University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Emily Schild
February 24, 2020 | Gymnastics, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a Georgia Gymdog performing inside a packed Stegeman Coliseum, Emily Schild did her best to describe the experience during a recent Quick Chat. To be on the receiving end of 10,000 sets of eyes during a meet, she said, is pretty thrilling.
A junior from Huntersville, N.C., Schild is back on the bars this season after suffering a serious knee injury a year ago. During our Chat, she also talked about how she got started in gymnastics, food, travel and more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: What is your origin story with gymnastics? Was it something you were interested in from a very early age or did you come to it a little later?
Schild: When I was little, I was very independent, outgoing and competitive. I did gymnastics first and then my dad wanted me to do different sports just to kind of see which one I liked better. I did tennis, golf and soccer — tennis and golf I only did for about half a year and then soccer I did one or two years.
When it came to a point when I had to pick either soccer or gymnastics, I stuck with gymnastics and I've loved it ever since.
Frierson: Because gymnastics is such a demanding sport, what is it about it that gets you excited every single time you come to the gym?
Schild: I think for me it's that it's a team sport. I know in club it's an individual thing and then you come to college and it's different. I guess it's the whole atmosphere when you're competing, I love competing, and just the challenge, I love the challenge of it.
Frierson: For those of us that have never performed in front of a packed Stegeman Coliseum crowd, which is most everyone reading this, what is it like to go out and perform and do a great routine in that setting?
Schild: Honestly, I remember my first time as a freshman, coming into Stegeman Coliseum and seeing and hearing 10,000 fans even as you're just walking out. There's this excitement and everyone's got your back, and then when you nail that bar routine or whatever event you're doing, you can just feel it. You can feel it in your body, you can feel it with your team, your coaches, everyone around you. It's an incredible feeling.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Schild: I would either have to go with sushi or steak. When it comes to sushi I'll go kind of simple, like a California roll or something. With steak, I do mine medium-rare. My dad cooks really good steaks and I would never get tired of eating those.
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?
Schild: I've always talked about going to Greece, Athens, Greece, and who would I take? I would definitely take my parents and then I have a good friend back at home that I'm really close to, so I would take her as well.
We had a teammate my freshman year, Vivi Babalis, whose family is from Greece, and she kind of got me looking at Greece. Just the atmosphere of Greece, the pictures that I've seen, it looks really cool and I would love to go there sometime.
Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there something creative you do or wish you could do?
Schild: I wish I could be a little more artistic. I know my dad can draw anything and it will be very good. When I was younger I did sketches and they weren't that bad, but I wish I could do a little bit more.
Frierson: How long does it take to get comfortable performing in front of huge crowds like you get at Stegeman?
Schild: I know when you're younger, it's not like there's going to be 10,000 fans out there, it's going to be maybe a couple thousand. For me, you get some jitters, you get some butterflies, but honestly, you've been training so much and you know you've got this, you have it in the bag. You just go out there, do your routine and you nail it.
I know with the whole 10,000 fans, some people do hear the crowd when they're up on their apparatus and others zone out and kind of block it out. I'm one of those people, sometimes when I'm up on the bars I don't hear the crowd until I finish.
(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.
Players Mentioned
