Bouncing Onto Team USA
Honolulu residents Matt Moniz, 18, and Nani Vercruyssen, 13, just made the U.S. trampoline team and are dreaming of the Olympics one day
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Nani Vercruyssen stretches out before hitting
the trampoline
Matt Moniz is bending over backward to make
the Olympics
“Matt is a very talented flipping, twisting machine,” says Vercruyssen. “He’s the right height, the right strength and he has the right speed. Matt came in seventh in the world championships in the 17 and 18 age group. Now that he’s in the 18 and over age group this year, he really has to work a lot harder. The Olympians competing against him are in their 30s, and the best in the world is about 35. And for women, the best in the world is 32. So that’s how much more experience these guys have.”
Vercruyssen describes his daughter as very courageous. And this couldn’t be more accurate being that she performs the highest difficulty skills for her age of anyone in the world in both her events. And her nickname? Nani is known as “The Postman” because rain, shine, sleet or hail, she delivers - nothing stops her from delivering.
“Nani is very disciplined - more than most 13-year-olds,” adds Vercruyssen. “She works harder than her competitors and puts in her time. She does not have an aesthetic body. Some people you look at, they have beautiful lines. Nani is a little stocky, and that means she can’t score going against people who have naturally good lines. So she has to do more flips and more twists and out-perform them.”
Nani has an extra tough year ahead of her. She is not only up against the best women in the world, but many of them will be as much as four years her senior.
“I’m hoping to hit my best and gain experience,” she says. “I need to make sure I work on my form and improve on my ability to perform on demand.”
Luckily for the two, they no longer have to worry too much about safety and getting injured. You would think that all that flipping and twisting in mid-air could be very dangerous, but the athletes spend a lot of their time at the gym practicing preventative training.
“The other reason they don’t get hurt is because the sport has changed so much,” adds Vercruyssen. “Now there are all these soft mats and preventative material. Now there’s a very forgiving surface.”
So with fear of injuries not on their minds, what do Matt and Nani spend their time doing when they’re not in school or at the gym? Well, not too much else.
“I come to the Hawaii Academy after school and work out for about four hours, five days a week,” says Matt. “So there’s really no time for anything else.”
With the first competition just weeks away, Nani and Matt will probably be spending even more time at the gym, flipping, jumping and perfecting their routines. And one thing is for sure - Matt and Nani will be hearing “watch your form” from Dr. Max a little more than they would probably like.
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