Brian Josephson ’18, captain of the Boys’ Varsity Gymnastics team, has been flipping around for most of his life. When his mother noticed his love for tumbling around the house, she signed him up for lessons at Chelsea Piers.

“It wasn’t easy managing 17.5 hours of practice a week for all of these years,but focus and discipline allowed me to make it work.”

Josephson, having done gymnastics for almost thirteen years, is now a level 10 Junior Olympic gymnast and travels with his outside team to Florida and Virginia to compete. When he was level 8, he placed 2nd in New York State in both the high bar and the parallel bar. He competes all-around, which consists of a variety of events such as floor exercise, still rings, vault, parallel bars, pommel horse, and Josephson’s personal favorit,- the high bar. On the Wolverines’ Boys’ Varsity Gymnastics team, his position as captain is crucial. With his extensive experience, he helps to teach his teammates new skills he acquired from his outside team. “The members are all very motivated and willing to try new things,” commented Josephson.

Denis Huang ’18, one of the co-captains on the team, is grateful to have Josephson helping the others to hone their skills. He marvels at how Josephson is humbly sharing his knowledge of gymnastics to freshmen team members. Huang himself continues to learn from Josephson and is currently learning the front handspring. Theodore Nacos ’18 has also been on the team for two years and is also thankful for Josephson’s leadership. Josephson has taught Nacos how to do a muscle-up on the rings, an exercise that helps to build body strength. Nacos is currently learning how to do a backflip and is comfortable in trying this risky stunt under Josephson’s expert guidance.

In PSAL, the gymnastics ace ranked 1st in high bar and parallel bars, and 2nd in the city for all-around in 2017, hoping to be the all around champion in 2018. His experience with gymnastics has propelled him to develop a better work ethic and character.

Josephson reflects on his overall experience on the team, noting that “Gymnastics has not only been great for me physically, but it has taught me so many valuable lessons that I couldn’t have learned otherwise. It has taught me the value of perseverance, determination, and self motivation.”

In summary, he noted, “It wasn’t easy managing 17.5 hours of practice a week for all of these years,but focus and discipline allowed me to make it work.”