An 11-year old Girl’s Outstanding Passion for Rhythmic Gymnastics

Hi, my name is Laila El Rafey and I’m 11 years old, currently in Year 6. As I’m writing this, I’m still buzzing with excitement. You see, last week I took a huge step forward with respect to making my gymnastics dream come true. I competed in the British National Development Plan finals for Rhythmic gymnastics that was held in Stoke-on-Trent, against 18 regional and zone champions and came third in my ribbon routine, 8th in my club’s routine and placed 6th overall!  I’ve also been selected by the British Gymnastics Federation technical committee to be a part of the London Squad. I’m thrilled!

My journey to get to this stage has by no means been an easy one. It was a lot of hard work!

My obsession with gymnastics started at the age of four when I first watched the Olympics and saw the gymnasts compete. That was it- from that point on I was hooked! I spent my free time attempting cartwheels and splits and juggling any ‘pretend apparatus’ I could find. My friends and family used to always joke that I spent most of my life “upside down”! Soon after, my parents took me to a trial lesson. I still remember that day – I was over the moon excited! I started off with Artistic Gymnastics, then at the age of seven I decided to move to Rhythmic Gymnastics.

However, unlike some gymnasts, I’m not naturally born flexible. So, every inch of flexibility I have now I have worked extra hard for and I am very proud of! It took a lot (and I mean years!) of endless hours of painful stretching, stretching and more stretching (under professional supervision of my amazing coaches, of course) to get to where I am today…and I still have a way to go! You see, in rhythmic gymnastics, just your typical (already impressive) splits are not enough … we have to be flexible enough to do significant over splits; contortion I guess is a good description. On top of this, it took a lot of determination, effort, sweat (and …yes, a few tears) to master the skills needed to perform the routines. In the first few years of practicing gymnastics I didn’t win a single medal, and usually came around last. But instead of having that bring me down I used it to fuel my drive and to work even harder – I wouldn’t give up. I’m proud to say that now I have a growing collection of medals and cups, I display them in my room to be a constant reminder of what I am capable of when I put my mind to it.

I currently train 26 hours a week to pursue my gymnastics dream, 4 hours every weekday after school, and 6 hours on Saturdays. It’s a huge time commitment but I absolutely love what I do! It also helps that I have amazingly talented teammates who are now my closest friends – we work hard, but have a lot of fun together as well. To fit all this training into my normal week I have learnt to be super organized and efficient with my time in order to keep up with all my schoolwork, training and whenever possible prioritizing spending quality time with my friends.

One of the amazing opportunities I have been fortunate enough to take part in this sport is to travel with my club to many interesting countries around the world and compete. This in itself was a great learning experience to see new cultures as well as to learn how to manage my nerves in international competitions. In addition, as I have a severe peanut allergy, I have also had to manage my confidence, being comfortable around foreign food. I have learnt that as long as I have my two EpiPen’s on me all the time, and always checked all the ingredients of every single bite I ate (not very easy in a foreign language so I carry a translation card), I know I will be safe.

None of this would have been possible without my incredible family who have been there supporting me throughout, enabling me to pursue my dream. However, I would attribute the biggest part of my success to date to my amazing club in Dubai (DuGym Rhythmic Gymnastics) and my amazing coaches who have been there every step of the way and have always believed in me. They really are like a second family to me!

About the Author

Laila El Rafey is a Year 6 student at Jumeirah English Speaking School – Dubai.

Likewise, I was very lucky to recently join another great club in the UK (A&V Rhythmic Gymnastics) who have been so welcoming, and I am sure will help me move forward as I pursue opportunities within the British Rhythmic Gymnastics federation.

I guess my message to everyone is this. Never Give up… follow your passion and your dreams can really come true. Believe in yourself, put in the hard work but know that NOTHING is impossible. Oh… and one last very important thing, especially during competitions – don’t get intimidated by watching those around you! Just focus on yourself and beating your own scores vs comparing yourself to your competitors. As long as you are making progress you are on the right track! After all, we can only do our best anyway- no point worrying about what you can’t control! Stay positive – and HAVE FUN! Please come be a part of my journey – we can all encourage each other- you can find me on Instagram on @Laila_rg07 ?