When Olympic Gymnastics Center owner-coach Greg Mutchler first saw Mya Wiley, she was a five-year-old kicking her feet to the top of her head as she walked along. 

“I saw her walking down the floor doing leg kicks,” says Mutchler. “Most of the kids kick halfway up. She was kicking up over her head. She was doing these giant leg kicks. 

“She had the flexibility and quick twitch. She had it going. Hard to find bouncy kids, but she was bouncy. And she was slender and skinny. Her mother is about five-feet-one and petite, and that is the way Mya was.” 

Wiley had something else going for her. She loved to be in the gym. She is first to arrive and last to leave sort of thing. Gymnastics is not easy. It takes a lot of discipline and long hard hours to just learn the basics. Wiley was all in at an early age, and now as a junior at Central Kitsap High School she is being courted by many of the major gymnastics schools in the country. Coaches from universities like Michigan, Denver, Oregon State, Cal, Minnesota, Boise State and Kentucky arrive at the gymnastics center on Newberry Hill to get a good look at what Wiley can do.  

In August, Wiley attended The Best Darn College Camp at Ascend in Auburn, where around 50 colleges, including the top gymnastics schools in the country, showed up to watch the best level 9 and 10 and elite gymnasts perform for three days. 

After it was done, Alabama, Ohio State, UCLA and Missouri, all big-time gymnastics schools, were ready to offer her a full scholarship after watching Wiley in four events: floor exercise, bars, vault and beam. 

So the teenager has a big decision to make. But her life isn't all pressure. After that camp, for the last three weeks of August, Mya and her parents — Mayumi and Bill Wiley — went to Japan to visit Mya’s grandparents. It gave them all a respite from a busy gymnastics schedule that has Wiley as one of the best gymnasts in the country. 

I’m only half serious about needing respite, because it was a Wiley's drive as a young child that led to her parents getting her in gymnastics. 

“She had a lot of energy, so much so we never took naps,” says Mayumi. “She never sits still so I wanted to keep her tired so she could sleep at night. So was always running around and climbing trees. She always played outside, so I got so tired. She was kind of crazy.” 

“I was really crazy — a wild child,” Mya says,” and my parents just wanted me to go someplace and have fun and get rid of my energy.” 

Mutchler echoed the sentiment expressed by Mya and her mom.

“She definitely was a little handful,” he says, “running all over the place. We almost thought we needed a leash around her. She would just take off. And we’re shouting, ‘Hey, where is Mya?’ Sometimes those type of kids are little troublemakers, but they are good kids who just have a lot of energy.” 

Wiley took to gymnastics like it was natural. She stared out at level 3, which is something in itself, but quickly was too good for it. She should have been a level 4. The problem is you have to be seven years old for that level and Wiley was just five. 

So when Wiley turned seven she was jumped up to level 7. A year later she was moved to level 8 and after one year there she was moved to level 9.  She reached level 10, the top level, at 12 years old. 

Moving up levels is not easy. It’s not like elementary school, where you are moved up to the next grade as long as you can walk and talk.  

“You have to be awesome at the lower level to be able to move to the next level,” says Mutchler.   

At each level there are challenges on different events that make it difficult to move up a level. For example, to move out of level 8 a gymnast needs to do a double flip in the air. 

“She was actually pretty good at this,” says Mutchler. 

At level 9, a gymnast needs to perfect going from the high bar to the lower bar, and that is a scary thing. 

Then at level 10, a gymnast has to learn to do extra stunts on the bars and that is double scary. They have thick landing mats to provide extra cushion when a gymnast fails to perfect this flying through the air. 

There are coaches who are there to catch the kids who missed. 

“There is lot of tricks to the trade to enable these kids to do those crazy stuff,” says Mutchler. “It took me a long time to learn all the stuff.” 

The fear factor is high among gymnasts who fly around on the bars. Mutchler has found the boys try crazier stuff and the girls are smarter what they will and will not do.  

There are exceptions, says Mutchler — like Mya Wiley. 

"Her fear level was very low,” says Mutchler. “She would try things others wouldn’t.” 

Now 16, Wiley is not bound by barriers. She will attempt about anything, but especially on the vault, which is her best event and where she is among the best in the country. At USA Gymnastics nationals in April in Arizona Mya was a co-national champion in the vault and 14th on the all-around. She would have been among the top 10 in all-around except she tripped on the mat doing her floor exercise and was marked down for that 

As it was, Mya’s 37.8 score on the all-around was the highest any gymnasts from OGC has gotten.  

“She would have been 7th in the all-around except for the .5 technical she took for tripping,” says Mutchler. 

It is clear Wiley is the best gymnast that Mutchler has coached, although there are a few others that are close. But none of the others have had so many major colleges coming to look at them at OGC and offer a full-ride scholarship. 

For Mya, it comes down to her size, her energy and her love for the sport.  

“If you don’t love gymnastics it’s a hard sport,” she says. “There are a lot of sacrifices, and I do everything for it, and I don’t regret it at all. When I was little I gave up other sports, and I was homeschooled so I could get more gym time.” 

Giving her time to gymnastics means little time for her friends, but as he says, she doesn’t regret it. 

“I love gymnastics,” she says. “Sometimes I wish I would have gone to middle school, but, no, I would not be as good as I am now so I’m really glad I am able to what I can now.” 

Wiley is going on official visits to the schools she likes before making a final decision. She is considering Boise State, UCLA, Minnesota, Oregon State and California. Minnesota showed up late last month to visit with Wiley at OGC. 

She paid a weekend visit to Berkeley in late September and liked it. 

“She was very impressed with Cal Berkeley,” Mutchler said. “If they offer her she will take it. It’s my favorite pick too. I like the coach down there (Justin Howell). He was the first one to come here and see Mya before anybody else. I think it’s a good fit for Mya. They are building a new facility for their gymnastic program. It will be done by her freshman year. Oregon State has a new facility. It was just finished.” 

Last weekend, Wiley took her official visit to Oregon State. 

“Oregon State and Berkeley are pretty high on my list,” she says. ”I really enjoy Washington. I love the nature and love the hikes, but I have lived most of my life here already and it would be nice to get out and see a little bit more than Washington.

“I really enjoy the gym and I want to go to medical school (she has a 3.98 grade point average) and become a radiologist. I don’t want to leave gymnastics so I would like to do some college coaching.” 

Mama is pleased as could be for her daughter. 

“I’m so proud of her,” says Mayumi. “She is a hard worker. She always wants more and more. There is no halfway in anything. She is so independent. She has dreams. I need her a lot and I love her, but I’m happy for her dreams.”  

Terry Mosher writes a regular column for the Kitsap Sun on local sports personalities. Contact him at bigmosher@msn.com.