Nya Reed and Trinity Thomas joined their teammates and others in a social justice march from campus to downtown Gainesville in August 2020.
Social Justice Commitment
Thursday, January 14, 2021 | Gymnastics
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The nation’s unrest this summer inspired Gator gymnastics to come together to make a statement. Now they work to make these conversations not a social justice moment but a movement.
By: Eli Rosen - UF Athletics Communications
They are student-athletes in a predominately white sport.
In addition to being a part of the Gators two-time defending Southeastern Conference gymnastics team, Sierra Alexander, Alex Magee, Nya Reed and Trinity Thomas aspire for careers in the medical field, writing or engineering.
On May 25, 2020, the death of George Floyd, an African-American man and Minneapolis resident, during an arrest put in motion another role for these Gators – social justice advocates.
The news of Floyd's death spread to social media outlets and news stations around the country. The fight toward racial equality awakened across the country and within University of Florida athletics.
"At first, me and the other Black girls on the team — so me, Trinity [Thomas] and Nya — were feeling a lot of emotions, mostly anger and hurt," 2020 Gator senior Sierra Alexander said.
"By the end of the week, I heard from all my teammates and my coaches," Reed said.
Valerie Flournoy, a student development coordinator for UF student-athletes, began reaching out immediately to student-athletes of color after Floyd's murder to check in with how they were feeling.
"I knew that if I was waking up and it was hard for me to get going, that it definitely was impacting our student-athletes," Flournoy said.
The Florida Gator gymnastics program joined together to take a stand against racial injustice not just across gymnastics, but in all facets of life.
Making a Statement
Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland asked her gymnasts of color - Sierra Alexander, Nya Reed, Trinity Thomas and included incoming freshman Alex Magee- if they would want to speak to the team as a whole as the Gators prepared to make a public statement on the gymnastics program's values.
"We were so, so, so happy that she allowed us a space to be able to talk from our own experiences to our other teammates who are all white," Alexander said. "They put Black athletes at the forefront of the talks and they allowed us to have a voice. Some universities didn't do that."
"We have people who are part of different communities on our team including Savannah [Schoenherr], who is a part of the LGBTQ community and me a part of the African-American community," Reed said. "We didn't want it to just be coming from the African-American women on the team, so it [the team's statement] was from everybody on the team."
As statements began to populate social media from celebrities, businesses and institutions, there was some from jabs directed at Gator gymnastics.
"I know people were saying, 'oh Florida waited a little bit,'" Reed said. "But, waiting a little bit meant a lot to us because our statement was from the heart and it was genuine in what we believed."
The Birth of the Black Student-Athlete Council
Around that same time, Flournoy invited all student-athletes to come together for a Zoom call discussion alongside other UF student-athletes, coaches and administration on the fight for racial justice.
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin was among those in attendance.
"There was a lot of mixed emotions," Reed said. "Anger was one of them. Sadness.
"The very first one was very challenging because there was so much going on social media. COVID didn't dominant the news. It was strictly the Black Lives Matter movement. It was a lot of things to channel in, which was really hard. For a while I had to turn off social media. It was just so much."
Flournoy recognized UF's student-athletes of color needed to know they were not alone.
"Definitely after that meeting, we knew that we needed to continue meeting with our student-athletes that identify as black," Flournoy said. "That was the birth of the Black Student-Athlete Council."
The Black Student-Athlete Council, composed of current Black student-athlete voices, now meets every Thursday to discuss prominent issues within the intersection of race and collegiate athletics.
Moving forward the Gator way
Being a part of fan focus is something Gator gymnasts know well, as the team's set attendance records the last two season. A social justice role model was another expectation added with the nation's growing frustration.
"Being role models is something that's going to be spotlighted more than ever," Flournoy said. "Nya is definitely ready to receive this role of role model and social change activist. She's really ready to donate some time to that, which is really, really inspiring."
Flournoy, a former student-athlete herself at Florida State University, said student-athletes just want to be seen for who they are.
"Our student-athletes, they all want to be known as individuals. They want to be Black. But they also want to be Nya, or they want to be Sierra and they want their skills to be addressed in a way that you would address anybody else's skills," Flournoy said.
As the gymnastics season begins, Reed said the team has asked themselves important questions regarding how they can be allies in the fight for racial equality.
"How can we spread awareness with unity and equality and human rights for everyone? Sometimes we see, we acknowledge problems in the world and then we acknowledge them for a short period of time and then they just die down," Reed said. "Why have them die down when there's still problems?"
Throughout this 2021 season, the entire Gator team will wear social justice-themed messaging on their warm-up uniforms. Some will kneel during the national anthem.
Whether it's through shirts, black leotards, bows, or face stickers, Reed said she wants people to know what values the team stands for, whether you're a fan of those values or not.
"If you can't stand for me and clap for me and cheer for me when I'm not in a leotard flipping around for UF — then don't stand for me at all. I'd rather it be that way," Reed said.
The challenges for these young women continue as they strive to succeed for their team, in the classroom and as role models.
"Being a young, black woman in America is the toughest job in America," Flournoy said. "Nya and Sierra and Trinity and Alex [Magee] have done a phenomenal job to balancing providing education to others without giving so much of themselves that they feel like they're being weighed down from all of that."
"I view being a role model as an opportunity," Thomas said. "It was evident that people were watching me so I wanted to make my journey a good one. I am happy to be an example to all those little kids."
Alexander isn't afraid of using her voice either. In fact, it's something she has embraced and continues to while she prepares to apply for graduate programs in creative writing.
"I'm passionate because I see other people suffer. I'm so thankful that I don't have a relative or anybody close to me that has died because of police brutality or even has been discriminated against because of their gender preference or sexual identity," Alexander said. "But, it really, really lights a fire under me because I understand what it's like to be a minority — to be marginalized."
For Magee, she is pursuing a path she followed watching her role models.
"When I was young, I came to the Florida meets and saw all the Black gymnasts who came before me. I would watch them and imagine being in their shoes," Magee said. "I don't feel being a role model is a burden. It's a little pressure, but it's a good pressure that's needed."
Flournoy reiterates the fight for racial justice will take patience. It will take tough conversations, empathy and action for changes. Flournoy is inspired that Magee, Reed and Thomas want to make a difference .
"Martin Luther King Jr. worked for others and the greater good. Today was a chance for us to do that too." -@ria_swim
"We're more than a team. We're more than just gymnasts. We're more than a sport."
The legacy of the Florida Gators gymnastics program continues to be written. Through their words and actions, they take one step to never having another human being be considered less than simply because of the pigmentation of their skin. Gator gymnastics at Gainesville's August 8, 2020 Social Justice March. Front row (from left): Nya Reed, Jazmyn Foberg, Payton Richards, Savannah Schoenherr. Back row: Trinity Thomas, Gabrielle Gallentine, Chloi Clark, Ellie Lazzari and Alex Magee.
