Wakefield High School’s women’s gymnastics team is looking to leave a mark this year. As girls who support, uplift and cheer each other on, encouraging good sportsmanship all around, they hope to improve at what they do. They are a hard-working group of determined girls who, even though they compete individually, maintain healthy inter-team relationships and bonding. 

Chris DeVeau has been Wakefield’s gymnastics coach for three years now and has over 10 years of experience in helping students pursue their passion in this sport. While every coach’s goal is for victory, DeVeau is also intent on making sure his girls have a good time and improve their skills on a personal level. 

“[My goal is] for all the ladies [on] the team to do their best and improve every competition,” DeVeau said. “[I would like the team] to enjoy athletics and not let it be so stressful.”

New to the team and to gymnastics in general, sophomore Sydney Johnson comments on how she and her fellow gymnasts have worked on their team chemistry. This has been done both in and out of their meets and practices. Even though she originally has a background in cheerleading, Johnson enjoys the friendships and experiences she is making through the activities the team sets up, which has led to her liking gymnastics all the more. 

“We’ve done a very good job of getting closer with each other,” Johnson said. “Team bonding has gone great and, right now, we’re just working on individually competing.”

Junior Hampton Sosna joined the team this fall to get back into gymnastics after quitting a few years ago. She loves the sport and is looking forward to relearning the rhythm of practices and meets. She also enjoys having the freedom to work on her skillset and personal goals. Sosna explained that this is something much easier to focus on while being a part of Wakefield’s gymnastics team than it was outside of school. She can’t wait to make an impact on her team and have a hand in their future successes. 

“How the scoring works [in gymnastic meets] is they take the top three on the team and they add them all around for the final team score,” Sosna said. “I want to contribute by being one of those people.”

Caroline Robertson is a freshman at Wakefield this year and has been in gymnastics since she was three years old. She is excited to let her strengths on the bars shine in competitions and to improve what she is struggling with. Robertson wants everyone on the team to grow their skills, and to hopefully grow the roster alongside them in upcoming seasons. 

“[Our goal is] to expand the team, because it’s really small right now, and then to get everybody to do every event,” Robertson said. 

All three girls are new to the school’s gymnastics team, and are eager to leave their own unique mark. They are happy to learn and experience more as gymnasts while building up their bonds and relationships. Deveau will be there for them and their teammates every step of the way.

“Everyone has an equal role, we’re all a team,” Sosna said.