NPC Athlete Spotlight: NPC Figure Competitor Holland Canter

Today’s NPC Athlete Spotlight is NPC Figure Competitor Holland Canter.





Click Here For Holland Canter Contest Photos And Placings
Holland Canter - People always ask me, “When did you start working out?”
This question is always hard for me to answer because I’ve been an athlete all my
life. My first love was gymnastics. My parents enrolled me at the
local Rec Center gymnastics program when I was only five years old. When I was eight watching the Magnificent Seven win Gold in Atlanta, I knew I wanted to take the sport as far as I could go. Growing up, I attended Alabama Gymnastics Camp every single year, and I dreamed of becoming a star. As I grew older, I knew the Olympics was out of the picture, so competing in college became my ultimate goal. In my junior year of high school, I began looking at colleges where I could compete gymnastics.



The United States Air Force Academy gymnastics coach asked me to visit the team for a recruiting trip in Colorado Springs, CO. I had never considered the Air Force as a career, and I had definitely never heard of the Air Force Academy. While the gymnastics team at the Academy was not of the same caliber as the University of Alabama’s team, my gymnastics coach really encouraged me to give the Academy a look. The Academy was still a Division-1 School, and I would have a really good shot of making the line-up soon in my college career. If I got in the Academy, I would also have a full scholarship. After my recruiting trip, I committed to the Academy. The Academy offered me a world class education with a full Academic scholarship, and I would be on the D-1 gymnastics team. I was also guaranteed a job in the Air Force upon graduation as a 2nd Lieutenant. Before graduation of high school, I tore my ACL at a gymnastics competition. To attend the Academy, you must pass Basic Cadet Training the summer before school starts. Because my ACL did not have| time to heal before Basic Training, the Academy gave me a medical turn back. The school would not let me try to make it through Basic Training with my knee injury. High school graduation was upon me, and I had no Plan B. I wound up applying to Auburn University of Montgomery where I spend the next year improving my math and science skills, rehabilitating my knee, and coaching at the local gymnastics gym. I reapplied to the Air Force Academy the next Spring and was accepted again. I graduated from Basic Cadet Training the summer of 2007, and the next four years were the most challenging and rewarding years of my life. Balancing military duties, my academic workload, and gymnastics was no easy task. I made the gymnastics line-up by the Junior Year. I was the lead-off competitor for the Uneven Bars and Vault for the final years of my gymnastics career. The lead-off spot is important because it means that you may not be the best, but you are a consistent and reliable competitor. It was a dream come true for me, and I loved every minute of it.In 2011, I graduated from the Academy, and began my commission as an Officer in the United States Air Force. I also married my college sweetheart Garrett who was also a gymnast at the Academy with me.

MEHR