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For immediate release:  July 9, 2007 (Clyde, NC)

Fleming Enjoys Career in Balance

Bill Fleming has taught gymnastics to over 1,000 students during his 33-year career in recreation.

Since 1996, Fleming has been with HRMC's Health and Fitness Center, teaching gymnastics - bars, balance beam, vault, and floor mat - to Haywood County youth of all ages.

Fleming currently teaches two gymnastics classes at the Fitness Center - one for children ages six to 10, and one for ages 10 and up. He trains students on the bars, balance beam, vault, and floor mat.

Classes are held twice weekly and run from August to June, and each class has between 12 and 14 students. Though the Haywood County program is recreational, Fleming teaches skills that could be used in competition.

"If kids are starting at ground zero, they will learn skills that they can handle at first. As those skills develop and grow, they're given harder things to do. And they are skills we could use in new or already developed routines," he explained.

After graduating from East Tennessee State University with a degree in physical education, Fleming took a job in Catawba County working for the YMCA. He stayed with the organization for 23 years, working in Greensboro, N.C., Kingsport, Tn., and Asheville, N.C. He started a competitive gymnastics program at each of those locations.

He transferred to Haywood County 14 years ago to try to help reopen the Canton YMCA. That reopening never happened, so Fleming retired. But after learning that HRMC wanted to start a new youth program at the Health and Fitness Center, Fleming jumped at the chance to teach gymnastics again.

"I love seeing these kids learn skills that they didn't have before, and seeing them execute those skills to the best of their ability," Fleming said.

 So in 1996, he began working for the Health and Fitness Center, when it was housed at the Old Nautilus Center off of Sulphur Springs Road in Hazelwood.

"Since we moved over to the new fitness center (in June 1998), the program has been bigger, and there's been better space for it," he said.

Fleming also has two assistants, Gracie Bevilacqua and Susan Hartsell. Bevilacqua and her sister, Catherine, both studied gymnastics under Fleming before becoming assistants themselves.

"When you find people who are just the right fit for your kids, you feel very fortunate," said Anne Bevilacqua, mother of Gracie and Catherine. "My girls not only enjoyed being taught by Bill, but they enjoyed just being with him."

"He is a real professional. He's very safety-conscious and knows exactly what he is doing. I think the hospital should be very proud to have him, because they've got a real gold mine," she continued.

Fleming's wife is a nurse with Visiting Health Professionals, and he has one daughter who works in deaf education in Eastern N.C.. He also has one grandson.

In his spare time, he is an active member of the Civil Air Patrol, which is an auxiliary group of the U.S. Air Force. He also likes to fish and is trying to renew his pilot's license, so he does some flying as well.

Fleming said that he likes HRMC and Haywood County because of their family-oriented natures.

"I think that the community has their children and families in their minds all the time. Because of that, kids are involved in sporting activities, and that's something we might not see in a really big town," he said.

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