Junior Ella Zirbes committed to the University of Utah in 8th grade. Her gymnastics career started when she was only two years old, and now she has a full ride scholarship to the University of Utah. She started tumbling around as a little kid, and always dreamed of this opportunity and now she gets to live her dream in only a few years. Ella is a level 10 at Flips Gymnastics and is an incredible and powerful gymnast. She keeps up with school and being at the gym, and still manages to get everything done with the little time she has.

Ella started gymnastics because her daycare teachers thought she could do some unusual things as a little kid. She was only in pre-school when she started, but she has come a long way.

“Her daycare teachers actually suggested it. Apparently, they noticed when she was really young that she could do a few things that were unusual for her age, like hopping on one foot when she was still a toddler. She was also obsessed with the monkey bars and she’d also be non-stop tumbling around our house. I put her in a Mommy and Me gymnastics class at the age of two and a half. She didn’t want to listen to me in the class at all and was ready to move on the the next level. The rest is history,” Ella’s Mom Jane Zirbes said.

Ella progressed at a fast pace at the gym. She trained very hard and pushed herself in the gym almost everyday. Her hard work payed off and now she has the opportunity of a lifetime. Committing to college as an eighth grader was kind of crazy for Ella and it was a lot for her to take on at the time. She did not get to visit the University of Utah again until this year because of the rule change right when she committed. The rule changed so you could not commit until you were a junior, right after she signed as an eighth grader.

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Ella Zirbes is a level 10 gymnast at Flips Gymnastics. She spends most of her time at the gym practicing.

“It was all kind of crazy and the rule changed right as I committed, so I couldn’t talk to the coaches for a couple of years. However, recently like just a couple of weeks ago I had my visit to Utah and I was able to connect with the coaches and gymnasts and see the campus and everything,” Ella said.

It was really hard for Ella to not be able to connect with her soon-to-be coaches and teammates. Ella’s parents have been nothing but supportive of her and her gymnastics her whole life. They support her decision of going to Utah whole heartedly. Her parents are so proud of how far she has come, and can not wait to see what the future holds for her. She has come a very long way and has shown others what she is capable of.

“Most of the success comes from her own drive, but I guess our involvement in her success would be getting her around to all of her practices, traveling around the country, and just doing whatever we can to help her pursue her dreams. As her coaches describe it, gymnastics is a marathon and not a sprint. It can be a tough sport mentally and physically at times. There have been the good times and the frustrating times throughout the years. We just encourage her when things get her down and cheer her on when she has success,” Jane said.

Ella’s coaches, Bart and Lori Roskoski have trained with Ella for years and they know her inside and out. They push her to her limits and that is what makes Ella so incredible. She does not give up until she physically can not train anymore. She spends half her day at the gym, training so she can be the best version of herself. A lot of younger gymnasts are inspired by her and hope to be like her someday. Ella has done signings and autographs and has met a lot of people the past few yers. She has traveled the country and gotten to experience a lot of really fun things.

Covid-19  had a big impact on Ella and her training. When Covid hit, it was a difficult time for a lot of athletes. Everything got shut down and nobody could practice what they loved to do. Covid affected Ella, because she couldn’t go to the gym to train. She had to train from home and do workouts from home. Her parents were really helpful during this time and they bought her some equipment she could use at home to help her train. Ella’s coaches also did workouts on Zoom calls to help keep the girls motivated.

“Ella’s determination, spirit, and future goals kept her going during the time at home during Covid. We had a total of about 5 months out of the gym. Ella would send us videos and we would provide feedback. We did the very best we could between coaches and gymnasts. I am incredibly proud of how Ella motivated herself and stayed positive through Covid,” Lori Roskoski said.

Ella has come so far in her gymnastics career and everyone surrounded by her is way beyond proud. She has so many supporters and has accomplished so much in her life. Her coaches and parents have done a lot to help her and everyone is excited to see what Ella achieves in college gymnastics at the University of Utah.