Former MHS Student Follows Gymnastic Dream to Chicago

With some tears and mostly excitement, 15-year-old Natalie McGiffert made the difficult choice of moving from Topanga to Chicago in order to train with the National Rhythmic Gymnastics Group Team.

The former student is now enrolled as a sophomore at Glenbook North High School near Chicago and training full time with the hope that she will qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

In July, Natalie received an invitation from USA Gymnastics, the American arm of the Federation of International Gymnastics.

Before moving to Chicago, McGiffert trained 25 hours per week with coach Marina Kukhta and her 11 teammates at Platinum Gymnastics in Simi Valley. Her choice to leave her teammates and coach of eight years behind was difficult.

"We told Natalie that the decision was hers alone, that no one could make a decision like that for her and we would be there to answer any questions she might have, but she had to figure it out on her own," her father, David McGiffert said. "She took a week. I saw her crying in her room some evenings after rhythmic practice."

The four members of the McGiffert family, including her mother, Shannon, and her brother, Evan, took a vote.

"We all had a family meeting on this. We all had a 25 percent say. We all said yes," David McGiffert said.

Natalie, who has been named the Region One Champion and Athlete of the Year five times, has been nationally ranked in the top five girls in each level she has competed in for the past four years.

As part of the National Group Rhythmic Gymnastics Team, Natalie will likely compete in three World Cup meets in Europe or Russia in the next year. She has already begun to train for the 2013 World Cup Championships at the North Shore Rhythmic in Deerfield, Il., which is known as among the best in the nation.

The quick transition to follow Natalie's dream has been difficult, but worth it, according to David McGiffert.

"Everything else has been left to me; figuring out housing, finding out the requirements for residency needed by the school in order to allow Natalie to enroll, what the boundaries of the district are so we don't inadvertently rent in the wrong district, the moving expenses," McGiffert said. Natalie's brother, Evan, and her mother are staying in Malibu while he finishes his senior year.

"We leased a little house last week. We now have two residences," David McGiffert said.

He will be driving a trailer full of their belongings to Chicago soon, and Natalie continues to practice daily after school. She is living with a teammate's family in the meanwhile.

"I think what she is doing is extraordinary. I’m her dad, so of course I would," David McGiffert said.

There are no scholarships for girls pursuing dreams in gymnastics, so the family has set up a website called Natalie's Rhythmic Gymnastic Fund to cover the expenses of competing on a global stage. 

All funds will be used for direct expenses having to do with Natalie's training, the meet entry fees, coaching fees and her travel to competitions, according to the website.

Learn more about how to support Natalie on the website.