Several days a week, for several hours, the Ponies gymnastics gym is filled with girls working their hardest. The newly built large-scale gym, with two-story tall ceilings, fills with echoes of success and failures, ready to be tried again. The doors leading outside are left propped open for airflow to help with the heavy hot air as they work out. Yet these girls have stayed and come back to these gymnastics gyms again and again for a long time.  As for Chloe Stanton, gymnastics gyms have been her second home since she was a toddler.  

Stanton kicked off her so far 14-year journey with gymnastics when she was just 3 years old.  Before she could even go to kindergarten, Stanton was frequently going to Rising Stars, a club gym in Woodbury, to build her skills and love of gymnastics. All though many girls start gymnastics young, for Chloe, it was a special whole family activity. 

“My older sister Erica, she was in gymnastics as well” Junior Chloe Stanton explained, “My mom actually put the whole family, so my two older sisters and brother, in gymnastics at a young age. But Erica and I really stuck with it.” 

To stay in the same sport for 14 years requires a lot of hard work and dedication, especially when you have to give up so many of your hours, days, and weeks to the sport. However, Stanton’s dedication goes further than herself. Stanton is a true example of what it means to be a teammate and to not just be there for yourself. It is personalities like her’s that help hold up not only teams but friend groups alike, and to even combine both. It is clear Stanton will always be there to help her teammates and classmates alike. 

“Chloe is a huge part of the team. And she’s a friend.” Coach Joan Ledson mentioned with admiration, “She’ll talk to everyone, and I think everyone knows that. They know she’s always someone they can talk to. She always encourages everyone and is willing to help them, because a lot of the time the girls will coach each other.” 

Unlike in past seasons, the team is stretched thin, with a limited number of girls. This is a challenge that can come up every year as teammates go off to college or have to cut back and focus on school. And having to cut back may happen simply because gymnastics is such a physically demanding sport that requires lots of time and effort. While this disadvantage can be hard, the team is certainly not lacking in talent and determination.

Ledson explained, “We only have 19 girls this year. And that’s pretty small for a high school team. Other high school teams in our section have around 18 girls.”

While a team is a group of peers working together to achieve a command goal, it is made up of individuals who have their own skills, personalities, and personal life matters. However, the best type of teammate would be those who can bridge those two, who can be in the zone working their hardest for their own achievements one minute and helping a friend the other. Chloe Stanton is an example of that type of person, for her enthusiasm, skillfulness, and selflessness all impact the gymnastics team and they wouldn’t be the same without her.

https://goponies.stillwaterschools.org/athletics/hs-winter-sports/gymnastics-girls