Davio is excelling in his field outside of the Malvern community with little recognition.

Going into his fifth year as a gymnast, freshman Davio Badalamenti is a gymnastics star and receives very little recognition on campus because he competes outside of the Malvern community.

“I started flipping off the couches at my house and my parents really wanted to sign me up,” Badalamenti said, “I went to a camp and the coach there really wanted me on his team.”

Davio came to gymnastics at an older age, compared to most gymnasts who have found immense success with the sport. By the time he had started, Davio was already 10 years old, but that didn’t stop him from excelling on the mat.

“The training was pretty intense,” Badalamenti said. “I trained three and a half to four hours a day, every day except Friday and Sunday.”

Competing for Montgomery County out of Harleysville, Badalamenti has been able to travel far for his competitions.

“It has been cool to travel around the country,” Badalamenti said. “I have been able to see places like Florida, Michigan and even Oklahoma while participating in large competitions.”

One of these competitions was at Nationals in Battle Creek, Michigan.  Two years ago, he placed sixth at this competition, which he considered to be his greatest gymnastics accomplishment.

“This was a very nerve racking thing,” Badalamenti said. “As a gymnast you know that all the eyes are on you as you step up to compete. With this being my first nationals, I was extremely nervous.”

At these large competitions, there are college coaches, who watch the young gymnasts to determine recruitment prospects.

So far, coaches from Michigan, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have expressed interest in Badalamenti.

Badalamenti described the recruitment process. “They [the college scouts] cannot really talk to you until you are a junior, but they will talk to your coach. They will email your coach saying that they want to meet with you, then you can meet with them during nationals, during your day off, or a lot of times they will come to your gym to see how you are training and how much work you put in. Then, they will decide if they want to recruit you, and they will look at your grades and everything.”

Like any sport, gymnastics is one in which an athlete risks injuring himself. Setbacks can potentially hinder coaches from expressing interest in an athlete.

Fortunately for Badalamenti, he has avoided major setbacks throughout his career despite falling many times. “The falls sometimes look pretty bad, but you just got to keep getting back up and trying again.”

The roughest fall Badalamenti has suffered was last year, when he suffered a concussion that kept him off the mat and out of school for a week.

“I missed my feet and slammed my head on the floor and was knocked out,” Badalamenti said.

Even with all of the risks, Badalamenti has enjoyed gymnastics, since he first started with it.

“I didn’t think that I would get as into it as I am. It’s pretty cool to do a sport that isn’t like the usual,” Badalamenti said.

Badalamenti shares a special connection with the sport that has provided him with so many experiences and life lessons. He is now in a position to pass these on to aspiring gymnasts.

“Gymnastics teaches me to never give up and keep persevering through hard time,” Badalamenti said. “I give back to the sport by coaching the little kids at my gym and offering my support whenever I can.”