The Pressure Of Being Number One
It’s no secret that winning comes with pressure to live up to expectations. However, that’s something Neff has learned to manage as she has grown in the sport. Her key to success in competition is focusing on anything but gymnastics, whether that’s shopping before the meet or playing a quick game of “Would You Rather” on her phone before mounting the beam.
“Beam used to be the event I struggled the most with,” Neff said. “I would do my routine consistently in the gym but I never carried it over to meets. I found that in meets I would redo skills on the floor and my mind wouldn’t stop – but in the gym I’m not like that. I stop and talk a lot and then I’m like, ‘Oh I need to go, it’s my turn!’ So I started to do that at meets because that’s what I do in practice and it’s helped me ten times more!”
It’s a strategy that has proven to work so far, particularly on an event as nerve wracking as the balance beam. This year at the Development Program National Championships, she won the first national beam title of her career. When she stuck her dismount, she knew it was the best routine she had ever done.
“Me and my coach looked at each other and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh that was the routine that I needed! That felt like a National Champion routine right there!’ I was really proud of myself that I carried that from practice over to competition.”
However, there are some types of pressure that are much tougher to prepare for. When you are one of the top gymnasts in the nation every NCAA program in the country knows your name. Then there are the fans who are following your every move, eagerly (and sometimes impatiently) waiting to see where you will end up.
All Eyes On Avery
June 15th. It’s the date saved on every aspiring college gymnast’s calendar. For Neff, it was undoubtedly the busiest day of her life and just the beginning of a five month-long recruiting journey. As soon as college coaches could start calling, they did. One after another after another. Neff isn’t exactly sure how many coaches she talked to – it was far too many to count – but she received calls from schools of all calibers, even schools with tumbling and acro teams like Baylor University.
Neff missed practice on June 15th in order to speak to as many college coaches as possible. She politely declined the schools she wasn’t interested in and set up calls with the ones she might consider. The initial call with each coach was somewhat of a “get to know each other” call.
“I would get off a 30 minute call and then five minutes later I’d be on the next 30 minute call and then 5 minutes later I’d be on the next 30 minute call,” Neff recalls. “So I had to make a calendar and write out each coach with their Zoom link … It was crazy but definitely a fun experience. Not many people get to experience that!”
Wanting to be considerate of her teammates going through the recruiting process as well, Neff chose not to share many details when in the gym or boast about all the calls she was getting. When you’re the recruit on every school in the country’s radar, the calls come right away, but for others it can be a months-long battle of trying to get noticed.
“I felt kind of bad because I had one other teammate that’s my year (class of ‘24) and she was trying to get colleges to call her,” Neff said. “On the 16th when I came back to practice everyone was asking how many calls I got and I felt bad saying, so I was kinda being secretive about it.”
The calls from coaches lasted for months, with most colleges following up every week or so until it was time to schedule official visits.
“They would just ask me, ‘How was your week this week?’ and ‘Do you want to know anything about us?’ and then I would ask them questions,” Neff said.
On the second or third call with the coaches, Neff set up official visits to the schools she was most interested in. She had her top 10 determined going into the process, so narrowing it down to five was a matter of several factors, including how well she clicked with the coaches. (Note: the number of official visits allowed by the NCAA at the time was five. The rule has since changed allowing unlimited visits.)
“The first thing was how I would get along with the coaches, especially if I wanted to move to that state – that was a big one,” Neff said. “I also thought about my family. Like, would it be easy for them to get there? I also thought about what the academics have to offer.”
Neff decided to take her official visits at the University of Utah, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Florida, Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama. As she went on each visit – posting videos and photos along the way to keep fans up to date – where Neff would end up became one of the most talked about subjects in the gymnastics community. It was hard to get on Twitter, Facebook or Reddit without seeing hundreds of people speculating on where she might end up.
“100%” Neff said when asked if she was surprised by the level of interest in her recruiting journey. “I was like, ‘Why do so many people care about me? I’m nothing too great, I’m just another girl!’
But it was fun too, Neff admits as she recalled a post suggesting she should throw everyone for a loop by committing to a school she never even visited. “I was like, ‘That would be pretty funny!’ she said with a laugh.
