WAG YouTube / Instagram stars

[LJL07]

I remember when the Salcianus posted videos of Maile O'Keefe when she was nine or so. There was a ripple of people calling her a future Olympian and all that and I got so excited when I saw that she won p&gs 5 years later. That's the only time I can remember one of the youtube famous gymnasts getting on the national team. Ninety nine percent of the talented little ones on social media won't make it to elite, just like the general population of club gymnasts. I do have to wonder about the kids who have injuries or blocks. There's enough pressure in the gymnastics world not to disappoint parents/coaches/teammates without worrying about thousands of followers being sad if you decide to quit.

She was AMAZING! Even at 9!

 

[wandrewsjr]

I think that Whitney Bjerken is the most popular. She is very clean and has loads of potential on beam but is not there with difficulty on the other events because of being out for a year due to elbow issues. It's hard to say about her right now but depending on how lucky she is injury and mental block-wise, I still think she could just make elite, in the later qualifiers of 2019. National team would be a stretch though.

I don't know about Sydney Morris as much but she has at least made elite, so that's quite the accomplishment already. But if you objectively compare her championships results last year with those the same age as her in the same competition, it honestly wasn't that impressive. There are tons of kids out there who aren't as popular that I would see on the national team before.

I think they are the two most popular YouTube gymnasts with a chance at/doing elite. Instagram is a whole other story though. Sooo many instagymmies out there who have their Olympic careers all planned out. It's insane and I take it all with a grain of salt.

Morris placed 13th AA and 5th on beam as a junior elite at this years National Championships. Similar to where many USA gymnasts have placed who went on to make National Team a year or two later. I wouldn't say there are "tons of kids out there" with the chance to make National Team before her. Maybe handfuls.

 

[amiandjim]

I don't keep up with these kids. Which kid in GA and which gym?

I do believe they are referring to Isabelle Roberts from Stick It. ETA: the gym, not the movie

 

[Jamie1999]

Morris placed 13th AA and 5th on beam as a junior elite at this years National Championships. Similar to where many USA gymnasts have placed who went on to make National Team a year or two later. I wouldn't say there are "tons of kids out there" with the chance to make National Team before her. Maybe handfuls.

'Tons of kids out there' within the context of how many gymnasts will actually make elite.
I would agree with you if Sydney had a couple more years as a junior but she doesn't.
Morris placed 13th AA out of 24 gymnasts competing, so slightly below the middle. And that was her having a great day with few errors and showing the full potential of her routines as a 2004 baby. It would take one heck of a jump in skill level to go from what we saw from her this year to national team in her last year as a junior imo. And it would be even more of a jump to make the senior team in 2020. That's just my opinion on the question asked.

Maybe I am biased because the way people talk about these popular kids just doesn't compute for me with the actual reality of their performances. She's a fantastic gymnast but, I don't know, I just get the feeling that people see more of a particular gymnast and think they are better than they actually are. You simply don't know what other gymnasts are doing away from the cameras. And you're also seeing the best footage of skills being done pressure-free on Instagram.

 

[SMH]

I do believe they are referring to Isabelle Roberts from Stick It. ETA: the gym, not the movie

I’ve saw that particular gymnast do a lot of sponsorships (I think I’ve even seen her do one for a mattress company)

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

'Tons of kids out there' within the context of how many gymnasts will actually make elite.
I would agree with you if Sydney had a couple more years as a junior but she doesn't.
Morris placed 13th AA out of 24 gymnasts competing, so slightly below the middle. And that was her having a great day with few errors and showing the full potential of her routines as a 2004 baby. It would take one heck of a jump in skill level to go from what we saw from her this year to national team in her last year as a junior imo. And it would be even more of a jump to make the senior team in 2020. That's just my opinion on the question asked.

Maybe I am biased because the way people talk about these popular kids just doesn't compute for me with the actual reality of their performances. She's a fantastic gymnast but, I don't know, I just get the feeling that people see more of a particular gymnast and think they are better than they actually are. You simply don't know what other gymnasts are doing away from the cameras. And you're also seeing the best footage of skills being done pressure-free on Instagram.

Agreed. I was sort of surprised to see whitney bjerken nominated for gymnast of the year this year when she didn't even compete in one meet!

 

[LJL07]

I’ve saw that particular gymnast do a lot of sponsorships (I think I’ve even seen her do one for a mattress company)

That’s really weird. Is the goal gymnastics or modeling? I understand maile o’keefe who was a 9 year old phenom getting this level of attention (which she didn’t), but I have seen a few kids locally who are as good or better at gymnastics. And that’s nuts that Whitney Bjerken was nominated gymnast of the year and competed in no meets. Social media is smoke and mirrors! It’s crazy!

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

That’s really weird. Is the goal gymnastics or modeling? I understand maile o’keefe who was a 9 year old phenom getting this level of attention (which she didn’t), but I have seen a few kids locally who are as good or better at gymnastics. And that’s nuts that Whitney Bjerken was nominated gymnast of the year and competed in no meets. Social media is smoke and mirrors! It’s crazy!

I had someone ask me once why I don’t edit Lily’s falls out of her videos before I post them to her YouTube....I was shocked. I post her meet videos exactly how they happen, the good and the bad.

 

[LJL07]

I had someone ask me once why I don’t edit Lily’s falls out of her videos before I post them to her YouTube....I was shocked. I post her meet videos exactly how they happen, the good and the bad.

