“I love gymnastics.”

Frewsburg Central School Senior Elayna Pitts, and Randolph Central School Senior Mia Volpe can’t help smiling when they talk about the sport.

It’s been good to them.

And today and Sunday they are scheduled to compete in the Comedy Classic hosted by Flyers Gymnastics, located at 1765 Lindquist Drive.

Mia Volpe practices her uneven bars routine. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

“To me, gymnastics means doing all the things that I love, together with my friends, and trying new things and learning a bunch of new things with all the people that I’m really close with,” said Mia who is also the team captain.

Elayna had similar thoughts.

“Gymnastics is a place where I can go to have fun with my friends, and have new experiences that I will cherish for my lifetime,” Elayna said.

Head Coach Sherri Melson has known Mia since she was 2, and has known Elayna since she was 3.

And now, Elayna and Mia will be moving on to another phase in their lives.

From left, Mia Volpe and Elayna Pitts are seniors with Flyers Gymnastics. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

Both will be missed.

“They have been a staple around the gym,” Melson said.

As captain, Melson said, Mia does extra duties for her coaches and her teammates – like coordinating the locker cleaning schedule.

“She’s definitely an awesome role model for a lot of the gymnasts,” the coach said.

For Mia, Melson said, the uneven bars are her best event while for Elayna, floor exercise and balance beam are her two best events.

“She’s very expressive, and she shows things off,” Melson said of Elayna. “So those two events are really good events for her.”

Melson added that anytime seniors gymnasts leave, the next generation has to step up.

“That’s one of my favorite things about this sport is how much it does teach these girls, especially about grit, and about being leaders, and stepping up when things need to be done. … (and) helping teammates out when they are, maybe, not having a good day, and how to cooperate with each other,” Melson said.

Elayna and Mia each took a different road to get to be on the Flyers team.

For Elayna, it’s a familiar theme where her parents placed her in the program because she would not stop running around the house.

“I ended up loving it and sticking with it forever,” Elayna said. “It was just some place that I could go and just have a fun time and learn new things and just put in hard work and see it pay off.”

And for Mia, who also has a background in dance, the diversity of the sport drew her into the Flyers.

“I think it’s something that not many people do, which makes it unique, and I really like that” Mia noted. “It’s something that I get to express myself in, and it’s something that can be different every day, and you get to change what you do every day.”

The skills that Elayna and Mia have learned at Flyers gymnastics help them with activities outside of the sport.

Elayna was a diver on the Frewsburg Girls Swim Team, and also will run outdoor track. She said learning how to persevere, learning how to be courageous, and learning how to be brave are some character traits that will help her face challenges later in her life.

Elayna’s advice to young gymnasts is to embrace the experience.

“If you are starting out in gymnastics, I would say to ‘go fo it’ because it’s different every day, and you never know what you are going to experience,” Elayna said. “It’s just such a fun and great learning experience for you, and it helps you with so many things in your life – not just sports – but like your social life, your personal life, and you just learn so many skills.”

Mia said two of the biggest takeaways from being a gymnast with the Flyers are discipline and motivation.

“I think a lot of people don’t understand that there’s ups and downs to gymnastics, just like there is in every sport,” Mia added. “You’re not going to do great every time you practice. You’re not going to do great every time you compete. And I think that you have to take those moments, and you have to learn from them, and with that, you’ll have a really great experience like I have during gymnastics.”

For more information on the meet today or the Flyers, visit flyers-gymnastics.com.