By Megan French

Most of Sydney Snead’s classmates at Durant Middle School had no idea they were sitting among one of the nation’s most talented young gymnasts. That is until her teacher hung a banner with the words “Way to Go Sydney.” “It was pretty exciting!” Sydney said. ““Some classmates read about it in the newspapers but most of them had no idea.” Sydney, 14, trains at Sonshine Gymnastics, a Christian-based gym in Holly Springs, 4 times a week for 4 ½ hours. She competes in meets across the country and recently placed 7th in the all-around competition at the U.S. Gymnastics Junior Olympics in Long Beach, California.

Sydney started gymnastics at age 7 in addition to swimming, ballet, soccer and tennis. By age 9, she started traveling for gymnastics and had to give up other sports to keep up with the training schedule. “She started gymnastics, loved it and never wanted to stop,” said her mother, Michelle Snead. “Every year I ask her if she still loves it and wants to do it and so far she always says ‘yes.’ It has helped her develop excellent time management skills and discipline.” Besides excelling on the gymnastics floor, Sydney is also a straight-A student. She squeezes in time for homework in the car on the way to and from practice, and on her one day off, Sydney attends youth group at her church. She also enjoys hanging out with friends and family, swimming and going to the lake and the beach. And on the weekends, she attends her brother’s baseball games and watches her two sisters play basketball and soccer like any other sibling.

Michelle credits Sonshine for helping Sydney be the best she can be. “Sydney really trusts the coaches and she knows that they won’t have her try a skill if she can’t do it.“ The trust and preparation were key to her 1st place finish at USA Gymnastics Level 10 Regionals this year.

Sydney hurt her shoulder right before Regionals and wasn’t able to practice her normal amount prior to the Regional championships. She was very successful at Regionals, however, because of her preparations the weeks prior to becoming injured. The philosophy at Sonshine Gymnastics is to complete a high number of successful routines during practice. This will help the gymnast overcome the nerves at competition.

Milan Stanovich, one of Sydney’s coaches, said that she has truly learned to handle the pressure of competition. “It was not something she had early on,” he said. “She’s physically gifted, being strong and quick. She has a cool head in competition but it doesn’t mean she’s not nervous. She’s really learned to handle the pressures of competition and that ability has helped her reach the goals we set for her.”

Sydney says she still gets nervous right before competitions, but she tells herself to relax and stay focused. “I watch my teammates but I don’t watch the other girls,” Sydney said. “I just take deep breaths and visualize. I pray, too. Faith is important to me.”

Sydney’s long-term goal is to be able to compete at a college with a top-ranked gymnastics program. Her advice to young gymnasts is to “never give up even when it gets hard because it pays off.” She says she couldn’t have had such a great season without the support of her teammates and coaches.

For all her hard work, Sydney won the MVP award at Sonshine this year. While not a fancy championship medal, she says this award is her favorite….so far. Congratulations on your accomplishments, Sydney, and keep up the good work!



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