University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Brittany Rogers
January 07, 2016 | Gymnastics
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Brittany Rogers is back and looking for big things in her final Georgia gymnastics season.
The senior from Coquitlam, British Columbia, took the fall semester off from school to train with the Canadian national team in preparation for the World Championships in late October. The six-time All-American helped Canada to a sixth place finish, earning her country a spot in this summer's Olympic Games.
It was a valuable experience, but the 2012 Olympian is happy to be back in Athens. Rogers and the rest of the GymDogs open their season Friday at Michigan. She made time Wednesday for a quick chat about leadership, cupcakes, playing football and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: Having been gone for a while, what did you miss most about Athens or just being a student-athlete at Georgia?
Rogers: Definitely the small-town college feel. I absolutely love that. I loved it as soon as I stepped on campus, so being back here and seeing the "G" everywhere, and knowing that everyone has the same common goal and interests, I love that.
Not to mention the people, and the Southern hospitality is amazing. I've also missed my team a lot. I've been training with a group of girls that are quite a lot younger than I am and they're still in high school, so it's nice having girls around that I can relate to more. They're more like my sisters and I've missed that.
Frierson: Did being the oldest or one of the older ones during your training open your eyes to anything, like maybe getting into coaching or something like that?
Rogers: I was coaching a little bit when I was there, coaching recreational kids ages maybe 4 or 5. I kind of gained more of a leadership role and I can now translate that to here, because it's my senior year. It helped me being the oldest there so that I can be more of a role model and I hope the girls here feel the same way.
Frierson: What are one or two things that you learned or discovered in 2015 that you're particularly thankful for? It can be a book or band, a sandwich at a restaurant or some kind of life lesson. What touched you in a profound way last year?
Rogers: There are so many things. A lot of what I learned is actually about relationships and learning how to be more independent. I learned that through poor (personal) relationships and just learning how to love myself. ...
Also, there's actually a song by a country singer named Thomas Rhett -- who I named my dog after -- and it's called "The Day You Stop Looking Back," and that song relates to my whole year last year. It was just putting things behind me and moving on. I listen to that song every day if I have to, as a reminder to just let things go and let things that you can't change stay in the past. The song of my year is that song.
Frierson: Who's someone on the team that maybe doesn't get enough credit, whether it's because she's an underrated performer or she's really funny and someone that really brings the team together?
Rogers: Lauren Johnson. First off, she calls everyone "Coconut." It's just hilarious. She's quite shy actually; we can hardly get her to speak in, like, a team meeting because she's quite shy. But as soon as you're within distance of her and on a personal level, she's probably one of the funniest people I've ever met, so definitely her.
She brings the team together when you know her on that personal level and you can joke with her. She'll say, "Blow it up, Coconut." And if one of us says that, I said it on vault the other day to her, I said, "Blow it up, Coconut," and Coach Danna (Durante) said she was so happy I said that because it kind of brings the team closer and it calms the team and makes more of a fun atmosphere. She definitely helps bring a lighter side to the team.
Frierson: And it's an inside joke that everybody can enjoy, even if it's just for two seconds. Every close team usually has a million of those.
Rogers: Even if you have one person to do that with. I know Morgan Reynolds, we'll dance like nobody's watching or we'll do certain movements, or we'll just wink at each other. Things like that just totally lowers the stress level.
Frierson: Say it's the night after a meet and you can pig out on anything, what are you ordering?
Rogers: Gigi's Cupcakes. I absolutely love cupcakes. All of my teeth are sweet teeth, I don't have one sweet tooth. Cookies, chocolate, candy, ice cream, you name it, pizza -- anything that's not good for me, I'll happily indulge in. ... Some people are like, I've got to get my protein in, and I'm like, no, I just did that.
Frierson: If you could play any other sport for the Bulldogs, what would it be?
Rogers: Football, I think, just because I'm a performer and I love being in Sanford Stadium. If I was a football player I would absolutely love having 100,000 people watching me every game. The adrenaline rush, that would be so cool to me.
It would be fun running into people and being a lineman and being able to eat what you want. They're like celebrities in this town and they get worshipped, but in a good way and a deserving way. I think that would be so cool to be like that, and I'm not saying that gymnastics doesn't have some of that. Gymnastics is probably the second-highest up there as far as recognition and support, so I'm in a pretty good spot.
Frierson: In your pre-meet routine are you listening to music to hype yourself up or do you have to calm yourself down?
Rogers: Depends on the meet, really. Usually I'll listen to music and visualize my routines. To get pumped up, we usually have loud music in the arena going anyway. I'm either too excited or not excited enough, so it depends on my mood.
If I need to be by myself and get myself quietly pumped up, then I will. If I need to tone myself down. I'll probably just talk with teammates and just kind of settle in and get involved with what they're doing.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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