McCarthy has selective mutism. It’s certainly no big deal to this smiling 15-year-old or her parents Ron and Monica, but her condition simply means she only speaks to a select few people, such as her parents and a handful of close friends.
She uses texting as a means to communicate on the field of play or in her Grade 9 class at Corner Brook Intermediate.
McCarthy may be small in stature in her five-foot-one, 111-pound frame, but there’s no doubt she has established herself as one of the most polished multi-sport athletes in the city.
She is a determined athlete in golf, volleyball, bowling, tennis and is now making a name for herself as a trampolinist with Saltos Gymnastics.
She’s a fierce competitor who trains hard and hates to lose, but yet the smile on her face never goes away.
“When I’m playing sports it takes my mind off of everything else that’s going on in my life,” she said in her text during a recent interview at the McCarthys’ Corner Brook home. “If I’m having a stressful day all the stress goes away because I’m having so much fun.”
Her active lifestyle is something she embraces wholeheartedly because it wasn’t that long ago that it looked like it could all be taken away due to a major ankle injury she sustained while competing in gymnastics.
She won gold as the All Around Champion in her age group at the 2014 Atlantic Gymnastics Championships, but then in September of that same year she cracked her ankle after a mishap on the beam.
Most people thought she would never step foot inside the gymnastics facility again, but after a tough year off, she came back to the gym and decided to try her hand at trampoline because she figured it would be easier on her body.
She got her first taste of trampoline competition a couple of weeks ago when she won silver at provincials and qualified for the Eastern Canadian Championships May 5-9 in Quebec City.
She is one of those athletes who doesn’t have to be motivated.
She has also met some good friends through sports and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Another one of her infectious smiles appears when it came to talking about her expectations in Quebec City, knowing full well she is new to the game and the competition will be pretty stiff considering experience is on her opponents’ side.
“I won’t be upset if I don’t get a medal or anything as long as I think I did a really good routine,”she said.
“So I will be happy as long as I do my best.”
McCarthy has selective mutism. It’s certainly no big deal to this smiling 15-year-old or her parents Ron and Monica, but her condition simply means she only speaks to a select few people, such as her parents and a handful of close friends.
She uses texting as a means to communicate on the field of play or in her Grade 9 class at Corner Brook Intermediate.
McCarthy may be small in stature in her five-foot-one, 111-pound frame, but there’s no doubt she has established herself as one of the most polished multi-sport athletes in the city.
She is a determined athlete in golf, volleyball, bowling, tennis and is now making a name for herself as a trampolinist with Saltos Gymnastics.
She’s a fierce competitor who trains hard and hates to lose, but yet the smile on her face never goes away.
“When I’m playing sports it takes my mind off of everything else that’s going on in my life,” she said in her text during a recent interview at the McCarthys’ Corner Brook home. “If I’m having a stressful day all the stress goes away because I’m having so much fun.”
Her active lifestyle is something she embraces wholeheartedly because it wasn’t that long ago that it looked like it could all be taken away due to a major ankle injury she sustained while competing in gymnastics.
She won gold as the All Around Champion in her age group at the 2014 Atlantic Gymnastics Championships, but then in September of that same year she cracked her ankle after a mishap on the beam.
Most people thought she would never step foot inside the gymnastics facility again, but after a tough year off, she came back to the gym and decided to try her hand at trampoline because she figured it would be easier on her body.
She got her first taste of trampoline competition a couple of weeks ago when she won silver at provincials and qualified for the Eastern Canadian Championships May 5-9 in Quebec City.
She is one of those athletes who doesn’t have to be motivated.
She has also met some good friends through sports and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Another one of her infectious smiles appears when it came to talking about her expectations in Quebec City, knowing full well she is new to the game and the competition will be pretty stiff considering experience is on her opponents’ side.
“I won’t be upset if I don’t get a medal or anything as long as I think I did a really good routine,”she said.
“So I will be happy as long as I do my best.”
