The fight to save Tribe gymnastics
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — When College of William & Mary announced earlier this fall that it was cutting seven sports programs including men’s and women’s gymnastics, it was hard for Pete Walker not to take it personally. Walker, a 1993 graduate of William & Mary, was once captain of the men’s gymnastics team as well as an assistant coach for the Tribe’s men’s gymnastics team for more than two decades. Walker and his wife, Cindy, own and operate Williamsburg Gymnastics, a training complex for Williamsburg’s youth. The facility is also under contract as the official training site for the Tribe’s current crop of gymnastic student athletes.
“After I heard the news, I felt more betrayed than disappointed,” Pete said.
The move to cut William & Mary’s men’s and women’s gymnastics as well as women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming, and men’s indoor and outdoor track & field amidst budget concerns was a controversial one, resulting in the resignation of the college’s Director of Athletics, Samantha Huge. So far, interim Director of Athletics Jeremy Martin has not said whether the decision will be reversed. William & Mary made the call to cut the programs in part due to financial strain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement did not sit well with the Walkers or the 32 students and coaches involved with the Tribe’s gymnastics programs, who were all surprised by the news.
“We have a special bond with these kids,” said Pete’s wife, Cindy. “My heart just breaks for these athletes.”
Williamsburg Gymnastics once operated at the college before the Walkers opened their own community facility in 2018. The top-notch training center offers coed gymnastic classes for children from preschool through college. In addition to training at the facility, some of William & Mary’s gymnastic student athletes also coach at Williamsburg Gymnastics.
“At Williamsburg Gymnastics, it’s not just about training kids to be gymnasts, but rather teaching them to be well-rounded people,” Pete said. “It’s an opportunity to help them grow as people while using gymnastics as a medium. These kids are role models in our community.”
Pete knows from personal experience. He grew up down the road in Virginia Beach, Va., where he began tumbling as a child on old mattresses. Pete started formal gymnastics training in high school and moved on to train as a student athlete at William & Mary. As team captain, he helped his team earn the National Academic Team Championship for the Collegiate Gymnastics Association. Since then, he’s spent his adult life as a gymnastics coach, both at William & Mary and for the local community at Williamsburg Gymnastics.
The loss of William & Mary’s gymnastic student athletes is not just a loss for the college, but for the entire Williamsburg community, Cindy Walker said.
“By not having these kids here, you are taking away coaches, tutors, youth leaders, and the opportunity to expose people in our community to a sport that they may have never know anything about,” Cindy said. “It’s that important to this community.”
That is why Cindy and Pete are spearheading a social media campaign on Facebook called Save Tribe Gymnastics. The goal is to share information and educate people outside of the William & Mary community about the plight of these student athletes. Cindy has reached people across the country as a result of the campaign and is encouraging anyone and everyone she knows to write letters to the college’s Board of Visitors, William & Mary’s governing body, about how the gymnastics program has impacted them.
“The Facebook page has brought a lot of awareness to what is really going on,” Cindy said. “There has been a real lack of respect for these athletes, their parents and families, and their coaches throughout this whole process. They need to have their voices heard.”
The Walkers said they plan to continue putting pressure on William & Mary to reconsider their decision. No matter the outcome, Pete and Cindy will continue to support the college student gymnasts who they’ve grown to love as members of their own family.
“We will continue to take care of these kids,” Pete said. “We aren’t going away. We are resilient. We may have fallen down, but we will get back up. That’s what true athletes do.”
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