Hayfield Gymnastics Back in Business

There’s a distinct feeling of practice to what’s going on in West Springfield’s auxiliary gym—where the Hayfield gymnastics team trains these days.

The space is packed with traditional gymnastics equipment: uneven bars, landing pads, balance beams, springboards for the vault, and an area for floor exercises.

But it’s also a place where athletes are clearly learning some moves for the first time.

Unlike what you see when an accomplished group of athletes takes the field for practice, like a playoff football team or the highly touted West Springfield girls’ basketball team which works out across the hall, what’s going on here just looks hard.

Along with gymnasts from Lee and West Springfield, the Hawks athletes, many of whom haven’t participated in gymnastics since they were little kids, work out each day supervised by Val Taguding, an experienced gymnastics coach and a P.E. teacher at Island Creek elementary school.

Assistant coaches Kristin Overstreet and Shelly Pennow make sure the Hayfield athletes are learning a little bit more about the sport each day. The goals are small, for sure. But even in such a controlled environment, there are hiccups: gymnasts get stuck on the bars, or have trouble with their dismount from the beam; they have near-collisions during floor drills.

But it’s all part of the process for a school that hasn’t had a gymnastics team since 2004.

“A lot of them have never been on the beam before,” said Sam Overstreet, a 10th-grader with more experience than most of her teammates. “Taking their first walks and jumps, that was challenging. A lot of [my teammates] have never been on the bars and vaults and [they] are improving so much.”

Taguding, whose gymnastics and dance backgrounds goes back to his youth and young adulthood, when he was even a contestant on the television show "Star Search," said he’s seen immense improvement in just about six weeks.

“We’re adding difficulty,” he said. “Harder tricks. Our combinations are getting a lot cleaner. Their form has improved dramatically.”

Caitie Holliday, a sophomore with some competitive dance background, said she’s been surprised how quickly she’s taken to some of the skills.

“Getting on the beam, just getting on it is really scary,” she said. “I didn’t think I would be doing a lot of turns like I am now, [not to mention] cartwheels and handstands. I didn’t think I was going to be able to turn. It’s just four inches [wide].”

Taguding, who has also coached for Langley and the Lee program, oversees the three teams but delegates a lot of responsibility to his assistants. It’s set up this way because it’s hard to find a qualified coach for public school gymnastics teams in Northern Virginia with the lure of private clubs and dance studios, which can offer their coaches more money.

So when Taguding met Hayfield director of student activities E.W. Nowland, he pitched him on the idea of re-launching the team. He even special-ordered a pair of black and orange sneakers from the Nike website.

“I’m not going to pay 150 dollars to just wear them one year,” he said with a laugh. “That’s my commitment right there.”

Nowland said his goal is to make sure the Hayfield students have the same opportunities to participate in athletics as those who attend other schools in the county. So that’s why he’s invested in new leotards and t-shirts that say “we’re back.”

“We’re going to do our absolute best for the program to continue to grow and get stronger and stronger,” he said. “Things have been going great.”

It’s a rebuilding year, but the Hawks will only lose seniors Marquela Brown and Jenna Estepp to graduation, meaning nine gymnasts will have the chance to come back next season. Perhaps if Hayfield can continue to improve this season, and even finish fifth in the National District meet on Jan. 26 as Taguding hopes, there will be an even greater interest in the program next year.

“Our goal next year is to be top three in the National District,” Taguding said. “It’s tough but I think we can be there next year with the talent we have and the talent that’s coming.”

The Hawks’ next meet is Wednesday at West Springfield, where they will honor their senior gymnasts.

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Roster:

Macey Anderson

Cami Bishop

Marquela Brown

Emma Dartevelle

Noelle Dawson

Jenna Estepp

Rachel Haines

Caitlin Holliday

Jenny Nguyen

Samantha Overstreet

Samanda Schultz