Editor’s note: The following is the first installment of The Seahawk’s newest sports beat “Cooper’s Club,” which spotlights one UNCW club sports team per week. This week’s featured club is the gymnastics team. Next week: club baseball.

When nearly all its officers resigned last year, the fate of UNC Wilmington’s gymnastics club was suddenly up in the air. It was three passionate sophomores who would not stand to see the club go and chose to step up and save the team from its collapse.

Now that the three of them have revitalized the club, they can continue to do what they love the most. This starts with warm-ups before each practice, which include running, jump roping, and jumping jacks. Afterward, the team engages in synchronized stretching, followed by exercises to build basic gymnastics skills.

“Basics is for kids who aren’t as advanced,” said Vice President Sierra Higi. “It’s something for them to strive toward. It’s also a warm-up for more advanced kids.” Each meeting culminates in conditioning – another term for strength training.

Co-President Mikayla Sonnenfeld described the routine as “very progressive,” allowing members of the team to work their way up, rather than jumping into the depths of the sport.

“We don’t want anyone to not be warmed up because that’s when injuries occur,” she said.

There are around 60 people on the roster for the gymnastics club. However, about half of those people decide to drop, generally because they do not want to pay dues. Dues are $60, which is inexpensive for compared to gymnastic dues at other universities.

Around six of these members are of the male gender, four of whom attend regularly.

“It’s definitely more of a girl’s sport, but we welcome guys,” said Sonnenfeld. “One of the cool things about club gymnastics is that girls can do guys’ events and guys can do girls’ events.”

Last year, the gymnastics team went to four different competitions, including three away meets at Virginia Tech, Emory University, and UNC Chapel Hill, followed by a home meet at UNCW.

“It’s super fun,” Co-President Emily Madison-Cooper said. “It’s really cool because it’s different than a varsity sport or something super competitive. Everybody is just there to have a good time and cheer each other on no matter your skill level.”

“The gymnastics life chose me,” Higi said.

The three officers are close friends and often meet with members of the team for events outside of practices. These include beach days, frozen yogurt, and movie nights. They sometimes send spur-of-the-moment group messages to invite members to lunch or to the gym.

“It’s like a family,” Sonnenfeld said.

“They’ve definitely become my family,” Higi said. “And gymnastics is definitely a sport that brings people together a lot.”

“We’re way closer than we would be if we were a competitive sport,” said Madison-Cooper. “We’re all really excited for each other.”

The gymnastics team meets Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Gymnastics Unlimited, which can be found at 301 North Green Meadows Drive. To join, prospective members would email one of the officers, submit a physical and fill out a waiver.

Assistant Opinion Editor Sean W. Cooper can be found on Twitter @SWWCoop. Any tips or suggestions should be forwarded via email to [email protected].