ywca

Tell me about your first experience with the gymnastics team at YWCA Northern Rhode Island? "I was judging at a meet and a team came . . . I had never seen them before and I said, oh they have a team in Woonsocket . . . a YW . . . really that's great." "[Later] I received a call to check the team out. I did that."

How did you come to coach the YWCA team?"Skip Nowell [former executive director] asked if I could find someone for her . . . ‘Could you possibly come up here for like a month and a half while we find someone?' Yeah I can do that. She told me a few years after that when I got off the phone, ‘Jackie Court's coming up here for a month and a half and she's never going to leave'. It was so funny when she told me that."

What was it like at YWCA? "It was fun."

You actually mentored the YWCA's current coach, Jennie Graham, correct? "In the late '80's . . . Jennie wasn't coaching when I first came. She was one of my athletes on the team . . . I stayed and was there for quite some time . . . Jennie was in her last year of college . . . she kept working side by side with me ever since she was little and always asked ninety million questions . . . [I asked her] when are you going to coach this team? When I felt that she was ready to do it, I said okay now is my time to go."

What do you think of the team today? "She is doing a wonderful job . . . runs a nice program . . . actually I am just amazed that she kept so many of the traditions [YW circuit, regional championships, Hot Shots program, noncompetitive meet and a Spring Show based on themes]."

career

Graham tells me you are an incredible choreographer. Do you have a dancing background? "I do. I was a professional dancer for awhile." Court began dancing as a child.

What college did you go to and what did you study? "Hampton University in Virginia." "Biology and physical education / dance minor."

How did you get involved in gymnastics? "When you are in college and you are involved in physical education one of the units is gymnastics and I always loved it . . . when I had my first year of teaching and my second year of teaching, I taught a unit in gymnastics and the kids loved it." Court taught at Gilbert Stuart Middle School and Gorton Junior High School. While teaching in Warwick, she developed an advanced gymnastics program that introduced equipment such as balance beam and uneven bars.

Will you tell me about your career at Brown University? "I coached there for 32 years . . . in addition to that I was an assistant dean for 2 years."

What's next? "We'll see what's next. . . right now I'll relax and enjoy my retirement." Court is 70 years young.

equal access

Would you like to comment about Title IX? "It was a landmark case so it opened up everyone's eyes." "It's nice to watch TV, watch all the women in sports, see how far they've come, and know that somewhere along the way our team at Brown was responsible for a lot of that happening.

How did you see your role during that time? "I was there for guidance and support for my team. I think that was the best thing to offer them."

What was the impact on the team? "When I was recruiting that had to be brought up, there might be a possibility that there would not be a team . . . ‘we understand that, but we are here to help you fight it.' . . . they believed in equality . . . I had some very special young ladies on that team." "The team was reinstated."

reflection

What are you most proud of? Family: "I am proud of my family." Court is a wife and mother. Her husband is the captain of a charter boat, JackieSeaCharters.com. One son is a Rhode Island police detective and the other a gymnastics coach at University of Arizona. And now Court is enjoying special grandma/granddaughter time.

Career: "I've just done what I could do to help the athletes, on any level of gymnastics, at any age, have the opportunities to participate and enjoy themselves. On a collegiate level, I would have to say the same thing, giving them that opportunity, that experience, being a part of their lives and helping them to grow." "I do it from the heart."

Community: "I just like to be involved. I like to help people. I cannot stand it when people are not given opportunities . . . I find that I am right there . . . I'm ready to help. That's just me."

"I’ve just done what I could do to help athletes, on any level of gymnastics, at any age, have opportunities to participate and enjoy themselves.” - Jackie Court