Receiving your own box with a new, beautiful, sparkly leotard packaged inside, while you sit as a team and have the first look as a group has to be one of a college gymnast’s fondest memories. Having the ability to see something come to life in this way is special, but even more so when there is a deeper meaning behind the gems.
Several teams have been able to dedicate a piece of their leotard collections to something or someone important to the program, whether this be in honor of a person, a group, or a commemoration of a milestone for the team amongst several other potential inspirations. Getting to dedicate something that will live on in the history of a program is an honor to be a part of. It is the chance to have a physical reminder of the individual, group, place, or cause the leotard is dedicated to while keeping the memory alive doing the sport you love.
As college gymnastics has grown, so has the outreach of what teams are able to create conversations and awareness about. Almost every team over the years has created its own version of a pink leotard to spread awareness about breast cancer within its community, and pride leotards are becoming more of a staple in gymnasts’ wardrobes.
There have been leotards like Michigan’s Flip for Chip honoring the life of Chip Hills, the father of a former Michigan gymnast; Iowa State debuted a leotard honoring Jack Trice a couple of years back, who was the first Black athlete to compete at the university.
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There have been leotards in honor of teammates, like Southern Connecticut’s warm-up and competition leotards for Melanie Coleman, as well as the leotard in honor of Kara Welsh from UW-Whitewater this season. While these are only a handful of examples, each time these are worn, the athletes wearing them are reminded of something so much more than gymnastics.
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Two of these dedication leotards debuting in the 2025 season are presented with a story about just how much being able to create and wear these truly means to the athletes who get to compete in them. This year, George Washington has created a leotard honoring the life of Alexandra deMoura, a former GW gymnast who tragically passed away in a rip current five years ago. The leotard represents the beautiful life she had and her legacy that will continue to live on. Bridgeport has also dedicated a leotard this season to its alumni, paying tribute to those who have kept the program alive through recent times of uncertainty, and what this new chapter means for the athletes on the team and those to come.
Stephanie Stoicovy Worrell, a longtime member of the George Washington coaching staff now in her first season as head coach, shares just how much seeing this leotard come to life means in honor of someone who changed GW gymnastics in many meaningful ways. “Alex was a huge presence in the gym,” said Stoicovy Worrell. “She was someone you could count on every day and someone you were grateful to have there.” Stoicovy Worrell shared, “I am honored to be a part of sharing her story. … She left an impression everywhere she went in the most positive way.”
deMoura tragically passed away in a rip current in August 2019, and since that time, the GW staff, as well as deMoura’s family, have dedicated themselves to spreading awareness and providing education about rip currents so that no one has to go through what the deMoura’s had to endure.
“Right after Alex’s passing, Margie and Chelsea [former George Washington coaches] partnered with the Red Cross to create a rip current education program,” said Stoicovy Worrell. “One of the things we all talked about was that people don’t know about rip currents.”
“From there, the coaches and Red Cross representative were able to develop a curriculum to share with youth groups and in local schools and the deMoura’s continue to advocate for rip current education in Long Island schools, where Alex spent most of her childhood, said Stoicovy Worrell. They have been able to develop rip current educational programs from the elementary to post-secondary levels.
As part of GW’s rip current awareness meet on February 16, 2025, GW will share rip current awareness facts through a QR code and fliers.
However, this education wasn’t the only thing that the GW gymnastics community and deMoura’s family wanted to do to continue to honor her. For the GW athletes, Stoicovy Worrell speaks to the fierceness deMoura competed with, and the mission of the team when debuting this leotard is to compete with the passion and energy deMoura always did. Stoicovy Worrell reflected on one of her favorite memories of deMoura, trying on a new leotard and coming out of the locker room saying, “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever put on.” That memory lives on each time GW gymnasts get a new leotard. Stoicovy Worrell said, “If we can just keep putting the team in these beautiful leotards, it will honor her and connect us to her in another way.”
Sometimes, the inspiration for a leotard comes from a broader meditation. In her fourth season as the head coach of the Bridgeport gymnastics team, Lorraine Galow was able to reflect on the journey of this program and how much the community means to those in it and those beginning to return to it. Galow, a former Bridgeport gymnast, then assistant coach, and now head coach, shares the joy of being an alumna, but also how she wants to give back to the people that have kept the bond, and the program, alive. “Every year I try to think of what else we can do for the alum. What else can we do to commemorate these relationships?” said Galow. “You see how much this program means to people, and how many of these people are starting to come back to it.”
After taking over a program on the verge of being cut after close to 45 years, there was work to be done across the board, but, one of the main aspects taking precedence was keeping the ‘UB Girls’ bond strong.
“My entire goal when I went into coaching was to coach these athletes as people first and to help them be ready when they go into the world. I want them to understand this UB Girls’ network runs deep and it runs forever,” shared Galow. “This was lost somewhere along the way, and there wasn’t enough emphasis placed on the alumni, but rather on the success they had. … Now, our main goal is to build relationships with our alumni, and continue to keep this strong bond they had felt.”
With these new pieces, the athletes on the team know they are doing gymnastics and wearing the leotard for something greater than themselves. For Bridgeport, this leotard is a symbol of where Bridgeport gymnastics started, where it is now, and the bond of this team throughout generations.
The leotard is composed of aspects of past leotards, all combined to make something new, topped with the ‘UB Girls’ text across the chest, a sentiment every past athlete of the program holds close to their heart. The athletes on the team know the importance of the family this program has created, Galow shared, “They understand the importance of doing this for something that’s bigger than them. I don’t have to drill it; they say we do gymnastics because the people before us made sure we had this, made sure they kept this program alive.”
Getting to be a part of the creation of these leotards, from coming up with the concept, doing the first sketches, and finally seeing it come to life during competitions is incredibly special. For George Washington, Bridgeport, and all the teams who have been able to have their visions come to life, getting to wear and compete in these is an honor, and they all know being able to put these on represents so much more than the sport alone.
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Article by Julianna Roland
