(Published in CORDmagazine Winter 15/16)

Hundreds of gymnasts from Seventh-day Adventist colleges and high schools from across North America gathered at Union College in November for Acrofest 2015, an event packed with clinics, training, demonstrations and spiritual lessons.

For two days the gymnasts learned tumbling, stunting, flying, circus tricks, choreography, and many other skills from local and nationally-known instructors—including olympic gold medalist Jim Hartung—at Speedway Sporting Village, a nearby indoor soccer facility. The weekend culminated in a grand finale show featuring performances from 19 teams at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. 

The event included the inaugural presentation of the Courage Award to Heather Boulais, a member of the Union College Gymnaires who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she fell 23 feet during a practice in January 2015. Amy Morgan Davis, a fellow traumatic brain injury survivor presented the award. Davis suffered a TBI during a cheerleading accident in college, but became a concert pianist and competed in the Miss America Pageant as Miss Utah 2004.

Acrofest is an annual event to promote gymnastics and train gymnasts at Adventist academies and colleges across North America. The event is hosted on a rotating basis by five Adventist colleges. Next year’s event, the 25th anniversary, will be held at Andrews University in November 2016.