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Emma Incarnato competing at the SCIAA Gymnastics competition this fall

The gymnastics team has been looking like gold this season. Solo sophomore star on the team, Emma Incarnato, has been enjoying her time competing in different meets at places like Ridge and Westfield High School. She competes in all four events; bars, floor, beam, and vault.

While she is the only one representing the Bernards team, she loves every aspect of it and competing against other gymnasts. She says, “Even though I am the only one on the team, I have made so many friends from other teams! Everyone is so kind and supportive, and I feel like I am part of one big team.” 

Being the sole player playing a sport can be tough, but she powers through and uses her love and spirit for the sport to win. At Ridge High School on September 14th, Incarnato placed her first sectional qualifying score on the beam and floor. On September 23rd at Westfield High School she earned her second qualifying score on beam and floor. 

In the media, it has been shown how important prioritizing mental health in sports is, especially in gymnastics. Gymnastics is a high-risk sport since the athlete has to be both mentally and physically prepared. It is common for gymnasts to get stuck on skills and not be able to achieve them perfectly. This is an example of a mental block that gymnasts deal with daily.

One of the most predominant examples of this was at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics when Simone Biles suffered from one of the most suppressing mental health issues in her career. According to Simone Biles when asked about tennis star Naomi Osaka and her mental struggles, “I say put mental health first because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your score and you’re not gonna succeed as much as you want to. So, it’s okay sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself because it shows how strong of a competitor or a person that you really are.”

Throughout the 2021 Olympics, Biles struggled with particular skills on the floor, vault, and uneven bars. She experienced the “twisties” which is a form of mental block when gymnasts lose their sense of space causing them to lose control of their body in the air and do extra flips and twists than intended. Leading her to withdraw before the all-around final and individual events of vault, uneven bars, and floor. She was able to compete in the final, winning bronze on the balance beam. 

But Emma is always aware of when she starts feeling those mental blocks and she uses those nerves to channel energy for every event. She says, “As for the mental aspect, of course, I get a little nervous when competing, but the excitement overpowers the nerves, and the second I step out onto the floor all the worries go away.” The next meets she is looking forward to are counties, Skyland conference championships, and sectionals. She hopes at sectionals she can place and qualify for states.