The boys at Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell have a new title - national champions. The big win came at the USA Gymnastics Men's Development Program National Championships in Salt Lake City on May 11.
It was a long time coming.
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WATCH HEREMany of the team's members have trained together for more than ten years. "I got here when I was six years old," said J.D. Ehinger, who is now 18. "I love all of these guys. They're like brothers to me," said Jun Iwai, also 18.
Iwai is the son of the team's head coach.
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SIGN UP Nori Iwai competed for Japan at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. "Everybody is my son," Iwai said.
Since arriving at Texas Dreams ten years ago, Iwai has guided the team with his parental superpowers. "He can know what you're thinking just by looking at your eyes," said gymnast Davide Comparin.
Iwai also teaches a philosophy that's written in Japanese on the back of the team's shirts. "It means 'the road of gymnastics,'" explained Ehinger. "It's what you learn. It's your ideologies and the friends you make along the way," said Jun Iwai.
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For Coach Iwai, the skills and scores in the gym are just the beginning. "I want them to learn many things from gymnastics," he said.
Iwai's holistic approach, followed over the course of a decade, has led to the top of the medal stand. Ehinger described the feeling of finally winning a national title. "That was probably the best moment of my life," he said. "When it was all said and done, I teared up a little bit," added Jun Iwai.
But the hard-fought victory is not the end of the road for gymnastics. Many of Iwai's athletes from Texas Dreams plan to compete at the collegiate level in the fall. As for his son, Jun Iwai says he hopes to follow his father's path all the way to the Olympics. "Every day, that's what I strive to do. And whatever it takes, I'm willing to do it."
