Wendy Hilliard: Teaching life lessons to Harlem’s kids
The next Olympic gymnastics champion just might be training in Harlem right now. Pioneering gymnast Wendy Hilliard makes the beauty of the elusive sport she loves accessible to all.
Since 1996, the Wendy Hilliard Foundation has served more than 10,000 kids, teaching them about the discipline of the sport, as well as valuable life lessons. “I wanted to make gymnastics more grassroots,” she told the AmNews.
Wendy grew up in Detroit. She was intrigued by gymnastics, but it was a challenge finding training. She took classes at a recreation center. Though a late bloomer to the sport, at age 12, she excelled and found her niche, by chance, with rhythmic gymnastics, which combines traditional gymnastic elements with performance while using props such as balls, hoops and ribbons. The first competition in the sport was held in the Soviet Union in 1949. It became an Olympic sport in 1984.
Hilliard was coached by the husband and wife team of Vladimir and Zina Mironov from Kiev, Ukraine. “She used that Soviet method of training—practice all the time, really hard,” Hilliard remembered. This inner-city Detroit metro gymnastics team was training on a national level. Her teammate would go on to make two Olympic teams.
However, the challenges of a new sport were not the only ones Hilliard faced. Rhythmic gymnastics has a synchronized team of six members. Hilliard was a top contender for a spot on the championship team. When she didn’t make it, both she and her teammates were shocked as some lower-ranking contenders were picked instead.
The coach said, “‘Wendy, what are we going to do with you? You stand out too much.’” She was the only African-American. Soviet coaches could choose their teams however they wanted. All the top coaches were from the Soviet Union.
Shocked but determined, Hilliard’s parents urged her to challenge that decision. Hilliard wrote to USA Gymnastics and, as a result, it was determined that the team would be chosen based on how they qualified at nationals.
Though Hilliard successfully fought for her place on the team, becoming the first African-American on the national team to represent the United States, the judges and coaches were none too pleased that she challenged the system.
The U.S. team was defeated at nationals by the Cuban team, which ironically had five women of color. Hilliard made the 1984 Olympic trials but did not make the team. Regardless, she would travel all over the world representing the sport of rhythmic gymnastics.
Hilliard was admired by her teammates for both her talent and courage. She was twice elected to be team captain. As a member of the team, she competed in more than 15 foreign countries through 1988. She moved into coaching and was a four-time U.S. National Team Coach. She coached 1996 Olympian Aliane Baquerot.
From 1995-1997, she served as president of the Women’s Sports Foundation. She was the first gymnast and the first African-American to do so. Hilliard remains a staunch advocate for her sport and making it available to inner-city communities like where she grew up in Detroit.
Zina Mironov died four years ago, but Hilliard credits her as being a huge influence on her work. “All of my training comes from the lessons I learned from her and her husband,” she said. The Wendy Hilliard Foundation has brought her dream to life, making gymnastics available to every child who wants to learn.
“We’re still here. That’s a major accomplishment. We’re a really small organization, but we’ve worked really hard with funding and finding space in New York. We’re still running and still providing gymnastics for kids. Having Alexis Page make it on the international level was a big deal because she started with our program. This is a girl from Harlem, very talented, who wanted to do gymnastics. We were able to support her all the way to making it to a national team for three years.
“It’s becoming an institution. So many people have been able to experience it. That’s what we wanted to do. We have a high quality minority-based staff. To experience it with people who look like you is very important. Gymnastics is not a big sport with minorities. Sometimes you have three or four and that can be difficult for kids. For them to feel comfortable and work really hard is a good thing,” Hilliard said.
WHFNY offers Saturday classes and a summer program at Riverbank State Park and has a partnership with the Harlem Children’s Alliance. “We are able to serve many more kids in a beautiful venue. Our biggest challenge has always been space.”
To learn more about the Wendy Hilliard Foundation, call 212-316-0315 or visit www.whfny.org.
By JASMIN K. WILLIAMS Amsterdam News Staff New York Amsterdam News |