Balance, Strength, Inspiration
As Team Captain, Roisin Sehmar finds balance, strength, and inspiration from her long career as a Bangkok Patana gymnast, aspiring to demonstrate these same values to younger athletes.
From Bangkok Patana’s Tumbling Tigers to SEASAC* competitions, Roisin’s drive to compete as a gymnast is sourced from three main values: balance, strength and inspiration. “It’s so important for me to have a release from academics and to be able to have something else to work and focus on. This definitely helps me perform better, both in Year 13 and in my routines. Gymnastics is challenging both physically and mentally, and you have to learn to stay calm under pressure. This skill also helps me with IB and my academic workload. It balances me out, and that serves as my motivation to succeed.”
Becoming Captain of the Bangkok Patana Gymnastics team has provided her with the opportunity to interact more across differing levels and age groups. Roisin values social time with her teammates and her coaches, recognising the importance of building relationships to the strength of the team. This is echoed by her goals as Captain: “I want to get everyone involved and be a good captain, to be by my teammates’ side as a friend and as a role model. As Captain, I hope to inspire the younger girls to persevere and never give up, just as I looked up to the older gymnasts in higher levels when I was young.”
Training Online
The COVID-19 pandemic has had particular impacts on student athletes, as training on standard equipment wasn’t possible for some time. However, continuing with online ‘practices’ enabled Roisin and her team to ensure that their skillsets and flexibility were maintained as much as possible. “Online training was definitely challenging, but our fantastic coaches created some really great activities for us which kept us motivated. It gave us a chance to get up and get active, which was often hard to do during the school closures. The online challenges allowed us to have fun together and do something more interactive with the younger students who had just joined the team. Our team’s group chat was a great way to encourage everyone to stay involved.”
Looking Ahead
As Roisin will be graduating this academic year, she shared her plans to study physiotherapy in university, and is determined to keep up with gymnastics by volunteering with a local team. Her passion for helping others, as well as her appreciation for holistic wellness, are expressed through her growth as a gymnast. In her role as Team Captain, Roisin is proud to represent Bangkok Patana Gymnastics.
“Our Bangkok Patana team is always there for each other and we support each other during competitions, especially when our teammates are having an off-day. Being together and maintaining positive sportsmanship is very helpful.”
*South East Asia Student Activities Conference
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