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06/22/2011 12:00 AMChange is something that Emma Katko takes in stride, evident in the fact that she'll be moving up from Level 6 to Level 7 gymnastics within the next few months-a big change as Emma will be making up her own routines for the first time.
"I'm really excited, I haven't really liked the other routines because I don't really have my own style," Emma says. "I'm excited to make it up myself."
Emma is a 5th-grader at Essex Elementary School and a gymnast at Shoreline Gymnastics in Old Saybrook since she was a year old. This summer Emma will prepare for her first season at Level 7 gymnastics, the first level in which gymnasts are required to come up with their own individual routines. This is the first step of many on a climb that Emma hopes will put her name alongside of Valley Warriors' greats like Katie Frese and Melissa Luster.
"I think I want to do high school gymnastics for Valley," says Emma. "I just think it would be really fun to be on the team and get to travel."
The drive up Route 9 to Kelsey Hill won't begin until Emma begins to master her craft in Old Saybrook. Emma has been under the tutelage of Shoreline Gymnastics Coach and Team Director Maureen Pokorny since she began. Pokorny's guidance will go a long way in Emma's ultimate success.
"At Level 6 Emma performed all her skill proficiently," Pokorny said. "But over the summer she is going to have to learn new, harder skills that demand the student have more strength, endurance, and flexibility."
Even Emma was surprised at how quickly she mastered the skills needed in Level 6.
"I think I did pretty good," she says. "I'm a little surprised because I didn't have all of the skills at first, but I got all of them quickly at the same time. I had to do everything with a spot but then we just kept doing them over and over and I got to do them by myself."
Now comes the fun part. Emma will spend the summer improving her overall abilities while trying to find her own unique flair to wow the judges.
"My coach describes my style as sassy," Emma says. "I've watched Katie Frese's routines a lot and I've always liked them. Some parts of her routines look a lot different than everyone else's."
Training at Shoreline Gymnastics has given Emma multiple opportunities to watch Shoreline Conference meets. She knows there are a couple events she is going to have to continue working on if she wants to match the success of gymnasts like Frese or Luster.
"My favorite event is beam, my least favorite is vault," says Emma. "I've gotten really high scores on beam; I don't know why, but it is just easier. Vault I'm not that good at. It always has been the hardest event for me."
Pokorny points to the added physical abilities it takes to perform well on the bars as an area Emma will have to focus in on.
"The uneven bars require so much upper body strength, but Emma is internally motivated and is very coachable which makes it fun," Pokorny said.
Emma has even done some outside-of-the-box thinking when it comes to gymnastics. She and a friend have taken up diving at East Lyme High School as both sports use similar flips and rotations.
"It is really fun. I think [both sports help each other]," she says. "Me and my friend both do diving and moved on really fast. In the second day the team had us doing back flips, which doesn't normally happen that fast."
The work Emma is putting in now, and when she reaches Level 7 next season, will go a long way in determining if her name will go down with some of her Valley idols. But without getting too far ahead of herself, Emma's concentration will have to remain on her "sassy style" and continuing to develop new skills at Shoreline Gymnastics.
"I really like it [at Shoreline Gymnastics]. I'm there three to four times a week," Emma says. "It is the only gym I've gone to, I've known all the coaches for a really long time, and some of my best friends go there."