The Childhood Devouring Gymnastics
Out of the hundreds of girls who give up their childhood in hopes of following in Nadia's footsteps, only one or two of them reach the top of the pyramid. For the ones who remain anonymous, the best they can hope for, is a government-sponsored salary for teaching/coaching (government-sponsored jobs are *very* low pay). In 1994, American journalists made a documentary about the girls who give up their childhood at the Deva gym. Nadia's famous comment --"the girls who are brought to Deva cry because they miss their parents, and when they go home, they cry because they miss the school"-- saved Romanian gymnastics from a big scandal, but the situation at Deva remained unchanged. No one cared or asked about the anonymous girls who made up the base of Romanian gymnastics.
Everything began in 1978, when Nadia came to the training school at Deva, and gymnasts were selected for the first time. "We saw 12,000 girls from Hunedoara, and the neighboring states", recalls emeritus coach, Dan Carpinisan. "800 of them were chosen to come to Deva, and after the selection, 120 girls enrolled in first grade. Daniela Silivas was one of the girls we selected." The proportion (of gymnasts who "make it") remains the same. Every year, about 100 girls enroll in the kindergarten and first grade programs. Only one or two of them make the National Junior or Senior team, and in the 21 years since the school was founded, only Lavinia Milosovici and Maria Olaru earned the same accolades as Daniela Silivas and Nadia Comaneci. "These athletes are the reason why we work here. With a girl from Deva, a girl from Constanta, one from Onesti, we made up the team that's been dominating the world of gymnastics for the past few years", says Vasile Vlasie, vice-principal of the school.
Girls from all across the country come to Deva when they're as young as 5-6 years old. Usually, they come from lower middle-class families, who hope gymnastics can offer their children a better future. Besides being apart from their children, parents also have to pay about 6-700,000 lei/month (about $45 US) for room and board. The girls' program is very strict, even in their first few days. They wake up at 6:30 am, and they go to bed at 10. Out of the 15.5 hrs they have left, 9 hours are devoted to an educational kindergarten program, 3.5 hours are reserved for their meals, one hour for training, one for their nap, and another hour for their evening program (read watching Tv-time :o)!!). In elementary school (1st-4th grade), they start training as much as 4-5 hours every day. Specialists estimate that in order to live like this every day, a girl needs about 3500-4000 calories every day. After a hard day's work, a coal miner needs 3500 calories. Despite all this, the girls aren't complaining.
Georgiana Padure is in 4th grade, and her coach, Cecilia Coroiu says she is the most talented gymnast in her generation. When the photographer's camera goes off, she hesitates. Holding on to the beam and shaking, she signals the photographer she'll try to do the skill she missed once again. A handstand what would make any yoga-guru jealous!
Georgiana is originally from Targul carbunesti and she came to Deva when she was only 6 years old. She had no idea who Nadia or Daniela Silivas were. Her parents were the only ones who heard about them. The tiny gymnast is pleased with the training program. Actually, she would train even more than 5 hours every day. Still, sometimes she would like to go for a walk with her friends, draw, watch Tv or read. Georgiana likes Mihai Eminescu's poems (he's the best-known Romanian writer), the Tv show "Surprises, surprises", and martial arts movies. She also admits she sometimes misses her parents. She confesses they visit her every 2-3 weeks, but, as we later found out from her school teacher, she didn't mention her father died one year ago in a car crash. Due to her talent and hard work, Georgiana is one of the girls who will remain at Deva once 5th grade starts.
In order to get on National team, gymnasts must pass through several try-outs. There's a selection before kindergarten, one before first grade, another one before 5th grade, and yet other try-outs during junior-high, until high school, when only one or two gymnasts make the National team. "When we see that a gymnast can't keep up with the gymnastics training anymore, we recommend she tries other sports, or concentrates on her studies", says Vasile Vlasie.
Madalina Ciovee, and Elena Neagu's dreams ended in 7th grade. Madalina remembers that in the first years spent at Deva "There were times, when we missed our parents, but we didn't realize that the way we do now." They don't regret the hard work they put in the gym. That's partly because they now have a second chance -aerobic gymnastics. This year, Elena, who's from Targoviste, won the national junior title, and Madalina, who's from Turbuleni, finished 3rd. They won the gold medal with their trio team. They insist they didn't give up on their dream to compete in the Olympics. "Staring with 2008, aerobic gymnastics will be an Olympic sport. We'll stay at Deva to prepare for that", says a self-assured Madalina.
The case of these two is a happy one. For almost 100 other girls from their generation, their career ends before it begins. The principals of the Deva school have generously founded a "Sports Excellence College", in order to offer a minimal reward for those who left their childhood behind in a Deva gym. Still, everyone knows how low paid PE teachers and coaches are. The majority of the girls who quit gymnastics, try to make their own way, going back to the cities they're from.
Despite all that, hundreds of parents want to send their girls to Deva every year. From the 100 girls who begin gymnastics, there is the possibility one of them will become as good as Nadia was. Maybe it will be their daughter. There's even a certainty about it. Just like every drop of sweat that falls on the floor of Deva's gym contributes to the glory of the school and the city throughout the world. Just like it contributes to the coaches' glory. Coaches, who can sometimes forget how much a National team member has offered to the sport. "Corina Ungureanu got more form gymnastics than what she gave", said National coach Mariana Bitang.
The Deva Sports Club is located inside former police headquarters. Right now, the school's organization resembles that of a temple, with clearly-set rules, rituals and trials. On the first floor, there are gyms for the kindergarten program. On the second floor, the gymnasts from 1st-4th grade train and study, after they earned their right to train at the gyms located next to the school. On the last floor, junior high and high school classes are held. Lastly, the Olympic gym and a separate dorm is reserved for "the chosen ones", the National team members. In order to become a World or Olympic champion, you have to go through every one of these levels.
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