Supportive Messages Help Houchin Come To Terms With Sudden Ending To Career

Turns out, no section in the coaching manual explains how to cope with the abrupt, premature ending to a season because of a global pandemic.
 
Who knew?
 
Of course, no such manual exists, and even if it did, such a topic would seem absurd.
 
So second-year Nebraska women's gymnastics coach Heather Brink, when first phoning her two seniors, Sierra Hassel and Taylor Houchin, to break the shocking news how the recent coronavirus outbreak had ended their final season immediately, had no plan of action.

She just let natural instinct take its course.
 
"They were obviously hurt and disappointed," Brink said. "I just sat on the phone and cried with them. What else are you going to do? My heart goes out to them. We were headed into the best part of our season, the postseason. You set your goals all year based on postseason and what you want to attain.
 
"While my heart breaks for the seniors, my heart hurts for the whole team. It wasn't one just kid, or two kids, day-in and day-out, busting their hump, it was multiple kids. It was cut short for the whole team and the coaching staff."
 
Houchin and Hassel were attending Nebraska's Pro Football Day at the Hawks Championship Center, where Houchin's boyfriend, Eric Lee, Jr., was participating. That's when Brink called to alert them first that there would be no meet on that coming Saturday, which was supposed to be Senior Day.
 
About an hour later, Brink texted every gymnast the link to the Big Ten announcement that the entire season had been canceled, postseason included.
 
"At first I was just like shocked," Houchin said. "It took me a good hour-and-a-half to really realize that my sport was done, and I could be selfish for a little bit and be upset for myself. It made me sad to think about how I wasn't going to get to hang out with my team in the locker room before practice again, or on those Sunday practices we would have more like fun days, and I was thinking how we wouldn't get to have those anymore."
 
While still difficult to process, Houchin came to grips with the decision, and understood the significance of the matter.
 
"I was more worried about my grandparents getting this virus, or any of my loved ones, or really anybody that I know or anybody in general getting this virus," Houchin said, "because it's a very scary thing losing somebody you love, especially when you're not ready for it."
 
More than a week has passed since that initial sting, and Houchin, given time to reflect on her career and her experiences at Nebraska, said her biggest feeling now is gratefulness. She's been receiving messages of support from fans and coaches and others she's met through gymnastics, from Nebraska folk as well as her connections to club gymnastics.
 
"Pretty much everybody who's been involved in my journey, they've all reached out and thanked me for inspiring them, or just congratulating me on my career," said Houchin, a native of Republic, Missouri. "So all of that love made it a lot easier to process, because at the end of the day, my goal with this whole thing was to make a difference, to leave an impact.
 
"Even though I wasn't allowed to finish out this last month, I still feel I achieved that goal, so I have to be pretty proud of myself for doing what I set out to do."
 
While it won't make up for her lost senior season, or a chance of competing for an NCAA Championship, the fact Houchin is a finalist for the AAI Award has provided her a sense of accomplishment. The award, considered the Heisman Trophy of women's college gymnastics, annually honors the most outstanding senior gymnast in the county.
 
Houchin earned her spot on the list after ending her season ranked No. 3 nationally on the vault and No 22 nationally in the all-around. For her career, she's recorded a 9.95 or higher on all four events, including a 9.975 on vault. She finished with 41 career individual event titles.
 
"It's a really big award, so it's really cool to have been nominated in the first group, let alone be a finalist, which is really exciting," Houchin said. "It was nice to feel like I've got that little bit of recognition I've been working for. Just to see that all my hard work is being noticed by other people is a really cool thing."


 
Hassel (above) posted two of her three career highs this year, including a 9.8 on the vault at Michigan State, and a 9.95 on floor at Southern Utah. Her career high of 9.975 on beam came in last season's Masters Classic.
 
"Sierra was very business-like in the way she approached things, like, 'This is my goal of things I want to accomplish today, this is how I'm going to get it done. I'm not going to mess around. I've got goals to do,' " Brink said. "And not that Taylor was different than that, but I think for her, it was this ideal of perfection. She had these two fantastic vaults that both kind of went viral, that people were just waiting for to get that 10, you know?
 
"She is a perfectionist by nature. If she didn't hit perfection or if she didn't do things to perfection in the gym, she was visibly upset with herself and wanted to do what she could to attain that level of perfection."
 
A Level 10 gymnast at the club level, Houchin focused on the individual aspect of the sport before learning and accepting the team concept at Nebraska.
 
"I didn't really know how to work as a teammate," Houchin said. "The biggest thing I took away from my experience here is how to be a teammate and how to be a leader on those days I don't want to be or I don't feel like I can that day. Or I just don't feel like myself. I just use my teammates as inspiration and take from them what I need to be able to lead a team and help them as well.
 
"I just want to be remembered as the person who was always there to help when my teammates needed me. Someone who led by example, who never let injuries get in my way or mental blocks or any of that stuff. I always tried to push through for my teammates, because I feel like that's really important.
 
"When you become part of a team, it's really important to put your teammates above yourself. Because it's not just about me anymore, it's about them, and how I can help them get to where we need to be as a team. I just want them to always remember me as a leader and someone who was always there to help."
 
While Houchin and Hassel are different people and different leaders in their own sense, Brink said, both exemplified the team-first concept.
 
"What they wanted to leave behind was that they cared about their teammates, cared about being a part of the program, cared about being a part of a team atmosphere," Brink said. "They really enjoyed their time. They wanted to be known for their gymnastics, but known as a person other than a gymnast. I think that's what they were striving for in their legacy."
 
Houchin said she's "75 percent sure" she's finished with her career, even in the seemingly unlikely event the NCAA grants winter sports senior athletes another year of eligibility. She said she feels like she's reached her most important goals and is at peace with her career accomplishments.
 
Houchin has one more fall semester of school before graduating as an English major, and she wants to stay with the team as a student assistant coach. After that, she is aiming to join Cirque du Soleil for as long as possible, and then begin her career as a high school English teacher.
 
Yes, Houchin is still hurt she can't compete for an NCAA championship, but when she feels down, she thinks of those words she's heard from her supporters.
 
"Getting all of those messages from people and just like feeling the love from everybody," Houchin said, "I'm able to put all that love over the hurt and just kind of chalk it up as there's not much else I can do about it."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.