“Ready, set go!” Maryam Kassem said to her little sister, Ayisha, who has been attempting to do a back handspring for the first time. Maryam crouches down on the side in front of her, holding out her hands to spot Ayesha as needed.

With a deep breath, Ayisha jumps and flips backwards, alongside with Maryam guiding her back, as she flips back into a standing position, successfully landing the flip for the first time. Ayesha starts cheering and gives Maryam a big hug, making Maryam feel accomplished and proud of her little sister.

Just a few years ago, Kassem would’ve not believed that she went from almost not being able to do gymnastics to being able to coach a group of young gymnast.

Watching people doing gymnastics on TV, Kassem wanted to do gymnastics but her parents didn’t want her to start another sport as she was already doing soccer.

“I was so amazed by what gymnasts were able to do,” Kassem said. “It inspired me to start doing gymnastics.”

Her parent’s concern didn’t stop her from taking matters into her own hands.

“I started to teach myself gymnastics by watching YouTube videos,” Kassem said. ” I started to stretch every day to get my splits and taught myself basics like cartwheels, handstands, forward rolls, bridge, headstands, etc.”

By the age of 10, she had finally convinced her parents to put her in gymnastic classes.

“I begged my parents to put me in gymnastics classes and they finally enrolled me in Richardson Gymnastics.” Kassem said.

Despite starting from such a late age, Kassem said that she just did it for fun.

“I remember gymnastics being the best part of my day,” Kassem said. “I had lots of friends, and I enjoyed learning new skills.”

While she enjoyed gymnastics a lot, there were some tough moments that came along with it.

“Sometimes I would have a mental block in gymnastics and it would be very frustrating to get rid of it,” Kassem said. “Getting injured is my least favorite parts of gymnastics.”

When practicing at home such as stretching, Kassem said that her little sister would want to join along with her.

“I started teach her the basics and she really enjoyed it,” Kassem said. “As she was growing as a gymnast, I was helping her get the skills she wanted.”

As she was teaching her little sister new skills, Kassem also had to learn how to spot to help her out.

“I realized that I liked teaching and spotting from helping my little sister out.” Kassem said

When Kassem was 15, she decided to quit gymnastics due to having limited amount of time.

“I didn’t have enough time or energy to do school, track, soccer and gymnastics.” Kassem said.

About a year later, her former coaches contacted her and suggested her to come back as a coach

“So I applied for the job, it was a long process but I finally got the job.” Kassem said.

Before starting her job as a coach, Kassem said she was scared of many things and had many scary thoughts about being a coach.

“Many thoughts were going through my mind; What if a gymnast gets hurt? What if I drop a gymnast? How do I deal with someone crying? What if I’m not a good coach?,” Kassem said “But all those fears quickly disappeared when I started shadowing other coaches in my training to be a coach.”

After shadowing other coaches during her training, she began coaching Girl’s Beginner and Girl’s Advanced, varying from ages 7 to 12.

“I make sure that the gymnasts have fun while also doing gymnastics,” Kassem said. “I enjoy spotting chin pullovers and back hip circles, I also like to make sure the gymnasts get a good workout when conditioning.”

Kassem sometimes sees one of the gymnasts she coaches when she goes to her best friend’s house.

“It is always funny to see my student at my best friend’s house,” Kassem said. “But because of that, I developed a good relationship with her.”

From being a student gymnast to a coach, Kassem said that she wants to teach her students different life lessons, body awareness, physical and mental strength, and the importance of hard work.

“Above all other things, I want my students to have fun and make many good memories; just like I did.” Kassem said.