Amelia Wright, a 12-year-old gymnast at North American Sports Academy (NASA) in Gig Harbor, has been the girl to watch in Washington state gymnastics over the past nine years.

Her mother, Carolyn Wright, took Amelia to NASA gymnastics for the first time after a friend told her she might enjoy the Mommy and Me class. Carolyn noticed right away that Amelia was not only enthusiastic for the sport, but she was also good ... really good.

Since she started, Amelia has won three state championships in her age bracket in the floor exercise, all around and uneven bar events.

Amelia enjoys the sport, she said, "because you get to be very active and it isn't just a team sport, it is also an individual sport."

Her father, Lt. Col. Patrick Wright, a Soldier in the 191st Infantry Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is very proud of his daughter's success. 

"I have been very proud of my daughter and all she has accomplished doing gymnastics," he said. "She amazes me every time she competes and does new routines and exercises. She is so graceful. I mostly enjoy watching her do her floor and bar routines. She makes it look so easy."

Amelia's parents do what they can to invest in their daughter's hard work, even finding a place for her to train when the family visited Wright for a month when he was stationed in South Korea.

When at home, her father enjoys going to her meets, and especially likes it when she travels to Hawaii to compete with the international teams.

The Harbor Ridge Middle School student finds it easy to balance school work with her sport.

"When I am at school I think about my school work, not gymnastics, and when I am at gymnastics I just think about gymnastics and not school work," she said. "I work on as much homework and projects as I can on weekends and Wednesday nights when I am not in the gym."

For more information about how to get involved in NASA gymnastics, call (253) 851-7061 or visit www.nasagym.com.