Taylor Cooley Doesn’t Let Injuries Stop Gymnastics Dream
- Dan Fappiano
- 6 days ago
- 9 min read
First it was a stress fracture in her back. Then, a torn UCL in her elbow. Each injury forced Southington senior Taylor Cooley to be away from the mat, and at times not involved in gymnastics at all. But for all the time she lost due to injuries, Cooley never lost her resilience.
During her time with the Southington High School gymnastics team, Cooley has become a champion and captain while making her mark on the Blue Knights program. There was no hurdle that could have stopped the senior’s drive.
“I don’t want to let myself down,” Cooley said. “I will do anything to prove that doesn’t happen – I will come into practice early, I will stay after. I’ll work out at home, I go to the gym after practice. I want to get everything before I’m done, I want to get everything I hoped I would.”
Long before she was a Blue Knight, Cooley was a three-year-old enrolled in Mom & Tot gymnastics with her mother Deborah. She had watched her sister Hannah compete in the sport, and her mom wanted to ensure that she stayed active.
When she was six-years-old, Cooley began taking gymnastics more seriously. She enrolled in her first competition program at the Southington YMCA. Cooley moved to American Gymnastics in fourth grade before joining John’s Academy Gymnastics in seventh grade.
Always a hyper kid, it didn’t take long for the sport to click for Cooley. Along the way, she began to watch girls older than herself competing in gymnastics. Cooley committed to being just like them, pushing herself as far as she could at the competition level.
“Moving up to a different level takes lots of time, many, many hours of practice,” Cooley said. “It was a stressful time in my life, jumping from gym to gym, trying to move up levels.”
“It was really important to try and become like the girls I grew up with,” she continues. “There are level nines and tens. I was just this little level five. I wanted to get there as fast as I could. I decided to put everything I had into it. I did no other sports, I dedicated all my time to trying to be like my older sister and other friends who were older than me.”
Cooley competes at the Junior Olympic level, which works on a leveling scale. Gymnasts will begin on pre-team, before advancing through levels two through 10. Each level up comes with set requirements, and coaches aren’t keen to promote a gymnast without merit.
It has been a grind, but the senior has now become a level nine gymnast. It’s an accomplishment she treasures. Cooley is also well aware of what it took to earn the title.
“It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Cooley said. “I’ve had to quit multiple times due to injuries or mental health reasons. Jumping back from those setbacks and working up to the high level I am at now was a really difficult experience for me. Once I was able to realize it was something I really wanted, I was able to achieve that.”
Blue Knights Debut Changes Cooley’s Course
At the end of seventh grade, Cooley was forced to leave gymnastics after suffering a stress fracture in her back. She kept trying to come back, but the injury had other plans. Furthermore, Cooley couldn’t stomach watching her friends continue to progress with her off the mat.
“It’s not a very good feeling to see all your friends progressing when you’re just sitting here not able to do anything,” Cooley said. “When you finally think that you’re healing, you go out and try stuff, you’re so excited to come back. But then you realize you’re not fully healed. That’s what happened in my case.”
Having to take a full year away from gymnastics, Cooley originally thought she would never return to the sport. But high school was approaching. She still remembered how much gymnastics truly meant to her. Ultimately, Cooley made her return to competition as a freshman with the Blue Knights.
“I never anticipated coming back to gymnastics after seventh grade. I thought I was done,” Cooley said, “until I realized high school gymnastics might be something I want to do. I just went to the gym for fun, to see if I could still do my skills and see if it was something I wanted to try.”
High school gymnastics was exactly what Cooley needed to get her spark back. She loved being with her Blue Knights teammates and everyone working together. Her freshman experience even convinced her to get back into club gymnastics with American.
At the end of her first year with Southington, Cooley helped the Blue Knights win the Class L State Tournament. It’s a moment she still carries fondly in her memory and won’t soon forget. Cooley also loved being alongside Ella Silverman, who was the only other freshman on the competition team.
“It was a really great experience,” Cooley said. “We all came together, we were one unified group. We worked so hard the entire season. It felt great that my first year on the team we had such a great experience.”
It isn’t often that a freshman competes at the state tournament – especially one who hadn’t participated in the sport a year prior. But the gymnastics bone never left Cooley’s body, even if it was broken at one point. Gymnastics has always been a part of her.
“There’s a lot of muscle memory in gymnastics. It’s not as difficult as it would seem to get back into it,” Cooley said. “I was very determined. I have been noted as a very determined and resilient person. When I went into the gym, I knew that I had to work hard to get where I wanted to be.”
Cooley Gets Back Up
Just as Cooley was getting settled back into gymnastics, she suffered a UCL tear at the beginning of his sophomore high school season. She had to undergo a full reconstruction surgery and take another full year off from the sport. Those feelings of despair from the past crept up again.
“It was a really bad feeling, seeing all of my friends competing without me again,” Cooley said. “I started to dislike gymnastics at that point. It’s just something you don’t want to experience.”
