Reflections of a Circle of Honor Recipient

By Heather Stepp McCormick (1990-93)

After finishing my gymnastics eligibility at UGA in 1993, I received an undergraduate degree in accounting. I went to graduate school and earned a master's degree in sport administration also from UGA. I was hired as the Assistant Director of Development at UGA and assisted with all athletic fundraising efforts overseeing the Gymnastics Endowment Fund and assisting with the Athletic Scholarship Endowment Program and capital projects. I then pursued a career in pharmaceutical sales and worked in this area for several years, but found that I missed being around athletics. My husband and I moved to Jupiter, Florida (he also was in the pharmaceutical industry) and we lived there for five years. We started a family and I operated a personal training business called The Physical Edge, Inc. Two years ago, we moved to Roswell, GA. My husband, Matt, a former UGA football letter winner, is currently a district manager for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. We have been married for twelve years and have two boys, Shane (4) and Wade (2). Our boys are a hand full and they are the light of our lives!

Currently, I work for a company called All-American Resources in Atlanta, GA which is a recruiting company assisting student-athletes and former athletes in job placement. In my position as Senior Consultant, I market our services to corporations looking to hire the student-athlete skill set and I also work directly with university athletic departments in assisting upcoming student-athlete graduates for the job market and networking with student-athlete alumni seeking job placement or career counseling. I am still good friends with my fellow Gym Dog classmates Sandy Rowlette Bent, Dr. Jennifer Carbone Zucarro and Traci Tilton Clifton.

I am proud that the UGA gymnastics program continues to get better and better each year. I have always felt that the teams before my era built a great foundation in gymnastics success and fan base. Looking back, I think things really took off during the four years that Jenn, Sandy and I were at UGA and it was really exciting to be part of the program during that time. The program continues to grow steadily and continues to get bigger and better. I am also proud that college gymnastics, in general, has grown so much. During my time as an elite gymnast, you had two major goals available to you-- to be on the National Team and/or go to the Olympics. Olympian gymnasts like Lucy Wener, Hope Spivey and Lori Strong chose to compete at the college level changing everything. Their presence as Bulldogs not only turned things up a notch in terms of skill level and competitiveness on their own teams, but it also required their competition to take things up a notch and changed the face of the sport at the college level. I think it is great that young gymnasts today not only aspire to make the National Team or the Olympics, but that they also aspire to do college gymnastics. Young gymnasts today seem to know just as much about the National Team members as they do about various university team members, especially the Georgia Gym Dogs. I am proud to have been a part of that change.

I am very honored to have been selected into the Circle of Honor and it is humbling that my name is now listed with some incredible Bulldog athletes. The very best part of the Circle of Honor was having many of my favorite people together again. I was really touched that so many members of my family, former coaches, teammates and Ten-0 Club members from my time traveled so far to be a part of the weekend festivities. My four years at UGA were some of the best years of my life and certainly the highlight of my whole gymnastics career. The Circle of Honor induction ceremony was an opportunity for me to thank all those individuals who had such an impact on my college career, beginning with my parents, my teammates and my coaches. My only goal was to help my team win a National Championship and that is my proudest gymnastics accomplishment. I still have very vivid memories of that night in 1993 and our record setting performance. The highlight of my UGA career, and my 15 years of gymnastics for that matter, was winning that National Championship and standing on that podium with my teammates and coaches. I was so focused on that goal that I do not remember many of the individual accolades. Even in the career highlight video the night at the reception, I learned a few things about my career at Georgia that I didn't know!

Having my name displayed in the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall with some legendary Bulldogs is a great honor. I look forward to taking my boys to the Butts-Mehre to show them the Circle of Honor display when they get older and can understand its significance. I feel extremely fortunate to have been selected for induction into the Circle of Honor and look forward to attending future induction ceremonies to watch several of my worthy teammates as well as Gym Dogs who have followed me receive their induction into the Circle of Honor.

University of Georgia Athletics

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