Recent content by Amber

Sure but we all know they are born and raised in the US and in the US gymnastics system

Simone is focusing on the upcoming important competition, an international one: The Delta Sport Cup in Zierikzee, which is also a qualifier for the Junior European Championships, the next goal. The competition goes smoothly, and although she makes a major mistake on the uneven bars, she easily...

Knowing Gerrit it was just to intimidate her but TBH I am not sure about that. gerrit was being paid by the club that hired him in Germany, earlier in the Netherlands he was first paid by Wilskracht, that Simone and Vanessa were members of. later he was being paid by the Dutch gymnastics...

Gerrit is angry with Simone and drags her to an empty room where there is no one cursing loudly. He pushes her with her back against the wall. He is standing right in front of her, against her, with his fists clenched to the left and right of her ears against the wall. He is bent...

Simone (1993) Simone misses Stasja; she has lost her buddy, her sister, her only friend. On weekends she sleeps at Gerrit and Marja's, the three of them sharing a room. On Saturdays, she shops alone. During the day she trains by herself. There are two coaches who constantly watch her...

In the earlier days Marja was not there yet. When she was, she was not always in the gym, the morning trainings were done by Gerrit alone.

Regarding Stasja's mother: She was a really, really sweet lady, but she could not handle Stasja's strong and stubborn personality and gave her everything she wanted. Especially after her father's dead. In the part of the book that is upcoming I used to train with Stasja and after practice...

I probably did not phrase it very well, I know what you are saying and totally agree with you.

Simone (1191-19992 cont.) Not long after they moved to Germany, Stasja's father passes away. Simone feels so sorry for her. She doesn't really know how to deal with it. She doesn't know if Stasja wants to be comforted by her, Simone doesn't dare to bring it up. Stasja has built a wall around...

Exercise and progression At the hospital, Stasja receives physical therapy every day. Because there is still fluid in her lower legs, she can hardly bend them. The physiotherapist does everything possible to improve flexibility, but it hurts tremendously. Gritting her teeth, she performs the...

Yes it was bad... I think Simone got it worse than Stasja because Stasja had a bold, really strong personality, and she was the better gymnast, Gerrit wanted her.

I really STILL do not understand the vault warm-up thing. Why be so dependent on Bela, they have brains, they are bright girls, they should have known what to do during warm-ups, they practiced, and did it A 1000 times before...

I can imagine, it is infuriating...

Injured hip Shortly after moving to Germany Stasja's hip starts hurting, especially the pain in her groin is unbearable. Sometimes it hurts so much that she can't sleep, or the pain wakes her up. Gerrit decides that Stasja should see a doctor and they go to the Children's...

Stasja (1992-1993) In the first week of the summer holiday Stasja's father is released from the hospital. Stasja is very happy that she still has some time to spent with him. Stasja tells him that Gerrit is moving to Germany and that she has to join him, or she won't have a coach, until she...