Three years ago, gymnastics at AU was nothing more than an intramural sport. Today, the gymnastics team has grown into an official university club that competes at a national level.
Ashley Spiro, a senior in the Kogod School of Business and president of the gymnastics team, helped build the team up. As a freshman in the fall of 2004, Spiro joined intramural gymnastics at AU. She had a vision for the future of gymnastics at AU and, with the help of her teammates, successfully transformed the intramural sport into a full-fledged competing team.
When the gymnastics team first started out, it took a small squad of three girls to nationals at the University of Buffalo. The team's success at the meet opened up a window of opportunities, allowing it to go on and participate in more meets.
Now, in its third year as an official club sport, AU gymnastics rotates a team of 25 to 30 athletes and has become coed. The team has traveled to nationals all three years and has competed at schools as far away as University of California at Berkeley.
"We don't get the warm-ups and gear other teams get," Spiro said. "We have to do a number of fundraisers to raise money for the program."
The gymnastics team just held "Kids Night Out" Saturday night, a mass baby-sitting fundraiser held in Bender Arena. Other fundraising events include concessions at AU basketball games, car washes and "Tuck a Buck," an activity where members of the team perform stunts on the quad in exchange for donations.
A short money supply has not only affected AU, but also against the teams it competes.
"Many of the other club teams that we compete against were once official varsity teams that had their programs cut," Spiro said.
When teams get cut out of their athletic budgets, they can turn into clubs and find a safe haven to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs. The NAIGC is a league that provides some serious competition, while also hosting athlete classes from elite to beginner.
"You see many graduate students competing who don't have NCAA eligibility left," Spiro said.
The AU gymnastics team put that talent on display at the Virginia Tech Hokie Classic, the first and only meet of the fall season. Twelve women and two men competed from AU, including sophomore Brittany Hopwood who won first in the entire competition.
Hopwood and the rest of her teammates look to carry the strong performances they had at Virginia Tech into spring meets.
For the most part, the Eagles compete on the East Coast, particularly in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
"We can cut out hotel expenses if we leave at 5:30 in the morning," Spiro said.
Despite the lack of resources and recognition, the gymnastics team is like any other team at AU, and practices five days a week. Team members have also taken strides to achieve recognition that could potentially boost the program. Spiro said the team's Web site has improved and is maintained daily. Like everything else, the Web site is 100 percent student-run.
There will most likely be shuttles to the annual spring meet at University of Maryland.
You can visit the gymnastics team's Web site at www.eaglegymnastics.org.