I appreciate that you do that. Everyone falls! And I love the early compulsory video footage too. You can see the potential even though it’s not perfect. I don’t understand the need for an 8 year old to have such mass exposure and near constant product placement advertising, but that wasn’t really the purpose of the post. My guess is that there is little relationship between Instagram followers and attention and making the national team.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

I’ve saw that particular gymnast do a lot of sponsorships (I think I’ve even seen her do one for a mattress company)

She did make the TOPS A team this year so she is clearly a talented young gymnast.

 

[Flicfliclay]

Agreed. I was sort of surprised to see whitney bjerken nominated for gymnast of the year this year when she didn't even compete in one meet!

Gymnast of the year nominees are done by the public.. essentially don't have a whole lot to do with actually being the gymnast of the year competitive wise...

 

[Flicfliclay]

I do believe they are referring to Isabelle Roberts from Stick It. ETA: the gym, not the movie

Isabelle Roberts really is a great gymnast. She made Tops Diamond as a 7 year old and now Tops A team. She may not be perfect on all the events, but i dont think she trains but a few days a week. She will be great.

 

[amiandjim]

Isabelle Roberts really is a great gymnast. She made Tops Diamond as a 7 year old and now Tops A team. She may not be perfect on all the events, but i dont think she trains but a few days a week. She will be great.

To be clear, I wasn’t saying anything about her either way...I don’t know enough to form an opinion. I was simply identifying her for the person that asked.

 

[Flicfliclay]

To be clear, I wasn’t saying anything about her either way...I don’t know enough to form an opinion. I was simply identifying her for the person that asked.

OH yes i know that. Was easier to reply to the thread that had her name in it

 

[Flicfliclay]

Gymnast of the year nominees are done by the public.. essentially don't have a whole lot to do with actually being the gymnast of the year competitive wise...

Here are the requirements.. you nominate yourself and then get votes... so not really based on if they in fact are the "best" gymnast.

Qualifications:

1. Have scored 37.00+ AA or better in 2018
2. Competed in 3 or more USA Gymnastics sanctioned events
3. A Level 8 - 10 athlete in the 2018 season
4. Recommend that you have a YouTube channel.
5. Setup your MSO Athlete Profile [recommended] (TOP 100 Selected Nominees receive a free basic profile!)

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Here are the requirements.. you nominate yourself and then get votes... so not really based on if they in fact are the "best" gymnast.

Qualifications:

1. Have scored 37.00+ AA or better in 2018
2. Competed in 3 or more USA Gymnastics sanctioned events
3. A Level 8 - 10 athlete in the 2018 season
4. Recommend that you have a YouTube channel.
5. Setup your MSO Athlete Profile [recommended] (TOP 100 Selected Nominees receive a free basic profile!)

So it makes you wonder how she got nominated.

 

[Flicfliclay]

So it makes you wonder how she got nominated.

She technically did compete in 2018, but not all events. But essentially the MSO gymnast of the year is usually a YouTube star so they can have them come to the banquets to draw in paying families to see them.

 

[LJL07]

Isabelle Roberts really is a great gymnast. She made Tops Diamond as a 7 year old and now Tops A team. She may not be perfect on all the events, but i dont think she trains but a few days a week. She will be great.

She trains over 20 hours a week according to her Instagram. That is plenty of hours. I don’t think anyone would argue that she doesn’t have some talent. My point was just that I would expect a child of celebrity-like status and 200K followers to be in the running for national team status or some kind of one in a million phenom, and I’m not seeing that. But that is just me continuing to be naive about the power of social media. I have seen kids in real life (also talented) who are just as good but do not have public instagrams. Some of them don’t even do TOPS. So in regards to the original question, I don’t think self promotion on Instagram has any bearing whatsoever on someone’s future as a national team member, but the child might be more likely to become a brand model or do some TV acting.

 

[Flippin'A]

Status as a social media celebrity has more to do with the parents than the gymnast. Parents who want their kids to be instagram/youtube stars don't necessarily have kids who are any more talented than anyone else because being the best at gymnastics doesn't necessarily translate to being the best at social media. But that doesn't mean none of the kids show promise or have potential. Whether or not Isabelle Roberts or Whitney Bjerken will ever make the national team or even be elite really isn't the point. My DD just likes seeing other kids doing what she loves and when they put so much of their lives online it makes it easy to become invested in their progress.

 

[Wannabegymnast]

What I have noticed is that usually these YouTube/Instagram stars’ parents aren’t the ones claiming their children to be future olympians but their followers or fans if you can say so. A lot of these internet stars really have some talent and maybe some of them have a chance of getting into elite and even to a national team. But of course there’s lots of gymnasts with crazy amount of talent and potential that aren’t well known because they don’t have public YouTube or Instagram accounts. But for me and I guess for the majority of these internet gymnasts’ followers it’s all about seeing them enjoy the sport and seeing their progress and improvement through the years. It’s kinda like being part of their journey and a delight to see them grow up. I remember watching the videos of Maile O’Keefe when she was little and I have to admit that I got a bit emotional when she became the junior national champion twice. Another gymnast I’ve followed for years now is Sage Thompson. I really admire her decision to stop training elite and compete level 10 instead for the sake of her health. What a smart and responsible young lady. Anyway, I just love to follow aspiring gymnasts’ journeys regardless of their age. I don’t know if this was helpful or insightful by any means but I just wanted to let you know my thoughts about this topic.