20 Years, Countless Athletes, One Spotlight: Josey Bockhold is Our First Athlete of the Month

With the gym approaching our 20th anniversary next year, Zeke, Jacob, and I got together to brainstorm ideas that would be fun, new additions to our program. One of the first ideas was to start honoring an Athlete of the Month! With September 2025 being our first full month of the fall session, we are proud in introduce, Josey Bockhold, as the first Athlete of the Month! I took a few minutes out of Josey’s practice to interview her.

First, I will share a funny story with you. I walked out into the gym to interview Josey nearing the end of her team practice on a Thursday night as she was getting ready to take her turn on bars. I slowed my walk and just began to watch her. The next thing I see is Josey jumping off the ground to grab the bar and her landing right on her butt! As gymnasts, we all know that falling is the-name-of-the-game; however, this was just a simple jump to the bar. She instantly turned, made eye contact with me, exchanged words with her teammate standing behind her, and simply started to belly laugh out loud! At that exact moment I was even more excited to interview her. She is the kind of kid to laugh, make things lighter, encourage others, and get up to try again.

Josey has been attending classes at Gem City since she was two years old starting with the parent/child class. You’ve seen those classes in the gym – the little ones, some still in diapers or pullups, unable to fully roll forward by themselves but running around with a big smile on their face for thirty minutes straight. Yeah, Josey was one of those kids back in the day. She is now a smiley sixth grade, 11-year-old, level seven competitive gymnastics team member. She’s been competing at gymnastics competitions since the age of seven. This usually puts her and her family on the road around half a dozen times per season, if not more. She’s traveled all over the Midwest competing, eating at Chick-fil-A’s, swimming in hotel pools with her gym friends, and collecting medals and trophies.

One of Josey’s favorite things about gymnastic team is her tradition to go out to eat with her friends after competitions. Josey was proud to inform me that if you get a kid’s meal at Chick-fil-A, you can take your unopened toy and trade it in for a free ice cream! Her and her gym friends always manage to make time for this. Her answer to my question wasn’t about her routines, what score she got, or even her time INSIDE a gym; it was about her friends. They may all be gymnasts that train countless hours for years of their life, but at the end of the day they’re just a group of kids, traveling and participating in a sport they love.

Aside from traveling for gymnastics competitions, Josey is a busy lady attending Quincy Junior High School as a High Honor Roll student, playing the viola in the orchestra (she’s played since the fourth grade), playing soccer (since the first grade), and loving to read. In fact, her favorite subject at school is reading!

I asked her, “If you aren’t at gymnastics practice or at school, what would you be doing?” Her response, with astonishment on her face was, “I’d be so bored!”, to which I laughed out loud. She had to put thought into her actual answer, but ultimately, she said she’d be jumping on her trampoline or playing with Clyde, her one-year-old dog that has distinct eyebrow coloring which makes you love him more.

Josey is one of three children including an older brother and a younger brother. As a family, her favorite spot to vacation is Marco Island, Florida. They’ve been three times and always loves when that trip gets planned.

I personally know one of her family members, her aunt Ashley, who actually coaches at the gym. On occasion Josey carpools with her aunt to come to gym. Sometimes that puts Josey here before her practice. I’m lucky to get to say that I’ve been able to hang out with Josey many times in the back office while she talks to teammates, plays with Bowen (her coaches’ two-year-old son), jams out on her viola when Coach Zeke plays his guitar for Bowen’s entertainment. This kid is an all-around humble, caring, talented, and smart young woman. She plans to become a college gymnast and even maybe one day becoming a news anchor!

With so much talent and drive, there is no doubt that Josey will accomplish great things in her life. With only the 11 years she’s been around, she’s already done more than most will ever do! We are proud to know her, proud that she is on our gym team, and thankful for her parents for doing such a great job in raising her. Here’s to our first Athlete of the Month!