having the best all around time in the entire competition.

Deck thanks gymnastics for instilling her resilience. “Not every practice or meet will be my best, but the sport has taught me to never give up and to just get up and try again if something doesn’t work out.”
“The biggest thing gymnastics has taught me is dedication and grit. There are definitely days, sometimes weeks, when I dread going to practice, but the sport has taught me dedication and to show up even when you don’t feel like it.”