I might be a little bit biased, but I personally believe that I have the privilege of being a part of the prettiest team in McKale. Honestly. I mean, look at how cute we are…

When we step out on that floor, with our mascara clad eyelashes and perfectly flawless hair, we are GymCat royalty. The Queens of McKale. Our sparkly leos and rhinestone covered bows complement our never ending smiles. We rule the world. We are the fairest of them all.

And this is what the general public sees: pretty girls in pretty leos. What could be better? But what they don't see is everything that lies behind the makeup and the glitter. People don't see the weights we lift in the weight room at 6 am. People don't see the stadiums we climb all summer long to build the endurance we need to be able to flash a smile at the end of a floor routine. People don't get to see the gritty behind all of the pretty.

We are strong, minded and in physique. We work and we work and we sweat and we bleed and it's not always “pretty”, or at least what most would consider to be pretty. In fact, I would say that that 90% of the time we don't wear makeup and we don't have cute little bows in our hair and we never, ever, wear anything with rhinestones on it. In everyday life, you can catch us like this…

Not exactly the general public's definition of “pretty”, right?

But here's the thing: on the floor of a competition we might be “pretty”, but it's everything that comes before and after the meet that makes us the gritty type of pretty. As women, we are so much more that our looks, so much more than our faces and our bodies. We work hard to be taken seriously, but we don't complain. We just do it. And in between all of the work we put into every area of our lives, we have the ability to do this work while looking absolutely beautiful. It's a tough kind of beautiful, the kind that empowers. The only kind of beautiful that can endure any test of time.

Gymnastics is a sport that showcases the pretty, but is built on the gritty. It shows young girls that we, as females, can be both elegant and strong. We can embrace our beauty and also kick some butt while we're at it. And as GymCats, when we put on that sparkly bow and red lipstick, it's not because we feel like we need to, it's because it empowers us. It fuels our confidence. We can go out there looking like princesses, but attacking like warriors. And the feeling is like no other.

The gritty kind of pretty. It's who we are as GymCats, and it's who we are as women.

With the past home meet being hero/mentor night, and this next home meet being our Think Pink meet, I've been thinking a lot about female empowerment lately. I've been thinking about the power of female role models and the affect they have made in my life. While I have many women that I look up to, I can honestly say that when I step out onto the competition floor I am accompanied by 14 of my own female role models. My teammates are the epitome of the “gritty type of pretty”. When they're confident in who they are, I am more confident in who I am. Whether it's the long eye lashes and glitter-faced Shelby, or the freshly washed hair and sweatpants wearing Shelby, I am confident in being the gritty type of pretty.

So ladies, embrace your gritty. Be that tough kind of beautiful for the females in your life. Empower other women. Let other women empower you. And celebrate the gritty type of pretty people in your life, whether it's a GymCat, a sorority sister, your mom, or your best friend. The world deserves to see our gritty behind our pretty.

Until next time, this is me stepping down from my soapbox and signing off!

Love you guys,

Shelby