By Liz Leamy
The H.O.P.E. Rhythmic Gymnastics team, headed by the esteemed Bibiana Pinto of Riverside, fared well at the 2023 U.S. DVP Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships held June 3rd and 4th in Palm Beach, Florida.
Pinto’s talented H.O.P.E. crew, which featured three members from Greenwich, made a memorable mark at this celebrated annual Rhythmic Gymnastics showdown that was held at the Palm Beach Convention Center and had more than 300 contenders who qualified for this event by achieving top-12 placements at each of six total Regional events held throughout the U.S. earlier this spring.
In signature high-standard form, the H.O.P.E. contingent brought home hardware from this celebrated national competition, with its Advanced Group that included three Greenwich residents, Amanda (Bibiana’s daughter), 11, Maria Costa Gonzalez, 12, and Penelope Friday, 12, scoring bronze in the All-Around event and claiming the U.S. DVP National title for the Best Floor routine while Friday, 12, clinched bronze in the Individual competition with the Level 7 Region 4 team.
Sofia Wofsey, 13, of Ponderay, Idaho, another H.O.P.E. team member who trains with the team virtually, scored high marks in the Level 8 category, the most advanced of all DVP levels.
According to the H.O.P.E. team members, DVP Nationals was a great experience in all regards.
“I felt proud to represent H.O.P.E.,” said Friday, a sixth grader at Whitby School in Greenwich. “Nationals is something I worked all year for.”
Pinto, meanwhile, said the team’s outing was a success on all fronts.
“It was an amazing end of the season for the H.O.P.E. team. All the coaches and H.O.P.E. parent community is really proud of our gymnasts who took all our efforts and work to be shown nationally among the strongest clubs and gymnasts in the country,” said Pinto, the H.O.P.E. Head Coach and President who was a World Rhythmic Gymnastics competitor. “The cherry on top of it all was to finish the season consolidating our strength in the group’s modality achieving gold in floor and third in All-Around despite the lack of proper facilities and hours.”
The H.O.P.E. Advanced Group, whose full roster included Amanda Pinto, Penelope Friday and Maria Costa Gonzalez (a seventh grader at Eastern Middle School) as well as Alina Khilko of Stamford, Anja Schiwek of Armonk, New York and Ayse Cekic of New Haven, Connecticut, racked up high marks for their dynamic ‘Star Wars’ routine in which they did Penche Balances (standing splits), split jumps and turns and other memorable elements and also for their mixed-apparatus routine in which they used three balls and two pairs of clubs.
This contingent faced off against some formidable competition from all over the country and held their own in true medal-worthy fashion, a big accomplishment considering the average age among the H.O.P.E. group is 12 while they went up against teams with athletes with an average age of 16 at the senior level.
For the members of the H.O.P.E. team, the outing was a win-win on all fronts.
“I am so happy that I got to go to DVP Nationals,” said Amanda Pinto, a fifth grader at Riverside School. “The best thing yet was to share the group success with my friends.”
According to Pinto and her stellar team of coaches that included Maria Luigia (Gigia) Perenze, Rocio Gonzalez Montes, Cristiane Pinho and Bruna Plachi (both of who are based in Porto Alegre, Brazil) and Ela Cekic, an assistant coach, it’s all about building the gymnasts through the concept of focus, hard work and goal-setting.
At the same time, these dedicated coaches are intent to help instill vital life lessons through the training of Rhythmic Gymnastics with all of their students.
“H.O.P.E. stands out because we do things differently and empowering our gymnasts is our main goal,” said Pinto. “We want to teach them life lessons of perseverance and determination. Medals and the podium are consequential.”
Looking forward, Pinto and her team are looking to continue building the skill level and strength of all their athletes and are also hoping to secure a permanent training space in the Greenwich/Stamford area for their athletes.
Currently, the group trains at facilities in the Fairfield and Westchester County areas, but the concept of having just one work base would be optimal for the gymnasts, as well as for their parents, the coaches, Pinto and the entire H.O.P.E. faction, which presently consists of 40 members.
“This DVP Nationals was very special because we graduated from the USA Gymnastics Developmental levels,” said Pinto. “Our group and our Level 8 gymnasts are finally ready to compete at Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) rules. This new challenge will require even more dedication, more hours and more resources. It won’t be easy to face more experienced and better-equipped Rhythmic Gymnastics clubs with our current resources. H.O.P.E. needs help to find a proper training facility.”
This Saturday, June 17th, H.O.P.E. is planning to host an open house and end-of-the-year show at the Greenwich Catholic School Gym located at 471 North Street from 4-6pm as a means to present their work to those involved with the organization as well as those individuals who might be interested in learning more in terms of what they are all about. (Admission is complimentary)
*Rhythmic Gymnastics (RG) is an Olympic sport in which individuals or groups of five gymnasts manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: a rope, hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and freehand (no apparatus).
Rhythmic Gymnastics is a sport that combines the elements of ballet, gymnastics, dance and apparatus manipulation and requires focus, eye-hand coordination, flexibility and a great commitment.
Rhythmic Gymnastics is a women-only sport, which helps girls to also develop team spirit.
