University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Alexa Al-Hameed
February 26, 2019 | Gymnastics, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Alexa Al-Hameed wasn't much good at most of the sports she tried growing up, particularly if it had a ball in it, she said. But gymnastics, right from the start, was a perfect fit.
A freshman from Ames, Iowa — one of nine freshmen on the Georgia GymDogs' roster — Al-Hameed has competed on bars in every meet this season, posting a season-high 9.950 against Kentucky earlier this month. During a Quick Chat on Tuesday, Al-Hameed talked about her start in gymnastics, adjusting to college, ice cream and much more.
Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: How did you get started in gymnastics? Did you do a bunch of other sports before realizing this was the one for you?
Al-Hameed: This was definitely my sport from the beginning. My mom said I was too energetic and too muscular to be a dancer, so she didn't even try that. As I grew up I just stuck with gymnastics. My mom made me try softball and I begged her to let me quit after one practice, so gymnastics was kind of always my thing.
Frierson: What was it about gymnastics that you really connected with?
Al-Hameed:: I think it was just, when you're young it's just super fun. You're playing around in the gym, jumping around in the pit, jumping on the trampoline — I think I was definitely drawn to that and just the idea that you had this huge gym and so many opportunities to learn new skills and make a lot of friends.
Frierson: Of the other sports you did play, was there one you were particularly good at or surprisingly bad at?
Al-Hameed: Anything with a ball is not my thing, definitely not. My sister does basketball and she's 13, but she'll beat me any day. I did want to do track in middle school, so I went to a couple of practices, but it just didn't work out with my gymnastics schedule. I was pretty fast.
Frierson: Is there a feeling you get competing in gymnastics that you can't find anywhere else?
Al-Hameed: I would say just the idea that we can do things that the average person can't, and there's just a feeling of pride in every time you stick the landing on your routine or just every time you accomplish something in the gym. You work so hard and for that hard work to pay off, it's something that you really can quite get anywhere else.
Another aspect is knowing the physical part, that you've pushed yourself physically and mentally. In a lot of things outside the gym, it may just be the mental part of it. It's all really fulfilling.
Frierson: What's the most creative thing you do, or something creative you wish you could do?
Al-Hameed: I'm actually a really artistic person and I've always loved crafts, and my mom has always kept scrapbooks and markers and all sorts of artistic things in our house. Something cool I made, I think I started it when I was seven or eight, I would draw house plants on graph paper and I eventually decided I wanted to make a 3-D model.
I actually made a two-story house model made of paper and toothpicks. We bought doll-house carpet and ... it turned out pretty cool — it's awesome.
Frierson: Is there something you wish you had a talent for?
Al-Hameed: I wish I could draw. I'm horrible at drawing people and stuff like that. Drawing would be cool or calligraphy, I've always wanted to learn how to do calligraphy.
Frierson: If you could go anywhere in the world on somebody else's dime, where would you like to go and who would you take with you?
Al-Hameed: I feel like going somewhere with my sister, Aliyah, who's 13, and we'd do a girls trip. I've always wanted to go to Europe and I think that would be so fun.
Another one is a mission trip somewhere. I'm actually going to Haiti this summer, so to go on another one, that would be awesome, maybe somewhere in Africa or to the Dominican Republic.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Al-Hameed: That's a hard question. Ice cream.
Frierson: You have to have a flavor in mind when you say that.
Al-Hameed: There are so many, actually. This is kind of weird but Blue Bunny has this flavor called Holi-Doodle and it's only seasonal. It's like sugar cookie dough and sprinkles and ribbons of frosting — it's my favorite, my all-time favorite.
Frierson: Is there a food you've had to give up or cut way back on now that you're a GymDog, just because you might need to eat smarter and healthier?
Al-Hameed:Yeah, definitely treats, I'm trying to stay away from those because I have a huge sweet tooth. That's definitely hard sometimes, stepping away. Like last night they had cookies at our training table and sometimes it's hard to say, "Okay, not today."
Frierson: What's been the biggest adjustment for you since you got to college where there's a new level of gymnastics, a new level of school, you're living in a dorm and socially everything's different? There's a lot of new that's come your way.
Al-Hameed: I would say probably the social aspect. I grew up in Iowa and my high school was really small, I graduated with like 105 people, and coming here, there's just so many more people and it's so much more diverse. I've loved getting to know people and sitting down and talking with people to see what their backgrounds are like.
The social aspect has been awesome and being an athlete here, it's kind of like you're already part of the family and you get to know people from other sports.
Frierson: If you could perform a routine to any song, what song would it be?
Al-Hameed: Oh, my gosh, any song? I love Beyonce, so maybe it would be one of her songs. I don't know, that's a really hard question.
Frierson: Maybe this isn't as hard a question: who's the funniest person on the team?
Al-Hameed: That would be (fellow freshman Sterlyn Austin), for sure. She'll have me laughing till I cry any time. We have a good time together.
Frierson: How valuable is that, given all the work you all put it and the time you all spend together?
Al-Hameed: It's so important. I actually think about that often, how there are certain people that I wouldn't be able to do this without them. The other day I was kind of down and she noticed, and in five minutes I was laughing again. That is so, so important to have in the gym and even outside of the gym. It really keeps you going and I couldn't be more grateful.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
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.
