AUSTINBURG — At only 4-foot-1 and less than 70 pounds, there aren’t many sports 12-year-old Alyce Simoes is going to be holding an advantage when it comes to size.

But as a gymnast, Simoes, the daughter of Nuno and Kathleen, is a natural.

“Size is not a factor,” Kathleen Simoes said. “If anything, it’s a benefit. She plays soccer and basketball. She’s very fast. That comes in handy. She plays in a travel league. She’s so small, she can literally run under the arms of the other girls.”

Alyce Simoes’ gift goes further than just being small. A talent for the sport and hard work have allowed the sixth grader at Assumption School in Geneva to flourish. She leaves for school each morning at 6:30 and doesn’t return home most nights until 9:30 or 10.

She practices nearly 10 hours per week and that doesn’t include the drive time between Austinburg and the Lake Erie Gymnastics School in Mentor.

“She’s pretty much naturally good at everything,” Kathleen Simoes said. “She plays baseball and softball. She’s a shortstop and she’s very good at that. But gymnastics is her strong suit. She enjoys it most.

“It did (surprise me she was such a natural) for a lot of reasons. She’s rather shy and I never expected her to suddenly flourish going out in front of people. It’s not a team sport. It’s just you in front of all those people. She’s never showed an ounce of nerves whatsoever.”

“Yeah (I was surprised I was so good so quickly),” Alyce Simoes said. “It normally takes people a long time to get the hang of stuff, especially me.”

It wasn’t too difficult for Alyce Simoes to overcome the shyness. At least if you ask her.

“I was a little nervous, but once you get out there, you block it out.

“You don’t have to talk to anybody. You’re independent. You just go out and do what you do.”

Alyce Simoes began competing a little more than three years ago, at the age of 9, and has won a number of trophies already. She competed this past weekend at The Arnold Sports Festival at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

She is currently a level five gymnast. Gymnasts start at level three and level 10 is the equivalent of what an Olympian would be.

“Apparently, she’s a natural,” Kathleen Simoes said.

Getting involved in gymnastics was a surprise reward for Alyce Simoes.

“My best friend was doing it and I had done it when I was younger,” Alyce Simoes said. “I liked it and wanted to do it again.”

“Actually, she hadn’t done it before,” Kathleen Simoes said. “Her best friend is in gymnastics. It was a reward for her getting six 100 percents on her report card. She got four 100 percents on the one before and we thought there was nowhere she could go but down. We tried to prepare her for that and she got six on the next one.

“So, that was a reward. She never tried it before. When we first registered her, they said she’d be there for a year before she’d be considered for competition. She was there one night and the coach pulled me aside and told me they were going to put her on the team. She learned the routine and three or four weeks later, she was competing for a medal in her first meet.”

Having four brothers, it’s difficult for Alyce Simoes to find a sport to make her own. But gymnastics have given that to her.

“I like it because it’s a little time to spend alone doing stuff,” Alyce Simoes said. “It’s nice to be recognized for my own thing.”

“She has four brothers,” Kathleen Simoes said. “She’s always been athletic and sports minded. You tend to look at the boys for that. I didn’t expect her to take off like that.

“The other sports she plays are clearly because her brothers played them. Being the only girl makes her unique. I’m always telling her she’s special because she is the only girl. This is nice for her. It’s special because it’s her thing.”

Just after she joined the gymnastics world, Alyce Simoes received a bit of inspiration and education in just how far she could take the sport.

“She was watching the Olympics a couple of years ago,” Kathleen Simoes said. “She took quite an interest. Since then, she’s met about seven or eight Olympians. She’s met Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin and Dominique Moceanu. She’s going to the International Gymnastics Camp in the summer. It’s a huge camp. Many Olympians have gone there.

“She had just started gymnastics and she saw them (on TV). She saw how far she could go and what she could make of it.”

Being good so quickly and seeing the icons of her sport perform on its grandest stage gave Alyce Simoes the idea she, too, could one day compete at that level.

“Once I realized I was pretty good, I started thinking that (I wanted to compete at the Olympics),” she said.

And Alyce Simoes knows just how to get there.

“You have to believe in yourself,” she said. “You have to tell yourself you can do it and practice hard.”