Gymnast’s mother shares lessons learned
Rita Wieber is the mother of an Olympic hopeful, but she didn’t have the London Games in mind when she set out last summer to outline the concept of her book, Gym Mom: The Twists and Turns of Your Daughter’s Gymnastics Career.
Wieber had planned to write a book that would serve in part as a guidebook for other parents of competitive and recreational gymnasts, regardless of the twists and turns of her own daughter’s career. For Jordyn Wieber, though, her journey the last 10 months has been like an arrow straight to the top.
After winning her first senior U.S. all-around in August, Jordyn went on two months later to capture the gold medal in the all-around in the world championships in Tokyo. Three weeks ago, she added a second U.S. title. This week, the 16-year-old will begin her attempt at qualifying for the Summer Games at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team trials in San Jose.
Wieber trains at Gedderts’ Twistars USA near her family’s hometown of DeWitt, Mich., outside Lansing.
Rita Wieber, 48, is no stranger to the keyboard: A registered nurse and exercise physiologist, she has been a longtime freelancer, including contributing a health column at the Lansing State Journal from 1994 to 2006.
Q. So what does Jordyn think of the book? And did she give you any input?
A: Her initial reaction was kind of like, “Whatever, Mom.” She didn’t want to read it at first. But, finally, we were driving to Classics in Chicago and I had a draft of the book, the final edited version, and she read probably the first five chapters. She thought it was good, I think.
Q: I read the book. It seems part biography a little, part guidebook, life lessons. You include interesting tips for parents of young gymnasts, such as avoiding swimming in hotel pools the night before a competition because you don’t want your child’s hands too soft for the bars.
A: I learned the hard way, because Jordyn would end up with these horrible rips. I wish someone would have told me.
Q: You’re honest about topics that could maybe raise some eyebrows with some parents, like incentives and their role in youth sports, and rewarding performance — like once rewarding Jordyn with an iPhone for winning the American Cup.
A: I just wanted to be honest. As I tried to explain in the book, Jordyn never could babysit. She couldn’t do anything where she could earn her own money and buy some of the things that we don’t provide.
If you work hard at your job, you get a bonus or a raise. So I thought, “Why not?” It wasn’t a bribe.