
31 Jan Wendy Hilliard’s 10 Tips on How to Excel On & Off the Mat in 2025!
From setting goals and prioritizing mental health to initiatives like giving back to the community, Wendy Hilliard shared her 10 Tips to Excel in 2025 with Inside Gymnastics and we love it! She’s been a great friend to our team for years and continues to inspire us every day!
10 Tips on How to Excel On & Off the Mat in 2025
By Wendy Hilliard
- Set Clear Goals – Define both short-term and long-term goals for your athletic, academic, and personal life. Having a clear vision helps you stay focused on what you want to achieve.
- Prioritize Mental Health – Mental well-being is critical to sustaining high performance whether on the gymnastics floor or at your desk, and staying mentally strong allows you to overcome challenges. Through the mission of WHGF, we empower the lives of young people from underserved communities by improving not just their gymnastics skills, but also their emotional health.
- Embrace a Growth Mindset – If you ‘fall off the beam,’ get right back on. View setbacks as opportunities for growth. Success isn’t just about winning; it’s about continuous learning and pushing your limits, both in sports and in other aspects of life.
- Balance “Academics and Athletics” – WHGF emphasizes education as much as athletics in order to ensure students have a well-rounded future. Set daily goals, prioritize assignments and due dates, and shift between mental and physical exercises.
- Surround Yourself with Supportive People – One of the core principles at WHGF is community. Just as we do at the gym with our dedicated staff, be sure to surround yourself with coaches, mentors, family, and friends who support your goals. Having people who believe in you makes all the difference.
- Give Back to Your Community – WHGF prides itself on providing affordable gymnastics classes to the community. Help your neighbors by building up those around you, and vow to make the community a better place to live and grow. This can include activities you’re passionate about such as volunteering, reading to children, park clean-ups, and so much more.
- Develop Leadership Skills – Leadership is about more than winning—it’s about setting a positive example and motivation. Through WHGF, athletes learn the transferable skill of being a role model for others.
- Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle – Nutrition, sleep, and recovery are essential for performing at your best. Healthy habits as an athlete can turn into a life-long skill and emphasize the importance of taking care of our bodies so they can operate at their highest potential.
- Manage Your Time Effectively – Athletes in WHGF learn time-management skills by balancing practice, school, and personal life and always show up on time. By developing a routine, you can avoid burning out and manage the demands of a busy schedule, setting you up for success in the future.
- Prepare for Life After Sports – Explore a wide variety of other passions as you train. Take the life skills and apply them into other activities to ensure you’ve developed a well-rounded self.
Photo provided by the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation
Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation (WHGF) Founder and CEO, and USA Gymnastics Hall of Famer, Wendy Hilliard, has long been a major force in women’s, Olympic, and community sports. She was the first Black rhythmic gymnast to represent the United States globally, and she remained on the Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team a record-setting nine times, serving twice as National Team Captain. Wendy competed in three World Championships and the 1984 Olympic Trials, and traveled to over 15 foreign countries. She was a four-time U.S. National Team Coach and coached 1996 Olympian Aliane Baquerot Wilson. She is a Master of Sport, an honor for developing an Olympic athlete. In 2008, Wendy was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
Founded in 1996, the nonprofit provides free and low-cost gymnastics in underserved communities in New York City and Detroit, helping over 25,000 youth to-date grow their confidence and skills. The Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation empowers youth from underserved communities by improving physical and emotional health through the sport of gymnastics. The foundation offer classes, team competition, enrichment programs, and special events, and celebrate the accomplishments of Black gymnasts.
Look for our NCAA Monday Minute each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!
FOR MORE!
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For our Men’s NCAA Preview Part 1, Click Here
For our Men’s NCAA Preview Part 2, Click Here!
For the 2025 NCAA Season Schedule, Click Here!
For our 2025 NCAA Women’s Preview, Click Here!
For the 2025 WCGA Coaches Poll, Click Here!
For our feature on Utah’s Jaylene Gilstrap, Click Here!
For our feature on Lily Smith and the Georgia GymDogs, Click Here!
For our look at Mizzou, Click Here!
Why Paul Juda Is Ready for 2025!
Brody Malone to Compete in 2025!
Four Up, Four Count. John Roethlisberger’s Take!
Missing the Olympics? NCAA Gymnastics Could Be Your Fix!
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For our look at the Class of 2026, Click Here!
Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics
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