Bowling Green State University Athletics
BG Athletics Celebrates Black History Month: Jamilah Ali
February 11, 2016 | General, Gymnastics
Throughout the month of February, BGSUFalcons.com will be highlighting some of those who have impacted the University, the community and the athletics department. From pioneers to more recent members of the department, Matt Markey will be providing the stories of our history. Today's feature story highlights Falcon gymnast Jamilah Ali. Fans can review all previous feature stories through our Black History Month landing page by CLICKING HERE.
On the trip from her hometown of Toms River on New Jersey's Atlantic coast to visit Bowling Green for the first time as a prospective student-athlete, Jamilah Ali did not get a positive feeling from her parents that BGSU was someplace she might end up attending college.
"Things looked very different from where I lived in New Jersey, and I remember my parents saying it probably wasn't going to work out," said Ali, a talented gymnast who was the New Jersey vault and floor exercise champion in her high school days.
"But once we got to Bowling Green and got on campus, things changed. I met the team and they were so close and so supportive, and that was very different from the other places I had been to. I loved it there at BG, and it just felt like home."
Ali was a sensation as a freshman in the 2012 gymnastics season, winning the vault competition in three of BG's six Mid-American Conference meets and posting the team's top eight performances on the balance beam. She was honored as the MAC Freshman of the Year – just the third Falcon to win that award.
Competing against predominantly white athletes in a sport with few African-American participants did not impact Ali, or affect her performances, she said.
"Being in gymnastics while I was growing up, I knew there were not very many African-Americans in the competitions, but it was never really an issue," she said. "Black gymnasts maybe have a reputation for being more powerful in certain events, but during my time at Bowling Green, my race wasn't an issue. It was honestly not something I confronted at all. I was a gymnast."
As a sophomore in the 2013 season, Ali finished the year ranked first in the conference in the vault, and she tied for the MAC vault title at the championship meet. She won six individual vault titles that season and was a second team All-MAC choice for the second straight year.
In her junior year, Ali competed in the vault and balance beam for the Falcons and put up scores of at least 9.800 in each event. As a senior she had four first-place finishes and posted a career-best 9.875 to win the vault in BGSU's season-opening victory over Michigan State. She also worked as a student volunteer in the athletic department's compliance office while at BG, and coached young gymnasts at the YMCA of Greater Toledo.
"It was a very busy time, being both a full-time student and a college athlete, but I found there were so many resources available at Bowling Green, and so many helpful people," Ali said.
"I was a business major specializing in economics so the work was pretty demanding, but I got a lot of one-on-one attention from the professors," Ali said. "As a student-athlete, you learn time management skills and discipline, and I think those qualities will serve me well in my future career. I don't think they could have made the college experience any better for me."
After graduating from BGSU in August of 2015, Ali is coaching gymnastics in her native New Jersey, but she expects to enroll in graduate school soon, and eventually work full-time in college athletics in the area of compliance.
On the trip from her hometown of Toms River on New Jersey's Atlantic coast to visit Bowling Green for the first time as a prospective student-athlete, Jamilah Ali did not get a positive feeling from her parents that BGSU was someplace she might end up attending college.
"Things looked very different from where I lived in New Jersey, and I remember my parents saying it probably wasn't going to work out," said Ali, a talented gymnast who was the New Jersey vault and floor exercise champion in her high school days.
"But once we got to Bowling Green and got on campus, things changed. I met the team and they were so close and so supportive, and that was very different from the other places I had been to. I loved it there at BG, and it just felt like home."
Ali was a sensation as a freshman in the 2012 gymnastics season, winning the vault competition in three of BG's six Mid-American Conference meets and posting the team's top eight performances on the balance beam. She was honored as the MAC Freshman of the Year – just the third Falcon to win that award.
Competing against predominantly white athletes in a sport with few African-American participants did not impact Ali, or affect her performances, she said.
"Being in gymnastics while I was growing up, I knew there were not very many African-Americans in the competitions, but it was never really an issue," she said. "Black gymnasts maybe have a reputation for being more powerful in certain events, but during my time at Bowling Green, my race wasn't an issue. It was honestly not something I confronted at all. I was a gymnast."
As a sophomore in the 2013 season, Ali finished the year ranked first in the conference in the vault, and she tied for the MAC vault title at the championship meet. She won six individual vault titles that season and was a second team All-MAC choice for the second straight year.
In her junior year, Ali competed in the vault and balance beam for the Falcons and put up scores of at least 9.800 in each event. As a senior she had four first-place finishes and posted a career-best 9.875 to win the vault in BGSU's season-opening victory over Michigan State. She also worked as a student volunteer in the athletic department's compliance office while at BG, and coached young gymnasts at the YMCA of Greater Toledo.
"It was a very busy time, being both a full-time student and a college athlete, but I found there were so many resources available at Bowling Green, and so many helpful people," Ali said.
"I was a business major specializing in economics so the work was pretty demanding, but I got a lot of one-on-one attention from the professors," Ali said. "As a student-athlete, you learn time management skills and discipline, and I think those qualities will serve me well in my future career. I don't think they could have made the college experience any better for me."
After graduating from BGSU in August of 2015, Ali is coaching gymnastics in her native New Jersey, but she expects to enroll in graduate school soon, and eventually work full-time in college athletics in the area of compliance.
Players Mentioned
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