When kids are young, they often bounce around from sport to sport. However, for sophomore Kylie Hilton, gymnastics has been apart of her daily schedule for the majority of her life.

Hiltons affinity for and participation in gymnastics began with the simple action of jumping on a trampoline, and has continued ever since.

“When I was really little I had a babysitter who had a friend who worked at a gym,” Hilton said. “We used to go and bounce on the trampolines and that’s when my parents realized that it was the sport for me.”

Hilton then joined the Head Over Heels team, a facility located in Emeryville.

“I started doing little kid classes when I was two,” Hilton said. “When I was six, I joined the team.”

Although trampolines prompted Hilton’s gymnastic career, ever since she began a gymnastics, the bars have been her favorite event.

“Bars is a set of two rails and you swing around on them sort of like monkey bars,” Hilton said.

The beam, because of it’s size, has been the hardest event for Hilton to perform in.

“It’s hard for me because you’re standing up four feet on a four inch beam and you’re trying to flip and land perfectly straight,” Hilton said.

Part of the difficulty of the beam event also originates in the uncertainty that accompanies all events of gymnastics.

“It’s pretty nerve racking because nothing is ever the same,” Hilton said. “You can do a skill 1,000 times and it will be different every time. Everything comes down to the split second and trying to be as precise as you can in the moment.”

In addition to the uncertainty of gymnastics, the innate nature of the sport and the objects involved add to the difficulty of the sport.

“Because you run towards stationary objects and try and flip over them quickly, there’s a lot of room for error,” Hilton said. “I dislocated and broke my elbow when I was ten. I hit the bar and put my hand out and my elbow twisted in weird ways.”

However, Hilton’s years of practice have helped her conquer the challenging aspects of gymnastics.

“As you get older and older, you learn harder skills and the previous skills you’ve learned help you,” Hilton said.

Even if Hilton’s routines do not go accordingly to plan, she doesn’t let failure phase her.

“From a young age, we are taught not to let a fall effect the rest of your routine because if you fall and let it get to your head, you’re more likely to fall.”

Although gymnastics is scored individually, Hilton said that it parallels a team sport.

“Although gymnastics comes down to what you can do in competitions, I think it is a very much so a team sport,” Hilton said. “I don’t think I could do gymnastics without my team because they are very supportive and for that reason I think it’s very similar to soccer where you rely on your team.”

Among her teammates, Hilton is known as an animated component to the team.

“She’s really supportive and she keeps the energy up,” sophomore Mina Harris said. “Sometimes we make jokes when competing against each other.”

In the 2015 NorCal state championships, Hilton won first place in the level 9 category with an AA score of 37.45, according to the Norcal Gymnastics website.

Because of her height, Hilton will not partake in elite or olympic gymnastics, however Hilton said that she wants to continue her gymnastic career in college.

“Last weekend I went to a recruitment camp,” Hilton said. “It’s been overwhelming trying to figure out college so early because I don’t know what I want to do.”