Ferguson Arrived Under the Radar But Has Made Her Mark on UF Gymnastics Team
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – They stood attentively next to one another like they do prior to each practice. As the 16 Florida gymnasts listened to head coach Rhonda Faehn set the tone, Amy Ferguson fit in perfectly in a leotard and her hair pulled up in a bun.
It's not until you hear her story that you realize how Ferguson's path to joining one of the country's top gymnastics programs is different than most of the others.
“She is just very under the radar,'' Faehn said. “She does her job and when she gets on the floor, she just lights it up.”
There was a time when Ferguson, a 5-foot-3 senior from Palm Harbor, seemed destined not to continue gymnastics when she finished high school. Ferguson was born in Canada and moved to Florida when she was about 8.
Her parents, Bob and Libby Ferguson, opted to move the family to the Tampa Bay area from their native Nova Scotia to provide their four kids what they felt would be more opportunities to succeed in school and in whatever hobbies they chose.
Shortly before Ferguson started out in gymnastics at around age 5 back in Canada, Lilia Podkopayeva of the Ukraine was winning gold as the all-around top performer at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Podkopayeva's coach was a well-respected teacher named Galina Losinskaya.
Here is where that opportunity the Fergusons envisioned for their kids introduced itself to young Amy.
By the time the Fergusons settled in the Tampa Bay area and Amy joined Gemini Gymnastics near their home, Losinskaya had moved to the U.S. and settled in the area as well. She knew a teacher at Gemini who helped her get hired teaching young gymnasts.
In walks Amy Ferguson one day.
“We just thought the opportunities would present themselves [when we moved],'' Bob Ferguson said. “The gym she went to had arguably one of the best coaches in the world. When you are talking about potential opportunities for your children, it's pretty amazing in that regard.”
Amy competed for several years on the junior and club circuits, later moving from Gemini to the LaFleur's Gymnastics Club. She developed into a well-respected competitor but when it was time for college, Ferguson was unsure of the next step.
She knew of only one other girl from her gym to go to college for gymnastics. Most of the serious gymnasts trained in private clubs with dreams of the Olympics one day.
“I didn't really think this was going to be in the cards for me,'' Amy said. “I just thought I was going to go to college and be a normal student and be done with gym. I really didn't think I was good enough to contribute at this level.”
With her older sister Sarah and brother Stuart already at UF, Ferguson knew where she wanted to go to school. She figured since Florida had a gymnastics team, she might as well contact Faehn to see if there were any opportunities to join the program.
Faehn told Ferguson to come out and she would take a look at her.
“I kind of had the impression that her coaches at her gym thought it was maybe a bit of a stretch for her,” Libby Ferguson said. “But what the heck, she had nothing to lose.”
Ferguson not only made the team as a walk-on, she has competed in every meet but two in her specialty event – the floor exercise – in her four years with the Gators. She impressed Faehn enough to earn a scholarship as a junior, a reward for Ferguson's commitment to the program.
In her 10 years at Florida, Faehn said she “can count on maybe one hand” the gymnasts who have stepped in and contributed on a consistent basis from start to finish.
“From the minute she came into the door, she just has this tremendous amount of energy that she carries out onto the floor,'' Faehn said. “What stood out to me was her energy during the floor exercise. She performs it like nobody.''
In her final season, Ferguson has remained a steady performer for the 3-0 Gators heading into Friday's quad-meet at the O'Connell Center against No. 1-ranked Arkansas, No. 24 Maryland and Bridgeport. She has a season-best score of 9.775 in the floor.
Unlike most of her teammates, Ferguson competes in only one event. She tries to make the most of each performance since she knows she won't be back on the floor for a while.
“Being my senior year, for me this year is really about having fun and enjoying the experience,'' Ferguson said. “I want to contribute as much as I can for this team and really just be there and enjoy this experience and opportunity that I thought I would never have.''
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| The Gator gymnastics “Big-Heads”, created by the Ferguson family, made their debut at the 2011 Southeastern Conference Championships. |
The end of Ferguson's gymnastics career is one that will take time for the entire family to adjust to considering their connections to UF and the program. Amy's older sister Sarah, who graduated in 2010, was in UF's band. Her older brother Stuart graduated from UF in 2011. Amy's twin sister Jessica is also a UF senior.
Bob and Libby have not only logged plenty of miles driving up I-75 to Gainesville, they also attend road meets regularly. Two years ago Bob showed up at a meet at the O'Connell Center painted orange and blue and wearing an orange-and-blue wig.
At last year's SEC meet in Birmingham, the Fergusons arrived with 3-by-4 foot big-head posters pasted to cardboard. They were distributed to the appropriate parents and big-head posters of every team member filled the Florida section in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center. Bob and Sarah had spent hours earlier in the week making posters of each gymnast and coach on the team.
“We wanted to create some excitement down in the box,'' Bob said. “Show the girls some support.”
They quickly became a hit and followed the Gators throughout the postseason.
“You never see stuff like that at a gym meet,'' Amy said.
Bob and Libby are planning another surprise for the team later this season but aren't sure what yet. The big heads might be hard to top. For now, they want to enjoy the final stretch of Amy's UF career.
It started by Faehn telling the walk-on Ferguson she would need a great work ethic, strong grades, and that whatever happened in the gym would be like “icing on the cake'' if she was able to help the team.
There has been a lot of icing for Ferguson the past four years.
“She's poured her heart and soul into that sport,'' Libby Ferguson said.
“She walked onto arguably one of the best college teams in the country,'' Bob added. “We think that's pretty special.”
