Senior Amelia Rew at a Jan. 12 meet against Oklahoma. This Friday, the Gym Devils head to Utah to face the third ranked team. (Photo by Molly J Smith)We’ve all see the commercials.
“There are more than 380,000 student-athletes, and most of them go pro in something other than sports,” the NCAA public service announcement says.
This is especially true for college gymnast and senior Amelia Rew.
When they graduate, they are considered about 80-years-old in the sport to which they have dedicated most of their lives.
“Honestly, it’s really strange,” Rew said. “You do something for 18 years and you don’t really expect it to end. I think I’m still in shock a little bit.”
It was 2010 when Rew graduated a semester early from Mitchell High School in Mitchell, SD (population 15,254) and began taking classes and doing gymnastics at ASU (population 72,254).
On April 6, Rew landed the dismount on her final bar routine she would ever perform for the Gym Devils. A 9.750 to lead the team on the event at the NCAA West Regional in Corvallis, Ore.
A week later, she did something very different. She sat in the grass at Whiteman Tennis Center to cheer on her roommate, Hannah James, during her senior day match against UA.
“I feel like I’m out of shape already,” Rew joked as she held up a homemade sign for James and cheered for every point.
The two girls take the same journey of moving on from their respective collegiate sports and into the real world.
“And to think about never going back in again,” Rew said. “Like my grips are just sitting there, staring at me, and it’s weird that they’re completely done being used.”
Joining Rew in the grass closest to James’s match against UA sophomore Susan McRann are freshmen gymnasts Risa Perez and Allie Salas. While the two are just getting started as Gym Devils, Rew is looking on to what’s next.
A lot of the gymnasts from past teams have stayed close around the program.
Assistant coaches Kari Ward and Maggie Ethier are former Gym Devils, as well as manager Beate Jones. Other alumae are seen on the sidelines of meets filming routines or helping out on the Pac-12 live stream broadcast.
Rew, though, will not be joining them full-time.
“I’ll definitely be in and out of the gym in the fall and supporting the girls at meets," Rew said. "But other than that, I don’t think I’ll come back and be a manager or anything like that.”
The cell and genetic biology senior will instead be spending next semester working her thesis required for her degree from Barrett, The Honors College and applying for physician’s assistant school.
“It’s fun to think about what’s next and the future and kind of figuring out my next step in life,” Rew said.
While she looks forward to specializing in orthopedic surgery, staying involved in gymnastics at a lower level is still in the back of Rew’s mind.
“Coaching is always a great job on the side, and we’ll see,” Rew said. “I don’t have any career plans to get into coaching, but it’s definitely fun to stay involved with the sport, because it is such a big part of your life. It’s hard to just cut if off completely, so it might be fun to coach at like a local club or something.”
While Rew is moving on to a new chapter in her life, she will always remember with fondness her time at ASU.
During James's match, an enthusiastic UA fan passed by the south tennis court and shouted, “Come on Cats!”
Rew held up her sign and yelled, “Let’s go Devils!” just a little bit louder in response.
“I just love being a Sun Devil,” Rew said. “Looking back, I wouldn’t trade anything in the world. It was such a great experience, and I’m so thankful, and I’m just so blessed to have such an amazing time.”
Reach the reporter at mklau@asu.edu. or follow on Twitter @MaryKateLau
