It’s a nonstop build.

For club gymnasts, it’s building on top of skills they learned before, constantly adding new tricks on top of what they knew before, in a continuously growing desire to test themselves.

Coach of the Youngstown Gymnastics Team, Tani Blount has been coaching for a while now and has used this building approach with all of her athletes.

“I’ve been doing it a long time,” Blount said. “I’ve probably been coaching for 30-something years. You just build. Obviously this season’s been different, but once you determine what level they’re going to be by their skill level and what they can accomplish, then you try to build through the season so you’re peaking at the state meet and regionals.”

Like most other sports in 2020, the pandemic dramatically altered that building process. For the gymnasts, it turned into Zoom meetings and exercise lists. Restrictions were lifted in Ohio earlier than in other states, so the athletes found themselves back in the gym earlier than expected.

“I think the kids have done exceptionally well,” Blount said. “We trained online, so to speak. We did Zoom meetings three times a week and I put conditioning exercises out for them to do at home every day, and for the most part the girls did it.

“We were fortunate in Ohio that we were actually back in the gym months and months before some of the other states.”

That allowed the team to make a trip as well.

Over the summer, the gymnasts attended the Woodward Gymnastics Camp in Wood-ward, Pa.

The girls were able to learn from multiple Olympic Gold Medalists, and due to COVID regulations, were able to take advantage of the smaller group sizes and get more face-to-face time with the different instructors.

Woodward is one of the top camps in the country for aspiring gymnasts.

“We actually went to the Woodward Gymnastics Camp this past summer,” Blount said. “We were supposed to be there the first week. We ended up going what would have been the fifth week, but it actually was the first week and the numbers were cut in half, so instead of 160 kids at camp, there were 80 and they rotated which was sweet.

“I told the girls ‘You need to take advantage of this. There’s one coach for every two kids. Normally there’s one coach for every eight kids.’ That was good for us.”

The building process for over the past year has led to this point.

One of the competitors, Gabby Schubert has followed in her mother’s footsteps and is now a Level 9 gymnast, jokingly described as the ‘last fun level’ of gymnastics by Blount.

Schubert’s mentality is the same as her coach’s when it comes to gymnastics. Both cited the importance of picking up a new skill. Schubert said her connections with the people she performed with drove her to learn new skills initially.

“The people who I did it with, they were really nice and if they got a new skill, you would always want to do it, too, because it looks cool or like you want to do it,” she said. “I think that’s a little bit why I kept going because I wanted to stay on the team with them, so I tried to get the skills they have, so I could stay with them.”

While only 13, Schubert is already thinking about her future and hopes to continue to compete

Schubert will be able to add an achievement to her resume as she’ll be competing today as a part of the Level 9 regional championships in Cincinnati. She has a chance to earn a spot at the National Championships in May.

Despite the stakes, it’s just another performance for the young gymnast.

“I just think of it as a regular meet,” Schubert said. “If I don’t do well, I don’t do well. It’s not the end of the world.”

In Level 8, Grace Conroy, Sarah Zupanek, Lily Perse, and Mia Morales qualified for the regional level and will compete in Noblesville, Indiana, during the weekend of April 23. Conroy, Zupanek, and Perse will perform as a part of the state team representing Ohio.