On August 10, 2003, CNN released a documentary titled "Pursuing the Perfect 10" about the lives of 13 young Parkette's gymnasts. One of these young girls, was 14 year old Kristina Coccia who is better known as "Sharky" in the gymnastics world. Kristina started gymnastics at the age of 3 at a local dance school and switched to Parkettes in 1997 to train with Bill and Donna Strauss. Throughout her career, Kristina battled many injury's, but managed to stay strong and fight through the tough times. Kristina competed as an elite from 2002-2005. In 2006, she dropped back down to level 10 due to another injury and decided to focus on college gymnastics. In 2008, Kristina began competing for the University of Denver. We caught up with Kristina to talk about training at Parkettes, the documentary, and what she's up to now!
(Photo Credit: Michelle Banom)
Throughout your gymnastics career you were given the nickname "Sharky." Who gave you that name and why?
I was given the name Sharky when I was only 6 years old. My first coach at Parkettes, Michelle Williams, was working with me on vault; and I was a terrible vaulter! I couldn't even get over the horse. She said I finally landed a front-handspring with spot and could not stop smiling. My smile apparently reminded her of a baby shark from a cartoon and "Sharky" just popped out of her mouth. From then I was no longer Kristina in the gymnastics world: I was Sharky. I am now 23 years old and my friends, teammates, family and coaches still call me Sharky. I absolutely LOVE my nickname and it is a huge part of my identity.
You were one of the gymnasts featured in the Parkettes documentary "Pursuing the Perfect 10." Do you think the documentary showed what you really went through or was it made more dramatic for the viewers?
Yes, I was one of the gymnasts featured in "Pursuing the Perfect 10". What most people do not know is that they filmed us for almost 2 - 2.5 years, so they had a lot of film to use. The original story was supposed to feature a few of us and describe the different lifestyles we all live. For example, at the time we started filming, I was going to be featured as the elite gymnast who still lived a fairly "normal" life: I went to a public school and did not have to move away from my family and friends in order to achieve my dreams. I was the hometown girl: born and raised in the Lehigh Valley. But once filming started, things changed. CNN followed us around for months and months; went to our homes, practices, and competitions. At the time, I was so young, I honestly did not realize how much this documentary could have hurt my coaches, teammates and family. Luckily, those of us at Parkettes who were featured stuck together and got through an extremely hard time together. I do not regret the documentary one bit; however, I wish the rest of the gymnastics community could see the thousands and thousands of hours of film they do have on us. The positive, funny, and rewarding side of Parkettes. Instead everyone saw the negative; and unfortunately, the gymnastics community believes what they saw on the documentary.
I absolutely believe that is was made more dramatic for viewers. Isn't all reality television and documentaries that way? CNN got the gymnastics population talking and Parkettes was looked at as the worst gym to send your son or daughter. When in reality, it is the best place. I don't regret the documentary one bit. Was it easy? Absolutely not. But no elite level sport is.
Why did you retire from elite gymnastics?
I had my fair share of injuries; broken bones, surgeries, etc. My goal when I was little was to get a college scholarship and to make the national team. The Olympics and World Championships are obviously on almost every gymnasts mind, but I knew college was my main goal. After 5 years of elite gymnastics (1 at the National Elite level and 4 at International Elite) I was not enjoying gymnastics as much as I wanted to. I wanted to go back to school and make sure I was getting a good high school education to prepare myself for the SAT's and college. It was not an easy decision but my coaches supported me 100% in my decision because they wanted me to be happy and healthy. Education has always been extremely important to me, and I knew staying home schooled throughout high school was probably not the smartest decision I could have made. So I finished my elite career with no regrets. I battled back from injuries year after year, proved numerous people wrong who said "I couldn't become an elite or come back from yet another injury". Everyone has their time when you need to retire from high level competition no matter what the sport; mine came earlier than I would have liked, but I was happy going back to level 10 and enjoyed working with the best group of level 10's in the country.
