History
Origin of the Docksiders
January 1975 - Gary Anderson, coach at the Naval Academy, formed a womens gymnastics team. The team name, Castaways, was suggested by Linda Petrone.
1975-1976 - The team name changed to Parkettes South. Gary had an association with Bill and Donna Strauss, owners of the Parkettes in Allentown, PA. Parkettes is a very well known team and Gary felt it would help the team's image to be associated with them.
Summer of 1976 - Gary Anderson left the Naval Academy. As the club could not provide him with full time employment, he took a position with Ruth Ann McBride, owner of the MarVatTeens. Left without permanent team, a group of parents formed a non profit club. Morey Petrone and Allan Segree, President and Vice President of the organization, continued running the club under the name Parkettes South although the legal name of the club was Annapolis Gymnastics Club. Money was borrowed from parents, The Learning Center in Annapolis was used as our facility, and equipment was purchased or borrowed from Nissin. The club hired three main coaches, Rich Melzer, John Barrows, and Shirley Tranquill. Shirley had a daughter, Kari, on the team. The purpose of the club was to field a competitive team.
At that time the competitive levels in gymnastics were Elite, Advanced, Intermediate, and Beginner. The club fielded about 30 gymnasts in the Advanced and Intermediate levels. Instead of competing at the Beginner level, we had a Development group of about 24 gymnasts.
1977-1978 - Gary Anderson advised us that Bill Strauss did not want us to continue using the Parkettes name since Gary was no longer affiliated with the club. The name changed to Docksiders, as suggested by gymnast Diane Smalley in approximately June of 1977.
The Docksiders team continued to grow and succeed throughout the years under the coaching direction of John Barrows, Rich Melzer, and Mark Weber. The club achieved their high goals and won many awards, sending many of its gymnasts to college on scholarships. Docksiders made a name for itself as one of the strongest clubs in the area.
1991 - Bob Ouellette stepped in to direct the team program when Mark Weber moves to Florida for new career opportunities. He was assisted by John Barrows and Linda Johnson at the optional levels. In the year that Bob took over the team program the Level 10 program boasted State Champions and 2 State team titles winning both the 6 man team and the 4 man team with their 10 Level 10 gymnasts.
1994 - Bob and his wife Kim Ouellette purchased Docksiders Gymnastics from the parents organization. Since that time the class program has grown from about 300 students to over 1,000, the team program has tripled in size, and a boy's team program was added. Docksiders has become nationally recognized, sending numerous athletes to Nationals and many girls to Universities all over the USA on gymnastics scholarships.
1999 - Docksider gymnast Katie Rue becomes the first Docksider to win an event national championship at J.O. Nationals. Since then Docksider gymnasts have won 13 J.O. National or Eastern National Championships.
2005 - Docksiders was awarded the Region VII J.O. Club of the Year Award. In conjunction with this and the Christmas on the Chesapeake Competition being held in Baltimore, Mayor Martin O’Malley declares December 9, 2005 as “Docksider Day” in Baltimore.
2008 - Brianna Guy becomes the first Docksider to become All Around J.O. National Champion.
2020- Now in our 45th season, Docksiders has continued to show competitive excellence, an outstanding class program that has developed numerous future Docksiders, and a name in the National Gymnastics Community.