Black participation increases in gymnastics

TOKYO – Every time Simone Biles appears on a screen in Power Moves Gymnastics & Fitness, a phenomenon occurs.

As if flipping a switch, the young colored women of the gym’s competition team come to life, fueled by the adrenaline rush that sets the reigning Olympic champion off as they test the limits of their sport.

“You just get this kind of motivation that is just unreal,” said DeLissa Walker, who co-owns the gym outside of New York City with her sister Candice. “And we say, ‘Wow, you are really inspired.’ … They say: ‘That can be me.’ “

Maybe because it is more and more like that.

The face of gymnastics in the United States is changing. There are more colored athletes starting – and staying – in a sport that has long been dominated by white athletes at the highest level.

Half of the U.S. women’s Olympic delegation who will hit the ground for Olympic qualification at the Ariake Gymnastics Center on Sunday – Biles, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee – are minorities. Gallen and Chiles are African American; Lee is a Hmong American.

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Of the 18 women invited to the St. Louis Olympics last month, more than half were women of color. While the number of college teams is still small, there is progress. Black women make up nearly 10% of NCAA Division I scholarship recipients, up from 7% in 2012. More than 10% of USA Gymnastics members identify themselves as black.

And while the current top athletes were already involved when Gabby Douglas became the first black woman to win the Olympic all-around title in London in 2012, participation among the colored athletes has increased since Douglas ‘golden moment at the 02 Dome is real, reinforced by Biles’ unmatched Brilliance.

“Simone opened the eyes of so many women of color and said: ‘Hey, you can do that too,'” said Cecile Landi, who has been Biles’ assistant coach with her husband Laurent since autumn 2017. Not only little skinny white girls can do that. Anyone can do it. And then it’s a black-owned business, so I think that’s how it attracts its own families. “

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Though that’s not exactly what Nellie Biles had in mind when she opened the World Champions Center in the northern suburbs of Houston. But in the last six years the WCC has become something of a mecca. All six members of the club’s elite team are black, and the diversity that is spread through the program – from the elite to the recreational kids spending a few hours in the gym to burn energy – met Gina Chiles in the Her daughter’s second moved from Washington State in 2019 to train with the WCC.

“I remember calling my husband and saying, ‘Bruh, you’ll never guess,'” said Gina Chiles. “In our home gym, Jordan was the only one. It was refreshing to see people of all skin colors. But seeing how many little black girls do gymnastics was so good for my heart. It is hard to explain. It just felt like ‘Wow’. “

There is a moment when Derrin Moore saw the second Douglas coming, climbing to the top of the dais as the Stars and Stripes crashed. The sight of a black woman at the forefront of the sport in the United States in front of tens of millions sparked an immediate surge in interest from families in the mostly black neighborhoods around Moore’s suburban Atlanta gym.

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“It was huge,” said Moore. “Our phones rang off the hook.”

Still, getting black kids to exercise is one thing. Keeping them is another reason Moore founded Black Girls Do Gymnastics in 2015. The foundation is dedicated to providing “scholarships, coaching, training and other forms of support for athletes from underrepresented and marginalized groups”.

While Biles and her US teammates go to work to help Americans win their third consecutive Olympic title in Japan nearly 7,000 miles away on Sunday afternoon, a group of 100 black and brown gymnasts will attend the foundation’s annual meeting.

The timing with the Olympics is random. The venue is not. Grambling is in the process of exploring to become the first historically black college and university to offer women’s gymnastics.

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“Our university management looks at young gymnasts in our community and recognizes and understands the path from gymnastics for toddlers to the Olympic Games for a black and brown gymnast is arduous.” said Raven Thissel, director of marketing and public relations for the Doug Williams Center, located on the Grambling campus. “How can we make it smoother?”

The conference doesn’t just focus on athletic development. Workshops are also planned for parents to educate them about what it takes to advance if their athletes wish to graduate from entry-level programs to the NCAA / elite level. It’s an element that Moore believes can be lost to members of the Black community.

“It gives families only a small advantage,” said Moore. “We want to give them information so that they can enter the gymnastics arena and stand up confidently and for their girls.”

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The Walkers, both board members of Brown Girls Do Gymnastics, are already seeing the results. The business they started in 2012 in such a small space that it’s now a barber shop is thriving. They moved to a warehouse in 2015 before opening last August at their current location in Cedarhurst, New York – on Long Island, about 20 miles from Manhattan.

Although they have grown, most of their clients have remained colored athletes. Eight members of the Power Moves competition team will be in Grambling this weekend to take part in the Isla Invitational, an exhibition held in conjunction with the conference. The Walkers see it as the next step in the growth process for girls – and their families – with a view to long-term engagement.

It’s a commitment that requires a significant investment of time and money. Some members of the competition team work five to six hours a day several times a week. The Walkers estimate their monthly fees are about half what other gyms in the area charge. They offer discounts for siblings and encourage fundraisers.

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Moore’s gym limits the number of competition jerseys their athletes use and believes their coaches are willing to work for less because they see their mission as a calling rather than a job.

They are preparing for another surge in interest among black communities that is likely to come when Biles re-emerges on the world stage. The Walkers, both former competitive gymnasts, are encouraged by what they see, but much remains to be done.

Even as the number of black and brown athletes increases, diversity in coaching, club ownership, judging, and representation at the highest levels of USA Gymnastics remains very much in the works. While more than half of the athletes in the Olympic trials were women of color, the overwhelming majority of the coaches and judges on the floor were white.

“We have a role to play in making sure that we are purposely diversified in that regard,” said Li Li Leung, president of USA Gymnastics. “And then the hope is that the athletes will pave the way. That the ecosystem that supports the athletes is also becoming more diverse from a coach’s point of view, also from the point of view of the clubs. We hope so as well.”

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Biles has vowed to stay in the sport long after the Tokyo Olympic flame was handed over to organizers of the 2024 Games in Paris. In three years’ time, perhaps some of the young Black girls who got into the sport after Douglas won in London will be the ones who represent the United States in France, or are scattered across the country through NCAA gymnastics programs, even historically black ones Colleges and universities.

“Representation is important,” said Gina Chiles. “And Simone put her foot in it. She definitely dictated this path in many ways. No matter what level you are at, you can excel at that level. And a lot of black girls see that. And many black girls want to be that now. “

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