On the sidelines of Neville Arena, navy and orange-painted students cheer on the Auburn University gymnasts. They call themselves the Gymnastys.
Andie D’Amico, freshman and Gymnasty, gave the background of the Gymnastys and shared their mission for each gymnastics meet.
“Gymnastys started through my campus ministry, Auburn Christian Fellowship. I think they started somewhere around 15 years ago,” D’Amico said.
D’Amico said that the majority of their group is a part of Auburn Christian Fellowship, but also said that they are not selective and are welcoming to all students who want to join.
On meet days, D’Amico and the other Gynmnastys meet at the Auburn Christian Fellowship building a couple of hours before the meet to paint and prepare themselves.
Each Gymnasty is painted to represent a punctuation symbol or letter. Depending on how many students sign up for the meet, the message they paint for Neville Arena changes.
Students either carpool or walk to Neville Arena and sit in their reserved seats for the meet. When the meet starts, the Gymnastys get to work by hyping up the crowd and cheering for the Auburn gymnasts.
The Gymnastys have a variety of different chants they do depending on what event is taking place. The chants cheer on the Auburn gymnasts and also subtly mess with the opposing team.
“On the bars, for the gymnast who is about to go, we’ll do Bodda Getta for the gymnast and try to join them on the Bodda Gettas," D’Amico said. "Then for the opposing team, whenever they go, if they’re worried we will do a little ‘Whoa, whoa’ whenever they’re going. If they land into a pretty good landing, we’ll jump and wobble around. If they don’t do that, we don’t do that because that would be disrespectful."
On vault, D’Amico explained that they will raise their hands and do “sparkle fingers” for good luck while the Auburn gymnasts run. For floor routines, the Gymnastys will spell out the name of the gymnast on the floor and even follow the movements of the gymnast competing. Specifically, on the last pose the Auburn gymnast strikes, the Gymnastys will hold that pose for a long time.
“We are really there just to hype up the crowd and encourage our gymnasts,” D’Amico said.
Through their long-time attendance and participation at the meets, the group has gained love and respect from the Auburn gymnasts. D’Amico explained that after each meet, the Gymnastys and the Auburn gymnasts get a picture together.
D’Amico emphasized the desire the group has to grow and welcome new members.
“They want people to be involved and they want to build relationships with people. They want people to have a good time at gymnastics meets. The hope is that everyone who wants to [join] can,” D’Amico said.
With the gymnastics season coming to a close, the Gymnastys will be off duty until next season. However, with the group being so open and encouraging students to join, Auburn students can contact a Gymnasty when the 2024 season rolls around to hype the crowd packing Neville Arena.
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Piper Bosart, junior in journalism, is the assistant culture editor for The Auburn Plainsman. She has been with The Plainsman since January, 2022.
