Four years ago, Buford High School, one of the premier high schools in Georgia academically and athletically, began a gymnastics program. Usually, a new team takes a little while to reach its stride. Not so with Buford gymnastics – in its first year of competition, the Wolves finished fourth in the state. The next two years, Buford won state gymnastics championships. Now, the Wolves are about to start their fourth year in competition and are looking for their third consecutive state championship. Led by Amanda Allen, a former Level 10 gymnast, coach, and gymnastics judge (and currently an 11th grade physics teacher Buford), the program has flourished. Coach Allen wasn’t hired to coach gymnastics; she was just in the right place at the right time, and now leads one of the state’s best programs. Coach Allen spent a few minutes with In the Game to share a little about Buford High School, the Wolves’ gymnastics program, and the future of gymnastics as a high school sport in Georgia.
- Tell us a little about the Buford High School gymnastics program. This is my fifth year at Buford but it’s the fourth year of our gymnastics program. This will be our fourth year competing. A group of parents started the program before I got there. I was not hired to be the gymnastics coach at Buford. It was just a good fit once I was there. The end of my first teaching year someone who knew I was into gymnastics came to me and said that I fit the position. So my second year at Buford, we started the gymnastics program. There are about 50 or 60 schools in the state that compete. We finished fourth in the state. I had a group of about eight girls. Years two and three we placed first at state. So we’ve had some pretty good success in our three years of having a program.
- What is your background in gymnastics? When I was in high school, I was a very competitive gymnast myself. Through college I coached gymnastics. After college, I taught for a little while. Then I judged gymnastics for about six years. I judged on the Junior Olympic circuit. When my oldest child went to school, I stopped doing that. When I came back to work in the school building, it fit the bill for being at the right place at the right time. Buford was looking for a coach and I had a lot of experience from all three aspects – as a gymnast, as a coach, and as a judge.
- What level did you get to as a gymnast yourself? I competed at Level 10, which is the highest club level. After that, you get to elite level. I wasn’t that good, though. Girls usually start competing about Level 4 all the way up to Level 10. We don’t rank them that way in the high school world. Everybody competes together. There are certain requirements that all girls have to meet and they are judged based on their ability to meet their requirements for each routine.
- Tell me a little about Buford High School. We have a motto at Buford: Triple A Excellence. That’s excellence in academics, athletics, and the arts. It’s a real focus that we support kids in each of those three areas. In athletics, there’s a big push for younger programs in our area that will build up and develop those kids at younger ages so they’re ready and prepared to be highly competitive by the time they reach the end of middle school and high school. We also have a big focus within the athletic department of focusing on the intangibles – building up the kids’ character and integrity. We do community service each semester to build that team rapport and build their character. Academically, we are always driving bell to bell instruction and to challenge the kids in all areas. We have high expectations for our students. The administration wants them to achieve to the best of their ability and so they try to offer all the support possible. A couple of mornings a week, teachers have tutoring hours, kind of like office hours, for a 30 minute period of time in the morning so the kids can come in for extra help. We also have that same schedule two afternoons a week. So for four days each week we have a segment of time where the teachers are available for kids to come in for extra help. There is also a great focus on the arts and we’re constantly trying to find new things to offer the kids. We try to continually evolve and not accept what’s good. We want to make better what we have achieved.
- To what do you attribute the success of the gymnastics program? The kids who started the program are now seniors. Really, those parents were adamant about getting a program started and those girls were club level gymnastics. Now we’re about half and half – about half are competitive outside of gymnastics and the other half aren’t competitive at the club level. We’re trying to keep girls who are interested in gymnastics in the sport by doing high school gymnastics. There is lots of support from the athletic director for a sport that is usually turned down. The health of our sport at Buford is really that we have parents that are pushing for it and we have a fantastic club gym right down the street – Gymnastics Training Center – that’s been very supportive.
- What is the experience level of your gymnasts? All of my girls at some point in time have been highly competitive but not Level 10. All of my girls have been Level 8 or 9. I have a few Level 10s. Level 10 is really a great achievement. I have two Level 10s this year, one Level 9, and the rest of my girls have previously competed at Level 8 or 9. Three of my seven girls this year are competing at the club level. The other four have competed at Level 8 or Level 9.
- What does it take to be a good individual gymnast? From a non-athletic standpoint, it takes a lot of determination, effort, and discipline. The girls who are competitive outside of high school go straight to the gym after school. They’re there for four hours or more. They go home, they do their homework, they eat something, then they go to bed. The next day, they start over. It’s a pretty grueling schedule. From an athletic standpoint, gymnastics isn’t an easy sport. You need a little bit of talent. A little talent and a lot of hard work goes a long way. Those girls who are really gifted are the 9s, 10s, and elites who are such a pleasure to watch.
- Describe your practices. Do you get involved with hands-on coaching? I do because I know how and I can. The girls who are competitive outside of high school know what they can do. The high school routine is less complex than club routines. My biggest job is to figure out which skills the girls can do and which are the best ones to do in the high school arena. I need to find the skills they are most confident in and putting those skills together into routines that meet all the requirements. I do occasionally do some spotting. I can help them with some dance skills and even tumbling skills because I have a background in gymnastics. But yes, I do coach my girls. It’s a good way for me to connect with them and it helps them.
- What opportunities are there for your gymnasts after high school? Many of them do aspire to compete in college but most of those responsibilities fall on their club coach. I haven’t had any responsibility with that thus far. What is developing are club teams where the girls compete for their schools but not as scholarship athletes. It’s more of a fun thing for them to do and a lot of my girls are interested in that.
- What is the future of gymnastics in the high school level moving forward? It’s growing. We have a few more teams every year. Quite honestly, if you don’t have a local gym then it’s almost an impossibility because the equipment is so expensive. It’s great that the local gym clubs are willing to let a high school team come in and work out. High school gymnastics is great for the athletes who don’t want to train for 30 or 40 hours per week but love the sport. They can put on their school colors and go out there and hear the fans cheering for them. Everybody loves that. The sport will continue to grow. We’re not at capacity yet.
10 Questions/South Georgia/February 2016
Amanda Allen
Buford High School
Buford, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
