Olympic great Simone Biles has many inspirational quotes but the one that best describes Brewster Gymnastics is: “the team comes first.”
“We are the loudest team out there,” said Anaya Marte, a captain and a senior. “The judges even gave us an award for our sportsmanship. We cheer for each other, and, at the end of each meet we cheer for the other team.”
“They are all great girls and teammates,” said Coach Vin Savastano. “They genuinely care about making the other teams feel comfortable when they come to our gym. I could not be more proud of them.”
The Brewster gymnastics team is unique because it’s made up of athletes from both the high school and the middle school. There are 8 athletes from the high school and 8 athletes from the middle school.
The age range creates an environment in which the older athletes become role models for their younger teammates. The older kids cheer for the younger kids at meets, but it goes deeper than that. The younger kids go to the older kids for advice. Each member of the team even has a big sister on the team – this is part of the squad’s big sister/little sister program in which an upperclassman is assigned to an underclassman. Before each meet they give each other inspirational notes–”you got this!”-- and baskets of candies.
Sammi Miller, a captain and a junior said, “we are always supporting each other, I can’t explain it, there’s just so much support for each other–we cheer for each other in and out of the gym. I think this bond helps each other get better. We have more trust with each other.”
“This will be the first time some of the younger girls have competed against high school girls,” said Anaya Marte. “So, the dynamic before and after practice is warm and fun and coaches–Savastano and Bisantz–understand the importance of being supportive, and they don’t push us too hard.”
B & C Gym, where the team practices and hosts meets, adds to the good feeling of the team. The relationship started when the daughter of the gyms’ owners, Bruce and Cathy Taylor, competed on the team.
“As the school doesn’t have adequate space or equipment to have the girls safely practice, our gym is the perfect fit,’ said Cathy Taylor. “We are located in close proximity to the schools and the athletes can be bused which is also a plus. We are very proud to be part of the Brewster community both as residents and small business owners. We feel that by helping our local students is a way to give back to the community,”
Currently Sammi Miller is working on her giant on bars–it’s the skill where a gymnast rotates 360 degrees around a bar with their body in a fully extended position–I recently got my Yurchenko–it’s really a tough skill on vault.”
The Yurchenko is a skill in which the gymnast does a round-off onto the springboard and a back handspring onto the horse or vault and then either a tuck or twist.
The secret to Brewster’s success?
Individual striving and competition combined with the concept of working together.
BVG–Brewster Varsity Gymnastics–on 3!