When freshman Red Rock Kari Lee was younger, her mother made her make a choice. While it didn’t matter which one, Lee’s mother made each of her children participate in some sort of sport, and each of Lee’s four siblings opted for gymnastics.
“Because I had older siblings in gymnastics, she thought it would be convenient if she just put me in gymnastics,” Lee said.
Lee followed her family into the gym, and the family atmosphere was something she grew used to. It was that same atmosphere that led her to the U.
“With gymnastics, you’re getting recruited at a really young age, so at age 15, I had committed to another school, but I didn’t really know what I wanted,” Lee said.
As Lee grew older, she started to figure things out, realizing that she needed to find a better fit for her. She found what she was searching for during a visit to Salt Lake.
“I just loved the school, loved everything, and everyone just made me feel like home,” Lee said. “It really clicked with me — the family orientation and the coaches really clicked with me and just the whole campus.”
The family orientation is manifest in how the program treats its freshmen. Utah uses a big sister-little sister system to help the incoming class adjust to college life. Each freshman is paired with an upperclassman who they can ask questions to and get advice from.
Freshman Maddy Stover’s big sister is Tory Wilson, and Stover said she has received advice about everything from training to starting college life.
“She has been a great help with just everything, from when I was first moving into the dorms to when I am on balance beam, giving me little confidence boosters here and there,” Stover said.
The Red Rocks’ family environment also resonates with Stover.
The freshman from Fullerton, Calif. has gymnastics “running in [her] blood.” Stover’s mother, Nancy, was a college gymnast at Cal-State, Fullerton and didn’t waste much time getting her children involved.
“I would say my mom, once we were walking, had us bouncing on a trampoline,” Stover said.
Nancy Stover was a program director at a gym that her daughter attended, so the two have spent many hours in the gym together. Besides being in attendance during training, Nancy Stover also helped point her daughter towards Utah. While in college, the elder Stover competed at the Huntsman Center and was well aware of the success the program has had, so she helped in her daughter’s decision to investigate the school further.
While Lee, Stover and the other incoming Ute freshmen have competed at high-level meets, the team-centered collegiate events will be a new thing for the newcomers.
“The pressure is a little different,” Stover said. “If you fall off the beam, you are hurting your team, not just yourself as an individual. It adds a lot of excitement and brings a whole new level to our sport. It’s a fun camaraderie that we get to have with each other to support each other.”
That camaraderie is what Stover is looking forward to the most as the 2014 campaign is set to begin. After mostly competing as an individual, she is excited to create gymnastic memories with a team.
“I’m most excited to just experience college gymnastics and travel with the team,” Stover said. “Creating those memories and be able to grow with the team. Especially as a freshman, coming into this whole new environment being able to have them as a support group and being able to get close with them has been really fun.”
That camaraderie proves the big sister-little sister system that the Red Rocks have in place is not just in its name alone.
“They haven’t really made us feel out of place at all,” Lee said “They really are like big sisters.”
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