- March 20, 2025
Mainland High School junior Kaiya Brown will receive a full gymnastics scholarship to Temple University in Philadelphia. Brown committed to the Division I school on March 11.
“The coaches made me feel loved, the girls on the team made me feel so welcome and they have a great academic program,” Brown said. “And I love the city. I had been to Temple for a camp in the summer of 2023 and my mom and I looked around Philadelphia. I really liked the culture and the activities. It’s a really diverse city.”
Brown has been training at Palm Coast Gymnastics for eight years. She trains 20 hours a week, said Kelly Flagler, her coach and Palm Coast Gymnastics owner.
“She’s extremely talented, very driven and a very hard worker,” Flagler said. “She was on the TOPs (Talent Opportunity Program) national team and worked to compete for elite level.”
Brown made the Level 9 Eastern National Championships. She made Level 10 Eastern Regionals two years in a row and is aiming to make the regional national team and compete at Level 10 nationals in May in Salt Lake City. Level 10 is the highest level in the Junior Olympic Program. Her journey begins this weekend in Tampa at states.
“This is my third year in Level 10, and my freshman and sophomore years I had a lot of injuries. I wasn’t able to compete a full healthy season,” Brown said.
She said her start in gymnastics began at age 2 in Mommy and Me classes. She continued the sport in recreational classes, and then, in 2012, she watched Gabby Douglas win the Olympic All-Around gold medal and told her mother she wanted to be just like her. So, Brown’s mother put her in competitive gymnastics. And she’s been working ever since to be a college-level gymnast.
“I was training 30 hours a week and homeschooling until high school, when I wanted to have a normal life and go to school,” Brown said.
But her schedule can hardly be considered normal. She is dual-enrolled at Daytona State College. She’s a member of the National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She’s on Mainland’s Student Advisory Team. She teaches bible lessons to elementary school students at her church, Calvary Christian in Ormond Beach. And on March 7, she was crowned 2025 Miss Mainland.
“That a big deal in the community and in my school just being able to represent the school with pride and school spirit,” she said.
Last year she was also on Mainland’s dance and drill team, but could not sustain the grueling schedule, going back and forth to both practices.
“That was definitely a chaotic semester but really fun and rewarding,” she said
In gymnastics Brown has a rare combination of both power and grace, Flagler said.
Brown said her favorite event changes weekly, but right now it’s probably the floor exercise.
“I get to tumble and show my personality with my dancing and get the crowd engaged,” she said.
Another reason she chose Temple, she said, is the chance to contribute right away.
“I was talking to (Temple coach Hilary Steele) that I didn’t want to be on a team just to say I was on it. I want to contribute to those lineups. I want to be able to come in freshman year and contribute right away.”
