Rumors of a gymnastics team have floated around SHS’s hallways for quite some time now, and it’s status is finally established. SHS is now proud to have its own gymnastics club/team, running out of Funtastics Gymnastics gym in North Scituate.
Sophomore Addison Silva helped clear up the mystery surrounding the team by offering a firsthand look, being team captain. “Usually you have to combine if there aren’t enough kids for a team, but since we made it a club this year, we only needed 6-8 kids.”
Silva said that SHS had an established team two years ago combined with Hingham, but when the seniors graduated, it fell apart. Last year, the amount of people who went out for it wasn’t large enough to make a team, so it slid off the map. This year, with a club of eight people, SHS gymnastics is back and practicing under coach Patti Miller’s watchful eye. Miller and Assistant coach Lindsay Patch are excited for an upcoming year and see SHS Gymnastics as being on the rise. “After having the Scituate-Hingham Co-Op breaking up last year, we are really excited to have a team like this.”
The club/team plans to compete in meets later on this year, with other South Shore high schools. Although they are small, this club certainly has the determination to become successful. Their coach sees SHS Gymnastics as “on the rise” and hopes that they return to the dominant force they were in the late 90s. If you’ve ever looked up in the SHS gym and read the banners, you surely would’ve have seen the Gymnastics team’s stretching out across the wall. To become a team next year, they have to prove that they are both determined and dedicated to the team, despite having to pay attention to the Bona Fide rule, stating that all other winter sports take precedence over the club.
Miller’s philosophy about Gymnastics is that the conditioning and flexibility utilized in it is applicable to all sports. “We have cheerleaders, we have a dancer…What people don’t know is that they don’t have to be all-around gymnasts.” On a high school team, only two girls need to be all around, meaning participating in every event. The rest of the team only competes in their best event. Patch and Miller are still welcoming any new members, if they have their standard concussion testing and health forms filled out. They hope to bring SHS Gymnastics back to the top this season.