Alexis Forbes of Hampton Roads Academy signed a scholarship offer to compete for the fledgling Converse College acrobatics and tumbling team on April 15. Converse, an all-women’s school, is located in Spartanburg, SC, and is officially a member of the Division II Conference Carolinas. However, with barely a dozen schools nationwide sporting Acro/Tumbling teams, the Converse squad will be competing out-of-conference, and usually against larger schools, such as Baylor and Oregon.
For Forbes, her introduction to gymnastics started at a very young age, when the two-year old was enrolled for classes at World Class Gymnastics in Newport News. She started competing for World Class at the age of six, and then took a brief respite from the sport at 10. Several months later, she re-emerged with Gymnastics Inc. in Hampton, and finally collaborated with Coach Tony Hampton at Hurricane Gymnastics, where she has been for the past six years.
All along, she knew that the acrobatics and tumbling routines were her favorite parts of gymnastics. Upon learning of the new variation of the sport, she filled out various recruiting questionnaires to schools offering Acro/Tumbling as a sport and caught the eye of newly hired Valkyrie coach Keegan Johnson. In fact, said Forbes, her interest in Converse preceded any formal visit, because there was no coach to meet at the school.
“I had shown my interest and sent videos to Converse before they even hired Coach Johnson. I’m going to be a founding member of the team.”
Forbes will be one of 23 recruits to the first-year team. Yet, with so few squads competing, the tiny (820 undergraduate enrollees) school will be thrust into national competition from Day 1. That was one of the selling points for Johnson, an All-American gymnast at Baylor, as she built her first team.
“Coach Johnson told me, I’m going to have very high expectations for you. I’m going to work you guys hard. I want to win, and I mean it,” said Forbes.
Hard work and high achievement is nothing new for the Navigator senior. At HRA, Forbes has maintained a near straight “A” average throughout her middle and high school career. As she admits, “I did get a “B” in fifth grade English, but that was it.”
Her drive in the gym will have to sustain through the spring and summer months. Last October, Johnson hit her head on the balance beam and suffered a concussion, her third. However, this one kept her out of competition for the entire gymnastics season, and she is only now gathering her acrobatic bearings while competing in diving and track with the HRA teams. “The track is helping with my endurance, and when the season is over, I’ll be back in the gym.”
Forbes aims to major in either biology or pre-med at Converse, where the Acrobatics and Tumbling season will begin this November.
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