Elite gymnast visits Becca’s Place

Eight-time NCAA All-American gymnast Katelyn Ohashi, and a four-time member of the USA Gymnastics’ Junior National Team, spent last weekend at Becca’s Place Gymnastics as a team camp VIP.

At the annual camp, Becca’s Place hosts a VIP with whom athletes are familiar and has undertaken a philanthropic mission. The club then pairs them with a local nonprofit to raise money for the VIP’s specific cause.

“Because philanthropy is important to us as an organization, we like to have some sort of fundraiser that ties into that,” Becca’s Place owner Jennifer Ryan said. “So we take the platform that’s important to our VIP and find a way to tie that into our community.”

Ohashi’s focus is on body positivity. It has been since her days at UCLA when she started blogging about her body positivity journey.

“Look, I think every female athlete, especially gymnasts, gets scrutinized for the way they look,” said Ohashi, who will be working with NBC at the Paris Olympics. “And a lot of people, even without that, I think there’s a lot of pressure on us to look a specific way. I know I felt it. I know I’ve gotten body shamed in the sport since I was like 13.”

Becca’s Place matched Ohashi with Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services, based in Elizabethtown. The local nonprofit happened to be embarking on a positivity campaign, aligning nicely with the former gymnast’s quest.

“So it was just like a perfect fit,” Ryan said.

This year, the gymnastic club’s athletes raised $10,000 for a chance to be coached one-on-one by Ohashi and allowed to ask her questions. The former UCLA Bruin also provided her guidance and expertise to many of the girls at the camp.

Makayla Hoffman, 11, said Ohashi’s direction was helpful.

“It was great,” Hoffman said. “She gave me really good advice on the beam the other day and on floor. In my future, if I ever compete in college or if I could go to the Olympics, I could use a whole lot of advice.”

Karsen Rainer, who has participated in gymnastics for 12 of her 13 years of life and would like to compete in college one day, said the experience was very positive.

“It was great. She was very motivational, and she tried to push you to better yourself,” Rainer said. “And she gave great corrections and just made your gymnastics way better and made you more confident in yourself.”

Though technical advice is beneficial to gymnasts developing their skill levels, Ohashi said it’s what can happen beyond the floor or beam that matters most.

“And I realized that not even little girls, but every demographic needed to hear something … and it was the first time when not only did I feel like people needed that, but also me, simultaneously,” Ohashi said. “And one of my favorite quotes ever is Psalm 119:130, ‘The unfolding of your words gives light; and brings understanding to the simple.’ And so I feel by sharing positive words, we can all form a community with one another and realize you’re not the only person who is going through something. And, you know, these little girls might need to hear the message.”