Why did you decided on the University of Denver?
What most people won't believe is that the University of Denver (DU) was my last choice. I am a HUGE sports fan and wanted to go to a big time university with college football. I kept thinking to myself, "Why would I go to DU? They don't even have football!" But I went on unofficial visits to Arizona State and Stanford, and had official visits lined up to Louisiana State University, DU and Michigan State. I went to LSU and realized I didn't enjoy a big university and turned down a scholarship. I went to DU the following weekend and fell in love with the city of Denver, the coaches and team. The coaches were so real and honest, the girls were so down to earth and the academics at DU are phenomenal. Throughout the recruiting process I always heard, "when you step on the campus, you'll know it's the place for you". That's exactly how I felt when I was at DU. Melissa Kutcher-Reinhart (head coach at DU) offered me a scholarship that weekend and I committed! I couldn't imagine spending my college career anywhere else. The coaches, team and administration truly care about one another and the amount of support our athletic department gives our gymnastics program is amazing. We are the top female sport at DU and are not overpowered by football at our university. We are one family at the University of Denver and I could not have been happier with my decision!
Talk about which experience you enjoyed more, elite or college?
I enjoyed each phase of my career for different reasons. Elite gymnastics was tough, challenging, demanding and exhausting. Taking that step into elite gymnastics is scary; I missed 3 years of school but traveled to places that some people may never get too. I learned so much about myself throughout those elite years and persevered through a lot. My experience as an elite was always rewarding, whether it was the life long friends I made, the traveling or the thrill of hitting a routine or new skill in front of the national staff at the ranch. I loved everything about my elite experience. What I do realize is that at Parkettes, we were extremely lucky to have 6 to 8 elites throughout my career, so this amazing experience was spent with so many great girls, whereas some gyms may only have 1 or 2 elites. Having such supporting teammates made my elite experience that much better. College gymnastics was SO different for me. It wasn't the team aspect that shocked me, because I've always worked with a large group of girls whether it was elite or level 10; but I couldn't believe I only was going to work out 20 hours a week! I was used to 35-40 hours of training. I had no idea how I was supposed to get all my work done in just 20 hours. But I quickly caught on. College gymnastics is the most exciting time of my gymnastics career. Waking up on Saturday mornings knowing we had a competition that night or preparing for road trips was the best part of it all. Competing for the University of Denver was something I will never forget. Wearing crimson and gold on the competition floor created such a sense of pride in my gymnastics. I was no longer doing gymnastics for myself, but for my team and university. I realized that maybe if I would have taken less pressure off myself as an elite and used this sense of pride when I was younger, I may have been more successful as an elite. Who knows! But I loved each experience for something different. Both were more rewarding than I could have ever imagined."
Do you still keep in contact with your former coaches and teammates? If so, do you think your relationship is better now than it was then?
Oh my gosh, I talk to my former coaches probably once a week! Mr. and Mrs. Strauss are like my second family; I spent every day with them for 16 years. They mean more to me than people will ever know. My teammates are my best friends, we are constantly in contact and updating each other on our lives. Every chance we get, we have reunions. Those girls I trained with are the only people who truly know the ups and the downs of my gymnastics career, but also how I became the person I am today. I had the best coaches and teammates in the world; my relationship with my coaches was never negative, ever. I always had such respect and love for each and every one of my coaches throughout my career. I don't know if I can say my relationship is better than it was when I was a gymnast, but it is very different. It's not all about gymnastics anymore. We talk about our families, jobs, education, etc. We are apart of each others families for life and I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for myself and my family.
What kept you going when things got tough in the gym?
I found out over the years that I really like proving people wrong, haha. The negativity people threw at me kept me going; those who said "I can't" was turned into a positive. But more importantly, my pure love for gymnastics. I absolutely love gymnastics and cannot imagine my life without it. I truly believe that if you love what you do, there is no better feeling. I also had a great support system in my family and friends. My parents and brother supported me throughout injuries, mental blocks and times when I honestly didn't want to walk into the gym. Their constant support was there to remind me how much I loved gymnastics and I left the sport with no regrets whatsoever. My passion and determination drove me throughout my career and there is no way without those two qualities would I have made it until the end.