In her time off, Cooley had gotten a job and begun thinking about life without gymnastics. But her work on the mat wasn’t finished yet. She may have missed her junior season, but senior year offered a new opportunity. Cooley knew she had to take it.
“I needed to finish out the school year,” Cooley said. “I hadn’t done gymnastics the entire junior year. I just wanted to finish it out and start clean over the summer.”
Southington head coach Cassidy Chamberland watched intently as the senior returned from her second serious injury. As she welcomed her back, she saw a gymnast determined to prove herself. Furthermore, Chamberland watched Cooley get everything she wanted from the program.
“Taylor carries a steady confidence and leads the team by example,” Chamberland said. “She is extremely hard working and her skills and success on the events proved that this season. I am proud of the way she was resilient through injury to lead her team to a successful season. She will be irreplaceable next year.”
Senior Send Off
It was a difficult return to action for the now senior – especially on the bars, where you’re mostly using your arms. Cooley may have had muscle memory, but she still had to get those muscles working together again.
In her final year with Southington, she wanted to take on an even greater challenge. Cooley’s main goal was competing as an all-around gymnast, in all four events – vault, bar, beam and floor. Cooley understands the privilege that would entail, as only six people can be put up for an event per team. On a squad of 13-14 girls, not everyone will get the chance to compete.
But like every challenge in her gymnastics career, Cooley wasn’t backing down. This time around, it was personal. Cooley had overcome obstacle after obstacle in order to get one last shot at gymnastics. She was determined to spend her final year doing things the way she wanted.
“It means a lot,” Cooley said of competing all-around. “It helped prove to myself that I can do what I said I’m going to do. I had a lot of doubts going into it that I wasn’t going enough or that I wasn’t going to be able to get back. But it has proven to me that I am as good as I think I am. It feels really nice to achieve my goals.”
Southington went on to win the 2026 Central Connecticut Conference Tournament, even though it wasn’t her best meet, since she fell on her vault. Still, everyone on the Blue Knights rallied and found a way to grab the title. As they competed in the postseason, the senior wanted Southington to finish strong. Individually, she was hoping her time with the Blue Knights ended at the New England Championships.
“We just want to end the season as best as we can, as clean as we can with no falls,” Cooley said. “Really show everyone that has doubted us and our team that we can do this.”
Southington placed runner-up at the Class L State Championship. Cooley’s work qualified her for the State Open in all four individual events and the all-around. There, she tied for first in the balance beam and fifth in all-around. Cooley’s wish came true, as she qualified for the New England Championships, finishing tied for 16th in beam and tied for 19th in all-around. The senior was also named First-team All-State.
"State Open was insane," Cooley said. "The majority of the team was sick leading up to the meet. It was rough, but I ended up having one of the best meets of my high school career. What made it even better was that we ended up qualifying as a team for New Englands. I'm not even sure the last time that happened. I have great teammate and coaches and cannot imagine having any better of a senior season."
For her prowess at each event, Cooley spent her senior season as one of Southington’s captains. She was joined by Silverman, who had been competing with her from the jump, and junior Kacie Riddle. Cooley grew up always looking up to her upperclassmen captains. Now, she finally had an opportunity to be in their shoes.
“When I was an underclassmen, I always looked up to the captains,” Cooley said. “I had a good relationship with the captains. To be one of those captains that I once admired now feels really good.”
While injuries may have upset her continuity, Cooley has watched the Blue Knights grow tremendously over her four years. There may have been some turnover, but every squad and every athlete that she called a teammate made the journey memorable.
“We have grown so much since I was a freshman,” the senior said. “We have lost people, we have gained really good new people. The team is constantly changing. You go into the next season not knowing what to expect. I’m really proud of everyone who has been on the team, it has been a wonderful experience.”
Cooley’s Final Competition
Cooley doesn’t regret coming back for one last gymnastics run. The team’s success was wonderful, and she managed to make what she now calls lifelong friends. Whether it be club or for the high school, Cooley always competed for Southington. She appreciated the differences each venue offered her.
“It has been really great being a part of two different teams,” Cooley said. “Club and high school gymnastics are completely different in almost every way you can think of. After being a part of a smaller team in club, it has been really great to experience a bigger team and more competitions.”
Once she graduates, Cooley plans on stepping away from gymnastics for good. She is hoping to go to Central Connecticut State University and pursue a degree in nursing. She wants to focus on staying active in other ways and “starting a new chapter” in her life.
Still, gymnastics will always be a part of Cooley’s DNA. No matter how fierce of a blow the sport might’ve thrown, the senior had an answer. For that, Cooley is grateful. Without gymnastics, she wouldn’t be the person she has become today.
“It has shaped me in every single way,” Cooley said. “My entire personality has been shaped by gymnastics. Competing has made me very dedicated. You go into a gymnastics competition not knowing what’s going to happen. Every single turn you take is different. You just have to hope you can pull through for yourself. It has made me who I am, I know I have to be the best version of myself.”
