Pretty much my only memory of Briley Cassanova’s gymnastics career is hearing her name and thinking, best last name ever.
I don’t remember her as a junior or a senior Elite. Her entire career at Michigan is a blur and I probably couldn’t pick her out of a line up of gymnasts if she was standing right in front of me screaming, “Pick me. Pick me I’m Briley” but I recently discovered her blog and find it a very interesting read.
The blog itself has a lot of interesting tidbits about her life as an Elite gymnast. The pressure she was under to maintain her weight and how it felt like to deal with people constantly thinking they have the right to give you their opinion on it (who doesn’t deal with that even if not a gymnast)
A Letter to my 12 year old self is definitely something I can relate too only it would be the age of 15 and it would start with, Jenn when you meet the cute boy with the piercing green eyes on the motorcycle, run.
She seems very satisfied with her time as a gymnast. Making the National team was enough for her. She stills seems to love the time she put in to the sport and even admits to eating too much candy (good thing she isn’t training anymore.lol) So if you want to see what it takes to train as an elite athlete and deal with everything that comes with the expectations check her blog out. The link is above.
Of all the routines I watched of Briley the most potential she had as a gymnast IMO was on bars. Forget her floor.( you know how I feel about gymnasts who start their floor routines with double backs in any decade that doesn’t have an 80 in it) She also had potential on beam.
Maybe I was “bigger” than most other gymnasts in the community, but I feel like I put in my very best effort until the end and was a overall wonderful performer in my time. Beyond that, I feel like I was a great leader, teammate, and supporter of my fellow gymnasts, which I’m more proud of anyway.
