HOLLAND, Mich. — “She has just been amazing with being able to set goals for herself and really focus on the small things. And it’s paid off in a big for her,” said Tami Schaafsma.
Grand Haven senior and level 10 gymnasts Cady Duplissis will show off in her hometown this weekend at the Tulip City gymnastics invite.
Competing since she was three, Cady moved to Champion Gymnastics in Holland a few years ago where her skills have been able to flourish.
“Being here, Tami just really brought it out of me. And I really appreciate that from her. She just said you really do have a lot of potential and it’s just fixing the technique and everything like that. That was really nice and good to hear that so then I had the motivation to continue to keep it up,” said Cady.
As a level 10 gymnast, Cady is an elite athlete and her dedication to weekly training is proof of that.
“I come to practice every single day basically. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and we train 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. We train 15 hours a week is a lot but that’s just my normal routine,” said Cady.
Cady is a back to back women’s development program nationals qualifier, putting her in the top seven girls that compete from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. She says her strengths on vault and beam are her favorite part of the sport.
“Vault is quick and powerful and I feel like I tend to be more like that person. But then also beam is the complete opposite. I think it’s calming. Once you get it, you get it and you just move on and just continue to do things the same exact way every single day,” said Cady.
She hopes to qualify for nationals one last time this summer before heading to East Lansing. Cady will be a 2nd generation Spartan, and will join the gymnastics team at Michigan State.
“I really just love the campus, the community, the culture of the team, the coaches, everything. I went there on my official visit and I was like ‘wow this is the place I want to be’,” said Cady.
This weekend will be her final time competing at Tulip City. Last season she won the all-around title and hopes to do it again and add that to her resume as they prep for another trip to nationals.
“I would hope to win everything, win the all-around again. That was pretty special especially because this year is my senior year. So it would be really cool if I could do it again,” said Cady.
“She ticked a lot of boxes with qualifying to nationals, placing at nationals, and being a region 5 all-star team so it would just be nice to go out with a super successful season and another trip to nationals and a year of making great memories before the next chapter,” said Tami.
The Tulip City Invite is set for January 27th & 28th at West Ottawa High School.