You seem to really support current Parkette gymnast Elizabeth Price. What do you enjoy about her gymnastics and would you like to see her continue on to 2016?
Yes, Elizabeth Price (Ebee) has my full support. I've had the pleasure of knowing Ebee since she walked through the doors of Parkettes. I've watched her grow into a wonderful gymnast, but also an extremely intelligent young woman. We've always had a great relationship in the gym, whether I was coaching her in the summers or sharing funny gymnastics stories during holiday visits. Ebee has such a great personality and it shows in her gymnastics. She is so strong mentally and physically, it's impossible not to love her gymnastics! Not only is she extremely talented, but she is a hard worker. Her attitude is always positive and seeing her compete always puts a smile on my face. I would love to see Ebee to continue Elite as long as she wants too. The best part about Ebee is that she loves what she does. I know she wants to do college gymnastics and I cannot wait to watch her dominate the college scene. Whatever decision she makes about 2016 is completely up to her. Everyone was so surprised by how well she did at VISA's and Trials, but we were not. She's always had the talent, heart and drive to be the best. Whatever Ebee decides, I will support her 100%.
What is your favorite gymnastics memory?
Oh boy- I have a lot! I honestly can't think of just one for my club career at Parkettes. There were so many wonderful gymnastics memories there, it would be hard to just choose one. So I'll choose one competition that happened every year- the Parkette Invitational (PKI). It was the most stressful week of training, ever. I still can't find a week of training that was more stressful than the week leading up to the PKI every year, but the competition was so much fun. Family, friends, and every gymnast at Parkettes came to watch the night session of open optional, and the energy every year in the gym was amazing. It was a competition we always looked forward too, no matter what level you were competing. We loved decorating the locker room and filling the gym with a ton of energy. I still remember those meets like it was yesterday! From my college career, there are two. The first memory happened my freshman year (2008) at NCAA Regionals at Penn State University where we qualified as a team to NCAA Championships. We ended on floor and needed to hit 5 nearly perfect routines in order to qualify. I just remember finishing my floor routine with the best feeling in the entire world; we were going to NCAA's. The last 2 girls in the lineup secured our NCAA berth, but there was nothing like that feeling of accomplishing a goal with your team. We placed second ahead of Penn State by .075 to qualify as a team; I still get chills when I think about it! The second memory I have is my entire senior year at DU. The entire season was just one to remember. My body was shutting down and I knew it was the end of my career, but I had the best senior class and the most amazing group of young ladies on the team that year. I have a memory from every meet that year and I could not have imagined ending my career in a better way. We hosted NCAA Regionals that year and it ended up being the last competition of my career. Alumni, family and friends packed the arena to cheer us on and I am still so grateful to end my career like that. It might have been the most gratifying year of my entire gymnastics career.
Finally, what have you been up to today?
I graduated from DU in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Currently, I am still living in Denver and going to graduate school at DU. I have one more year left and I will have my Masters of Arts in Higher Education: College Student Development. I intern in Student-Athlete Support Services throughout the academic year and work part-time at our business school as a Project Coordinator in Admissions. And of course I am still involved with gymnastics! Last year I was our Meet Director for all of our home meets; it was a great way to stay involved and see the "other" side of college gymnastics! I travel back east quite a bit to see my family. My brother is the starting center for the University of New Hampshire football team, so he now has my full attention after all those years he supported me in gymnastics! So that takes up a bit of my time with all of the traveling. Well see where I end up in a year or so once I finish school! Wherever I go, gymnastics will always be apart of my life!
(Photo Credit: Denver Athletics)
Watch Kristina on floor at the 2001 Zone meet!
You can watch the Parkettes Documentary
here.
Thanks Kristina! We wish you the best!
Interview done by: Brittany
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