By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
With the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games slated to begin in July, the exposure of sports such as women's gymnastics will be dramatically amplified over the next five months. At the University of Illinois, members of Coach Nadalie Walsh's team are already enjoying that enhanced level of enthusiasm.
And like Team USA's greatest recent performers—a core group that's included Black superstars like Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and Dominique Dawes—the 2021 Fighting Illini's talented assemblage of athletes has a similarly impressive African American presence.
Junior Shaylah Scott and the sophomore trio of Lexi Powe, Arayah Simons and Mia Townes are four young Black athletes who've helped raise this year's Illini prospects to championship expectations.
Scott says that Biles, Douglas and Dawes all are her heroes.
"For sure," she said. "Not just in gymnastics, but in everyday life as well. You don't have to be a gymnast to be inspired by them because they've broken boundaries and opened doors for other Black women who are young and talented."
Scott, a product of Plano High School in Texas, achieved second team All-Big Ten honors a year ago and is greatly admired by Walsh and her fellow teammates for her leadership qualities.
"Shaylah was discovered and snatched up by the Illinois staff before I got here, so I'm fortunate to have inherited her," Walsh said. "She is a wonderful gymnast with long lines and a beautiful smile, and she does gymnastics in an extremely effortless way. But, just as important, she's a vibrant leader for our team. Shaylah is a student-athlete who's not afraid to speak up and not afraid to say what the truth is. She helps her teammates become the best versions of themselves."
One of Scott's biggest fans is Simons.
"Shaylah's presence, when she walks into the gym, is amazing," Simons said. "She's not scared to speak her mind. For me, when I ask her a question, she'll give me an honest opinion."
"I've always felt that honesty is the best policy," said Scott, a political science major. "Sometimes it comes off as a little rough around the edges, but it's out of love and I do it to inspire people and push them to their potential. I just don't see any harm in telling the truth, especially if it's to help someone. I always want someone to tell me the truth, so I try to put out what I want to receive."
Simons, who hails from Bogart, Ga., was discovered by Walsh prior to her senior season at North Oconee High School.
"When I first saw Arayah, I told myself that this kid doesn't even know how good she is," Walsh said. "I wanted to teach her to have confidence in herself because the talent was definitely there. She has been absolutely outstanding for us. She's just a naturally talented, powerful, sweet, young woman."
Simons, honored as a second team All-Big Ten selection in 2020, conceded that "financial incentives" provided an impetus to her budding gymnastics career.
"By the time I was five, I'd figured out that I wanted to be in gym every single day, all day," she said. "I really got enjoyment from tumbling and flipping around, and just gaining new skills. I remember every time we gained a new skill, we'd get a penny and we'd put in in our little penny jar. When I was five, to me, that was just the coolest thing."
Simons' idol is fellow Virginian Gabby Douglas.
"Knowing that she looked like me and her body shape was like mine, it made me realize that I could go for things that she was doing and dream big," Simons said. "That's why she's my favorite. "
Simons, a physical therapy major at the U of I, says that Walsh pushes her every day in practice.
"She looks at me and asks "What are your confidence words?' And I always say 'I'm consistent. I'm solid. I'm confident.' And after I say those words and I hit my routine, it's a great thing. I'm definitely still a work in progress, but Nadalie has molded me to be the most confident athlete that I can possibly be."
Walsh says that Lexi Powe from Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, Colo. is aptly named.
"Her name suits her—POW!—exclamation point," Walsh said. "Lexi has a ton of personality and is very, very kind-hearted. We discovered her because she's really outstanding on vault. She's another one of those student-athletes who have grown and flourished from the inside out since she's been in our program."
Powe's role model is Simone Biles.
"Seeing such a small person be so powerful basically shows me that the sky's the limit," Powe said. "No matter how big or how small, she showed me that I can do whatever I want. The possibilities are endless. Simone has done things that I didn't even know were possible and she makes it seem so easy."
Powe, an accounting major, says that she's confident that 2021 is the year the Fighting Illini can pool their talents and take the team all the way to the top.
"We all have the same goals and the same drive, and we all move as a unit," she said. "I've never been on a team that's this unified. We all want to be Big Ten champs and we all want to be national champs. Sadly, Covid got in the way of our team goals last year. I feel like we're in a better spot now than we were before Covid. There are other great teams, too, but we have a different type of desire. Michigan thinks they're going to win every year just because they're Michigan, but we are the underdogs and we want it more than them."
Walsh says that the longest relationship she's had with anyone else on her team is with Mia Townes.
"Before the rules changed that said you could not recruit athletes that were younger than juniors, I was the head coach at Utah State and discovered Mia as a (high school) freshman," Walsh said. "She blew me away. I just knew she was going to have so much potential. I offered her a full scholarship to go to Utah State and she accepted as a freshman in high school. When I got the job and transferred over to Illinois, she followed, and I am so thankful that she wanted to up her game and go to a bigger school and partner with me."
The Illini sophomore from Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville, Tex. says that she and Walsh are kindred spirits.
"Nadalie and I are very similar in the way that we think," Townes said. "We're super passionate in what we do and we're always looking for new things to accomplish."
Townes' role model is Dominique Dawes.
"I have a big celebrity crush on her," Townes said. "She's the person who's given me the inspiration to be where I am today. She was the first African American gymnast to win a gold medal. Her form, her execution, and the way that she presents herself is exceptionally dominant. It's just an inspiration to me and young Black gymnasts like myself."
Townes, who majors in kinesiology, says that she's convinced that she and her teammates have what it takes to win the Big Ten crown.
"We have grown in our confidence so much more than the past couple of years," she said. "Now, when we approach a meet, we're like 'This is our meet … we're here … we're taking over … we're Illinois … and we're going to fight to the top.'"
Walsh maintains that team unity will be the key to success for the 2021 Illini.
"I'm confident in saying that we're the true testimony of what unity looks like," Walsh said. "We're all committed to one another and support one another. Just as everyone else, I think that my young Black women feel extremely valued. I have a wide variety of nationalities on my team and I love that. I think that it makes us more united and an inspiration to many sports around the country."
