Bela Karolyi ...the legendary women's gymnastics coach and his wife, Martha, run the training center for USA Women's gymnastics. The complex of lodges and gymnasiums are ajacent to broad green meadows .... lakes ... swimming pools and trees .... plenty of trees. Afterall Karolyi's Waverly Hills Gymnastics Camp is located on part of Bela's 2,000 acre ranch ....located right in the middle of the Sam Houston National Forest.

This place is so far off the beaten path ...that many people who try to find this place ......wind up getting lost. Bela discovered this plot of land in the early 80's when he was hunting one day. He discovered that an old man owned private property inside the National Forest. The man said his family owned the land before the Forest was established ....and they had always been able to keep their property private. Bela eventually befriended the old man ....and when he died he basically left it to Bela.

Now Bela and Martha ...having retired from the day to day training of athletes .....maintain their gymnastics training camp year round ...and the USA National team comes in once a month. "This is really an ultimate satisfaction of mine. I did work hard for that and I did have that in the back of my mind ....a vision that one of these days I'd be able to serve the cause ...and that cause was to prepare the best athletes."

Sixteen year old Shawn Johnson is the defending World All-Around Champion ... and she appreciates the opportunity to train where so many great gymnasts have come wn)
"It's a motivator. It really lifts your spirits and it makes you want to work harder to get to where they are."
18 yaer old Russion-born Nastia Luiken is from the Dallas area ... and she too knows about the history of this camp,"Everytime you walk in there ... you actually think how special this place is. I'm really fortunate to be here and train at the same place that legends were able to train at."
A number of these women will be in Houston on May 22nd .... for the U.S. Classic but before then ... they'll be honing their skills in the middle of the forest north of New Waverly.