Chelsea Steinberg (2020)

Despite her 5’2″ 113 pound frame, athleticism never was a problem for star gymnast Chelsea Steinberg. She continued to wow crowds throughout her four year high school career at RHS as well as providing Incredible moments as a member of the University of New Hampshire’s gymnastic team for another four years. In a 2011 article by Jim Furlong it was stated that, “Chelsea was the best gymnast in the history of Ridgewood High School.” It can also be noted that at the time she was also considered the best gymnast to ever come out of the state of New Jersey. Steinberg recalled that when she was little, her mother would watch her roll around on the floor prompting her mom to get her involved at the U.S. Gymnastics training Center in Mahwah where she continued to train for the next thirteen years. Chelsea recalled “the day I started they kept moving me up. I never got to do another sport.” After a couple of years she realized that she was dedicated to the sport and as a student at Willard Elementary School and George Washington Middle School she decided to concentrate on gymnastics throughout her years at RHS which left no time for other sports. Her dedication to her sport paid off with large accomplishments culminating with an athletic scholarship to UNH for four years beginning in the fall of 2007. Chelsea’s accomplishments in the sport stand alone as some of the greatest individual accomplishments ever seen in the history of athletics at RHS as well as in Bergen County and the state. Besides a plethora of accomplishments at the league level Chelsea won Bergen County Championships in all four years she competed. In 2003 vault, uneven bars, floor exercise and all around. In 2004, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and all around. In 2005, vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and all around. In 2006, vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and all around. She was the New Jersey State Sectional Champion in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 on uneven bars and balance beam. She also won the vault and all around in 2003 and 2006 with championships being won in 2003 and 2005 in floor exercise. In 2004 Chelsea won the outright New Jersey State Championship in vault, balance beam, floor exercise and all around as well as winning the State all around championship in 2005 and 2006. She also captured the State Championship in the vault again in 2006. In the State Sectional competition that year Chelsea scored the only perfect 10 ever recorded in that competition in any event (she did it in the vault). Chelsea was named the Bergen Record’s Athlete of the Decade and Darin Cooper of the Record selected her the toughest competitor he had seen in all high school athletics for that same ten year period. Chelsea went on to have a stellar intercollegiate career at the University of New Hampshire. Her coach is quoted as saying that on any given day Chelsea was as good as anyone in the country on the balance beam. She was the EAGL balance beam champion in 2010, earned EAGL First Team Conference honors all four years. She was recognized as an NACGC/W All American and EAGL All Academic Team member all four years. She was an NCAA Scholastic All American 2007-2011, team Co-captain 2010-2011 and team MVP 2010-2011. Chelsea is an outpatient Occupational Therapy specialist on a new team at New York Presbyterian Hospital today and tonight is one of the newest members of the RHS