One Coach - Many Hats

Umme Beasley started her career as an assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania almost immediately after graduating from West Virginia University.

After marrying Aaron Beasley, a fellow graduate from WVU and a professional football player, Coach Beasley found herself traveling from Florida to New York to Atlanta as her husband’s career progressed.  Though she was able to continue coaching, she found herself primarily working with very young, entry level, club gymnasts.

As a gymnastics coach at Severna Park High School, she's learned working with athletes at this level is more challenging since they are both athletes and students who have to keep up with the academics.

It is this aspect of coaching that Beasley believes has helped her to grow in her profession.  She has had to learn to balance the needs of her individual athletes with that of the team.

In addition, the program itself is always teetering on the edge of extinction.  Though gymnastics has been a part of Severna Park athletics for several decades, Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties are the only two in the state that still maintain a program. 

In Anne Arundel County, a season cannot happen without the participation of at least six schools.  With Chesapeake High School still in search of a coach just weeks before the beginning of the season, the entire program is once again in doubt.

“It would be a shame to see the program die.” Coach Beasley said.  “There is a definite interest by students.  The problem is in finding enough coaches with the experience to coach at this level.”

Without an assistant coach, Beasley coaches 25 athletes, some  new to the sport, some who are only just returning to the sport after several years off, and some at a higher, club level. 

“I believe in communication, real communication. I don’t yell and I don’t tear my athletes down. I like to build them up through incentives, not just for performing well and bringing home the points but for working hard and for making our team better through that work, said Beasley.

Experience is one of the greatest attributes Beasley brings to the table.  As a gymnast at West Virginia, she earned the only 10.0 on the uneven bars in the school’s history.  With an extensive understanding of the requirements of the scoring system that is currently used at the high school level,  Beasley is able to design routines that maximize her student’s abilities. She has the experience to understand that a small change in the order of a routine can mean big points for her team.

As a mom of three children, Beasley brings something else to the table for her athletes.  She cares about them the way only a parent can.  After witnessing several career ending injuries last year because of outdated equipment,  Beasley and the parents of her athletes have enlisted the help of the Severna Park Athletic Boosters to step in where the county has no.

Using her knowledge of the sport and hours of research into safety in gymnastics she is in the process of purchasing spring board floors that will make for a far safer environment for her athletes.  It is her hope that not only will this keep her current athletes healthy and safe, but that it will also encourage some of the more experienced club gymnasts who have been avoiding the high school program because of safety concerns, to come out as well.

As the only gymnastics coach at Severna Park High School,Beasley wears many  hats. She is the routine designer, the cheerleader, the mom and the safety advocate but she doesn’t mind.  When she was 8- years-old, she stepped onto a gymnastics mat for the first time.  Since that day she has had a passion for this sport and keeping this program alive has become a part of that passion. 

“I don’t know if we will still have a program when the season begins, but I have to approach it as though we do. If I keep moving forward, I feel like the program will too.”