Owner and Head Coach Gary Rafaloski says Aerial Port is where every child is a star and Olympic dreams come true. It certainly happened in 1984, when former gymnast Mary Lou Retton became all-around champion and gold medalist in the Olympic summer games.

 

Bridgeport’s Hallie Sabatino has her eye on a similar goal. The 11-year-old Simpson Elementary student spends 12-15 hours per week at the Fairmont gym and between November and March, she competes most weekends in floor, bars, beam and vault routines.

 

She started gymnastics when she was 8. She’s become good; very good. In fact, during the 2016-17 competition season, she tumbled all the way to a state championship, scoring a 9.9 at the state finals in Parkersburg.

 

Although she also loves performing on bars, floor routines are her favorite competitive element, she said. That’s because the routines and music reflect her and her personality. When she’s tumbling across the floor, she is in her element, focused, happy and carefree.

 

“My nerves go away when I’m on the floor,” she said. “I just feel the music.”

 

Hallie’s mom said she had no idea her daughter would excel in the sport like she did.

 

“We took her (to Aerial Port) to have some fun and she really clicked with a certain coach there, who saw potential in Hallie, so they started doing private lessons and before we knew it, she was on the competitive team,” said Bridgeport High School alumna Katie (Anderson) Sabatino. “It was all kind of a shock. She was just an average kid and now we can’t get her to stop.”

 

When Hallie captured the state championship, she competed as a level 3 gymnast. Shortly thereafter, she skipped levels 4 and 5 and this past season competed as a level 6. At the state meet in Huntington, she was named runner-up in her division; her highest score of the season being a 9.625 for a floor routine she performed to “Carol of the Bells” at a Pennsylvania meet.

 

Hallie can remember just how it felt to win the favor of the judges doing something she loves so much. Moments like that inspire her to continue to work hard, fine tune her skills and continue to advance.

 

She’s working on level 7.

 

“This year, my requirements are layouts on the floor, front tuck tucks on the floor and a series of tucks; things like that,” Hallie said.

 

Achieving that goal as an 11-year-old would be impressive since level 10 is college-ready. Hallie said there’s no stopping her and that she’s always excited to learn new skills and master them.

 

“I have my standing tuck and recently got my full twist on the tumble track and I’m now training on the floor,” she said. “I got my front tuck tuck on the floor and I can do some double back tucks into the pit. I’m doing back walkover handspring on the beam and giants on the bars.”

 

Training for those skills comes along with plenty of bumps and bruises, but she never lets that stop her.

 

Hallie is appreciative of all her Aerial Port coaches, including Rafaloski, who worked with Retton some 40 years ago. The coach with whom she “clicked” at the age of 8, however, is Ashley Patterson.

 

“She’s the reason I’m doing this,” Hallie said. “She started teaching me when I was 8 and she got me this far.”  

 

Hallie travels to Fairmont Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, training three to four hours each time. During the competitive season, she travels to places including Pigeon Forge, Tenn.; Landover, Md. and various cities in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

 

To supplement her training at Aerial Port, she’s also now taking gymnastics at Champs in Clarksburg and has started taking ballet from Cindy Timms Pulice at Studio 9 Dance Academy in Bridgeport.

 

“Cindy has really helped me a lot with perfecting my routines,” Hallie said.

 

Another local with whom Hallie worked when she was a very little girl – is Kristi Kiefer.

 

She likes her fifth-grade science class, riding her bicycle and spending time with friends. In addition to becoming a gymnast, she’s also thinking about geology as a profession. Even with all her training, she has carried a 4.0 throughout elementary school.

 

“With all the training and getting home many nights at 9 o’clock, she’s never let it affect her grades and that makes me so proud of her too,” Katie Sabatino said.

 

Hallie said she wants to advance as far as she can with gymnastics.

 

“Olympics would be amazing and I would be happy competing in college,” she said.

 

Though she admires Mary Lou Retton and would love to meet her one day, she can relate more to another Olympic gold medalist.

 

“I like Aly Raisman. I watched her during the Olympics and she’s definitely my favorite. I read a biography on her and it reminded me of me so much,” Hallie said. “She kept trying for the golds and wouldn’t stop until she finally got them.”