Jillian Rawding of Wareham is only 12 years old, but she’s already acquainted with a long commute to work.

Gymnastics is her sport, not her job, but girls like Jillian who hope to reach top-level, "elite" status take the sport as seriously as any adult takes their career.

Three days per week, Jillian makes the hour-long trek to Coventry, Rhode Island, where she trains at Rise Gymnastics.

“I wake up at 6 a.m., and I don’t get home until about 10 p.m.,” said Jillian, who attends Wareham Middle School.

Training to reach the top level of any sport inevitably brings about injuries. Gymnastics is a little different because the workouts are intense, and even the top athletes are still growing.

Jillian is currently dealing with Osgood-Schlatter disease, which occurs when growth plates are damaged. One look at the bones jutting from her knees makes it hard to believe she can run -- much less tumble.

The disease usually goes away when a person stops growing.

“When you’re working really hard for something, you want to work through the pain no matter what,” said Jillian. “It’s a nuisance, but if you want to make it to this level, you have to learn how to cope.”

She’s been dealing with it for about a year-and-a-half.

Jillian trained for eight years at Kaleidoscope School of Dance and Gymnastics in Wareham before making the switch to Rise, her grandmother, Evelyn, said.

“I don’t know what possessed me to take her there, but I did,” said Evelyn.

Evelyn noted that Jillian performs excellent academically, as well.

“I’d like to make it on to the national team,” said Jillian, referring to the roster of Elite gymnasts who compete for a spot on the Olympic team every four years.

Gymnastics has levels 1-10, and then "elite."

Gymnasts begin competing at level 4, and begin making up their own routines, as opposed to doing "compulsory" routines at level 7. The compulsory routines are performed in levels 6 and below, when every gymnast performs routines identical to the other gymnasts in their level.

Jillian may be well on her way to achieving her goal of elite status. She is competing as a level 7 this year, and is poised to become a level 8 next year.

Recently, she placed fourth in the all-around competition at the Sand Dollar Whitlow International Gymnastics Competition in Florida, where she competed against girls from all over the world.

Jillian was only competing on bars and beam at the beginning of the year, due to her injury, but is now competing in all areas, and is excited to compete in the level 7 Rhode Island state competition in March.

She’s still nursing her injury, but takes it all in stride.

“Ice is like my best friend,” she joked.