Karolyi is best known for coaching some of the top gymnastics talents in the country, including Olympic champions Mary Lou Retton and Kim Zemeskal.

At the TOPS testing, Catour will be tested on her strength, flexibility and skill level to try and earn a spot on the TOPS national team.
TOPS is a USA gymnastics program used to help identify and train the nation's most talented gymnasts at a young age.

A gymnast since the age of four at Desert Lights Gymnastics in Chandler, Catour has collected state championship titles the last two years in her age group at levels 5 and 6. This year she will compete at level 8.

She is a "motivated little girl," says her mother Beth. "She just doesn't get sick of it."

That's a testimony to the youngster's commitment, considering she spends 20 to 24 hours a week in the gym.

"Stefani is not afraid to work hard even when she thinks no one is watching," said Lisa Spini, Catour's coach and founder of Desert Lights Gymnastics.

However, Beth Catour attempts to keep her daughter's level of enjoyment equal to her time spent.
"She can do gymnastics as long as she wants," Beth Catour said.
"If she wants to be done tomorrow, that is OK, too. It's all up to her."

Spini is "pretty impressed" by Catour's talents, noting that, despite her youth, she has the ingredients to succeed at a high level. "She's very young, but I don't see a lot of weaknesses," Spini said. "Sometimes you get kids who are very strong but not very flexible, then sometimes you get one who is flexible but not strong. She has both."

Catour doesn't attend traditional school, but since February has taken classes from home online with the Connections Academy based in Mesa. She doesn't miss the schooling she once did due to her gymnastics, and Beth Catour said her daughter has lesson deadlines and a teacher she reports to online. "So far everything is working out pretty well," Beth Catour said. "We just say she was not getting enough sleep, so if gymnastics was going to keep up then some things would have to change."

Though Stefani could only smile real big and shake her head yes in response to the excitement surrounding this weekend's trip, Spini said the importance of the trip is not the end result, but the experience.

"We only have short term goals for right now," Spini said. "She has a good head and very supportive parents who just want her to have fun."