Every story has a beginning. Every legacy has an origin. The accomplished history of Naperville Centralgirls gymnastics starts with the profound influence of one special woman: Dottie Rizzuto.Rizzuto’s path to coaching was unexpected but fated. She explains, “Coming from a very small countrytown in southeast Indiana, I grew up playing baseball and tackle football with the neighborhood boys.There were no competitive sports for girls. In high school, I joined the Girls Athletic Association, a clubwhich allowed girls to play against each other during ‘play days,’ but didn’t allow them to formallycompete or keep score.” A competitor at heart, Rizzuto became GAA president, was selected to attendGAA camp, and won the senior class GAA award. Buoyed by her success and interest in athletics, shechose to pursue physical education in college. She enjoyed her required tumbling course and readilyaccepted an invitation from her professor to join his varsity gymnastics practice. She quickly fell in lovewith “an amazing sport,” and began competing on Indiana State University’s gymnastics team as an all-around competitor. That invitation into the gymnastics world would prove to be transformative for bothRizzuto and her future athletes.At ISU, Rizzuto was a charter member and president of Delta Psi Kappa, the honorary physical educationfraternity. A devoted student and advocate for all things Health and PE, Rizzuto worked hard at herstudies and her craft. After graduation, Rizzuto found herself uniquely qualified for a combinationdriver’s education and gymnastics position at Naperville Community High School. “Who in their rightmind would connect those two areas? Women didn’t study driver education in those days!” Rizzutoexclaimed, celebrating the “happy coincidence” that brought her to her professional home at a perfecttime.Rizzuto loved her students and her department. She recalls, “I was so fortunate to be hired in District203 and at NCHS in 1969. The district was growing and girls’ athletics were in their infancy. NCHS had aprogressive physical education department with classes that met five times a week, all year, for all fourgrades, for both boys and girls. The department initiated an elective system in which students couldselect activities. Things were changing on a national level. It was in this unique period of time that Ibecame the school’s first gymnastics specialist. I could lay the foundation of the future of the program,both academically and athletically. It was an opportunity I never could have foreseen.”After the implementation of Title IX, Rizzuto founded the NCHS gymnastics program in 1972, kick-starting a tradition of excellence and pride. She cultivated a 14 year dual meet record of 119 wins and 49losses. Her teams won the very first Upstate 8 Conference championship ever awarded (1974/75), thefirst ever DuPage Valley Conference championship (1975/76), a district title (1976/77), and back-to-backRegional and Sectional titles (1984/85 & 1985/86). In her career, she coached 18 individual statequalifiers and shepherded three teams to top 10 state finishes (7 th in 1976/77; 8 th in 1984/85; 2 nd in1985/86). Rizzuto’s athletes achieved many “firsts,” including Becky DeHerrera’s 4 th place state finish inbalance beam in 1979, when she became the first athlete in NCHS history, female or male, to win amedal in gymnastics. Her 1986 team earned the first state trophy won by any female athletic team inNCHS history. Rizzuto’s gymnastic success was unrivaled and inspiring, earning her Coach of the Yearhonors.As the founding member of her program, Rizzuto learned quickly that the road to success would not beeasy. A confident and tireless advocate, she battled to secure buses, judges, safe gym space, and qualityequipment. She worked for practice time and respect for her athletes, her sport, and their uniqueneeds, even organizing a student sit-in in the assistant principal’s office after they discovered a cigaretteburn in their balance beam. As the sport itself evolved, she remained a committed student andthoughtful teacher, helping her athletes navigate changes in skills, scoring, equipment, andexpectations. Through it all, she led with steely grace, humor, and unwavering conviction.Rizzuto lent her talents and eye for detail in many areas of NCHS life, including a stint as the first directorof the Spirit Drill Team and a turn as prop master for the school play. She loved pep assemblies andconnecting with her colleagues over quick lunch breaks and Friday get-togethers. She treasured herfriendship and long-time connection with assistant coach, John Lies, and celebrated her athletes’individual gifts and strengths. Retired, she now loves the holiday cards, phone calls, breakfast and lunchdates, gymnastic alumni gatherings, and online alumni groups she still shares with her students.Highlights of her career outside of athletics celebrate her favorite roles: “Life partner to a man whoencourages me to be myself. Mother to two amazing adults who grew up wise beyond their years inspite of me. Nana to a very special boy who allows me to spoil and love him with my whole heart.”The story of NCHS girls gymnastics is long from over, and the beautiful constant in the evolutions tocome will surely be the indelible fingerprint of one woman who fell in love with the sport and made ither own.