SUFFOLK, Va. — A Suffolk 6th grader is leaping over the competition showing that her practice is paying off.
"I practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday," JaVaya Rowell says.
A busy schedule for the Suffolk gymnast. She practices 20 hours a week. While she wins on bars, vault and beam, she loves the floor.
"I get to show off my skills and have fun. That's why it's my favorite event — I get to perform," she says.
Her coach Dashea Collins at World Class Gymnastics in Suffolk says JaVaya is easy to coach and take instruction well without getting frustrated.
"She's placed first at every meet she's entered," said Collins.
In just two years, the Suffolk sixth-grader has won most of the national competitions she has entered. She also stays on the honor roll at Forest Glen Middle School.
"So I get out of school, go home and try to get as much homework done as I can, then I come to gymnastics practice," JaVaya says.
After Javaya was named best all-around gymnast at a meet in Louisville, Kentucky, her mother sent me an email.
"I want to scream it from the rooftops. I'm so proud of you, baby, and I'm going to tell everybody I can," said her mom, Akilah Rowell.
I told her the email was bursting with pride and enthusiasm and that I had to meet her and her beautiful daughter.
The tiny powerhouse has big plans to soar beyond Suffolk.
"I hope to go Division I in college or to the Olympics," JaVaya says.
We'll be following JaVaya's journey because she is "Positively Hampton Roads."
