League City gymnast dreams of Olympics

LEAGUE CITY — It’s 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Ariana Guerra, just home after a 45-minute drive from training, spins her phone on the kitchen table. She’s nervous.

Her jet-black hair is pulled back in a perfect ponytail. It’s how she prefers her hair for a half-day, four-hour practice.

“This won’t be as nerve-racking as one of your competitions,” she’s warned.

Guerra doesn’t believe it. She fiddles with her phone again.

At 13, Guerra’s anxiousness is hardly atypical. Yet the two-story house in the Brittany Bay subdivision of League City tells a different story, one about one of the top gymnasts in the entire country.

In the foyer, a framed Sports Illustrated For Kids article hangs on a wall with a half-page picture of Guerra. A three-foot gold trophy sits in a hallway next to a table with a handful of medals.

“Is that all you’ve done?” Guerra’s asked jokingly.

Guerra gets excited. The nervousness goes away. It’s as if the talk of gymnastics and her achievements puts her in a different world, one of performance, back flips and judges.

Guerra walks to a room and shows off hundreds of medals. There’s so many she’s not sure where they all came from.

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Guerra has given a lot of thought to her ambitions, more than most do. She has to. When she was 6, a national judge told parents Christina and Mark that Guerra had the skills and makeup to be special. They listened and committed to a life of gymnastics.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Guerra trains eight hours a day. Thursdays and Saturdays, the training lasts five.

It’s 42 hours a week, not including the 90-minute daily car rides to and from the practice facility in Northwest Houston.

Then, there’s traveling time, long car rides and cross-country flights to Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle and Destin, Fla., for competitions spread out over several days.

“It’s a full-time job, plus some more,” Christina said.

Gymnastics also trumps attending school. It’s too much with training and travel.

Christina and Mark have home-schooled Guerra since fourth grade. This year, she’ll take junior high classes online. Christina and Mark shrug at all the obvious questions and concerns. What if Guerra doesn’t make it? Is the $1,200 a month for Guerra to train with the best worth it?

They know the risks. They’ve spent hours mulling alternatives.

It’s the best way for Mark and Christina to allow their daughter to realize her ambitions.

“I know it’s a long shot, but I want to make the 2016 Olympics,” Guerra said. “If not, I’ll go and do gymnastics in college.”

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It’s a dream with a harsh dose of reality. It requires humbleness and confidence.

The attitude comes from Mark and Christina. They encourage her to strive for the best yet remind Guerra of the dark truth: Gymnastics is the most fickle and cruelest of sports.

Only 10 girls make the national team. Injuries, even the slightest, such as a bruised heel, can keep an athlete off the bars and end dreams.

Unlike other sports, gymnasts do not get another at-bat, another shot or another tournament. The biggest stages occur once a year or every four.

One fall, one misstep, and it’s over. Careers end at 20. Those who do make it big often never are heard of again.

Guerra remembers watching Alicia Sacramone fall of the balance beam, her best event, at the 2008 Olympics.

When Guerra falls, Mark and Christina don’t get angry. They don’t get upset. They cheer and support.

“There’s so much that can happen,” Mark said. “We just try to be there for her and make sure everything’s OK.”

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Guerra’s latest achievement lies on the table near the entrance to her house. It’s an eighth-place medal in the balance beam event from the CoverGirl Classic in Chicago.

It was her first competition at the elite level, the highest in gymnastics. She competed against girls up to age 15 and finished 19th overall after the four events (beam, bars, vault and floor).

“That’s against the big dogs,” Christina said.

It gets bigger quickly. Guerra will travel to Hartford, Conn., for the 2010 Visa Championships. The national team for both the senior division (15 and older) and junior division (11-15) gets chosen.

Guerra does not expect to make the team. It’s a long shot at her age. But she could make an impression on U.S. national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, who she has studied with at camps and talked to briefly.

Mark and Christina get excited about the possibilities, the ifs and the future. All their sacrifices, the daily drives, the long practices, the home schooling, feel less cumbersome when they list their daughter’s achievements.

Is it all worth it? Do the practices get old? Does she ever get overwhelmed?

“It’s hard sometimes, but I love gymnastics,” Guerra said. “I love it all.”

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Career Highlights

• 2010 8th place balance beam CoverGirl Classic

• 2010 junior elite compulsory score at Sand Dollar Invitational

• 2010 State all-around, uneven bars, vault champion

• 2010 WOGA Classic Level 10 all-around, vault and floor exercise champion

• 2010 U.S. National Qualifier at Metroplex Challenge

• 2009 US Challenge all-around, vault champion

• 2009 Level 10 Regional all-around, vault champion

• 2009 Level 10, State all-around, vault, uneven bars Champion

• 2009 Palm Beach Invite all-around, vault, balance beam, floor exercise champion

• 2008 L9 Regional vault Silver Medalist