Lakewood Ranch Gymnastics helps five athletes achieve stardom

Sandra Elsadek’s world went dark before she helped herself off the floor.

“I had blood rushing down my face,” she said. “I started freaking out. I ran to the bathroom, and a tooth fell out.”

It was April 1, 2013, and the then-12-year-old Elsadek had just broken her jaw while performing a bars routine. She had tried to land a “cal hop,” an advanced maneuver in which a gymnast’s hands start forward and then are flipped backward. Elsadek’s hands missed the bar, but her teeth and braces hit flush. She can still hear the sound of metal-on-metal impact.

“It was actually on April Fool’s Day,” Elsadek said. “When my coaches called my mom, she thought it was a joke.”

Surgery took three hours, after which the orthodontist advised her to quit gymnastics. Another incident like that and she would need dentures.

Still, she returned to the sport she loves but changed gyms to be more comfortable.

Under the coaching of Laura Parraga, who co-owns Lakewood Ranch Gymnastics with David Parraga, Elsadek has thrived. Elsadek competes at Level 10, and she and teammate Derrian Gobourne will compete in the Junior Olympic National Championships on May 6-7 in Indianapolis. Three other gym athletes, Lily Pierson, Jaden Haley and Luca Whitaker, qualified for the Level 9 Eastern Championships April 28-30 in Lansing, Mich. 

All five athletes credit the gym for their success, despite diverging paths leading there. Whitaker came to Lakewood Ranch from Colorado, and said she experienced “culture shock” at first. The training involved more cardio than she expected, and the overall attitude of other gymnasts during training was intense. Pierson, a transplant from Kentucky, echoed the sentiments and said she appreciated the gym’s focus on up-training and correct form.

Gobourne said the gym has helped her with discipline and managing her time, both within the sport and in her personal life.

It’s not just coaching, though: The “Fab Five” get it done through talent and perseverance. After the switch to Lakewood Ranch (and nine root canals), Elsadek worked through a confidence block on the bars to reach level 10 and earn a scholarship to Ball State University. Gobourne has been committed to Auburn University since she was 13. She won the Magical Classic in Orlando in February, and finished fifth in last year’s Junior Olympic Nationals in the all-around.

The other three are undecided on collegiate choices, but are surging. The trio will start training for level 10 events as soon their level nine seasons finish. Haley broke the growth plate in her foot in sixth grade, but she hasn’t let the injury stop her, even though she said it was “hard to get back” to her normal form. The vault is her best event. She finished in first place April 30 at the Eastern Championships.

“It just comes natural,” Haley said. “I can count on it as a buffer to bring my scores up.”

Pierson and Whitaker both claim bars as their favorite event, but have strong all-around skills, good for being on small team. Six people reside on the gym’s level nine team, down from 10 last year. Pierson said the pressure to perform well skyrockets, but it also brings the girls closer. At national competitions, it’s every gymnast for herself, but aside from those rare events, Lakewood Ranch athletes are proverbial kinfolk. Elsadek and Gobourne said they sleep over at each other’s houses. Others hit the beach together. The Parragas make sure to treat their gymnasts like people, a seemingly small gesture with great importance. Elsadek appreciates being asked how her day went, or how her boyfriend is doing.

“We love them,” Laura Parraga said. “They’re like the kids we never had. And we’re friends, especially the older ones. We’ve been with them a long time. We spend more time with them sometimes than their parents do.”

Ultimately, Gobourne summed up her and her teammates’ feelings on the gym.

“I definitely don’t know where I would be if I didn’t come to Lakewood Ranch,” Gobourne said.