Mia Eiler
Nine-year-old Mia Eiler has been a gymnast for years and won a state championship in December. She is currently training in hopes of being accepted to an Olympic training camp in Texas. Photo courtesy of Ashley Eiler.
Mia Eiler has not taken a break from gymnastics since she began at age two and a half.
Mia’s mom, Ashley, started taking her to mommy-and-me classes, but it wasn’t long until Mia said she wanted to do it by herself.
“She was tiny and strong and upside down all the time,” Eiler said. “It was something she and I could do together.”
Mia began training at a facility closer to home, but has been a part of JamJev Gymnastics in Bessemer for more than two years. The family lives in Mt Laurel, but Eiler said with the location only 15 minutes from The Summit, that the distance isn’t bad.
Mia has been coached most of her life by Brittany Stephens. Stephens pulled Mia from her regular classes when she was four to put her in TOPs (Talent Opportunity Program), a national ranking program that is a talent search and educational program for female gymnasts ages seven-10 and their coaches.
“Brittany has been very much in charge of which direction Mia goes, what pace she goes, and makes sure she gets what she needs,” Eiler said.
Last year was an outstanding year for nine-year-old Mia, who has always been among the youngest in her age group.
At a state competition in December 2014, Mia was a Level 4 State Champion All-Around in her division, placing first on bar and beam routines and second on the floor routine.
In business for eight years, JamJev is owned and operated by married couple Dara and John Lowery. The program starts at age three with recreational gymnastics, and goes all the way through competitive gymnastics and even on to scouting for college.
“Dara and John know how to get you to college gymnastics,” Eiler said. “[Dara] is also a physical therapist, and it is very helpful that she is able to help take care of their bodies.”
Mia and some of her teammates began a homeschool pilot program in January. This program offers the girls continued individual attention by spreading out the time and bodies that train in the space. Eiler said she is a huge fan of the new program, and has seen positive changes in the gymnasts since this program began.
“It’s a dream, because they have the whole gym to themselves in the morning,” Eiler said. “They’re done at noon and can go home and see family at night. Normally kids on teams train from 4 to 8 p.m., but now we are done with school and gym by early afternoon.”
Mia is training this summer along with five others. Their goal is to test on the state and national level at the end of July, and ultimately be invited to train with the national training staff at Bela Karolyi’s Olympic Training Center in Texas.
Out of the top 300 gymnasts in the U.S., only 10 are invited to different developmental camps at the Karolyi ranch. The ranch is considered one of the top producers of Olympic hopefuls for the U.S. gymnastics team.
Mia may only be nine, but she’s already got her eyes set on a gold medal.
“College gymnastics would be a huge win, and training with the Olympic training staff at the ranch would be huge,” Eiler said.
