Excited shouts of “ You got this!” and “Good job!” ring through the room as Kaiya Johnson (10) sticks the landing for the first time on a full twist vault during practice. Beaming, she turns to her teammates to exchange a hug. (11), gives her a high five. The encouraging environment at Capital City Flips is what allows aspiring gymnasts to thrive.

Caitlin

Gymnastics runs in Crotteau’s family: her mom was a gymnast who competed in Division I gymnastics at William & Mary. When Crotteau turned 2, her mom enrolled her in Mommy and Me classes at Twistars USA. The teammates and coaches she met there have been with her for the past 13 years.

“I just never stopped,” Crotteau said.

At the highest level for Junior Olympics in gymnastics, Crotteau practices about 23 hours a week. This schedule leads to limitations in
Crotteau’s social life.

“It makes it hard to go to other sports games, like this year, I could only go to two football games because I wanted to focus on gymnastics,” Crotteau said. “It sucks, but I’m so used to it because I’ve [had] this schedule for so long.”

Although her sport can be very time-consuming, Crotteau is determined to work towards her future in gymnastics. She participates in many camps across different college divisions, where she is able to get coaching from higher-level coaches who are looking to recruit her.

“I’ve gone to North Carolina, Temple, Kentucky, Penn State and Maryland, where college gymnasts have helped me and coaches have looked at
me,” Crotteau said. “I have a recruiting counselor who helps me send emails to coaches and make videos to put Instagram. I’ve also been able to have a few calls with coaches.”

Crotteau’s favorite events are bars and beam, which she enjoys practicing
and competing in. With gymnastics being a big part of her life, Crotteau has worked through several obstacles to achieve her goals.

“I face a lot of mental challenges, such as fear of skills,” Crotteau said. “Those can be really hard.”

Kaiya

Practicing at Capital City Flips five times a week, Johnson isn’t the only gymnast in her family. Her older sister, Anelise Johnson (‘25), competes in Division I gymnastics at the University of Michigan.

But Kaiya doesn’t feel this pressure.

“A few years ago, if you asked me [if I felt pressure to be like Anelise], I would have totally said yes, but now I don’t think so,” Kaiya said. “I don’t compare myself to her at all because we’re so different.”

Kaiya has also had a few roadblocks in her gymnastics journey. Up until a few years ago, she did both soccer and gymnastics, but a series of injuries caused her to make the difficult decision to quit soccer.

“Pretty much every ligament in my ankle was torn,” Kaiya said. “It was
from overuse since I was doing soccer and was rolling my ankle a lot, or leaning on it wrong or closing my ankle.”

She underwent ankle surgery in January 2025, which cut her season short. Even with that setback, Kaiya is still interested in being
recruited for collegiate-level gymnastics. While she can’t be contacted by coaches until her junior year, she tries to go to a few camps and clinics a year to be seen by coaches and get tips for improvements. This year, she’s already gone to clinics at Eastern
Michigan University and Iowa State University.

Despite the long road ahead, Kaiya isn’t shying away from her goals.

“I’ve had a lot of injuries, so it’s gonna be a little harder than some people to [get
recruited],” Kaiya said. “But I’m still going to try.”