The Detroit News writer Brian Gorman 

Wednesday, August 16, 2006 

Corey Whitfield was overweight and out of shape until he decided to turn his life Upside down 

Detroiter's steady diet of trampoline turns him into a nationally ranked power tumbler.

WARREN Two-and-a-half years ago, Corey Whitfield weighted 240 pounds and was failing his senior year of high school. He was eating to much fast food and skipping too many classes.

He was unhappy. Then he discovered the All World Gym and turned his life around by flipping upside down.  Whitfield threw himself into the sport of power tumbling. 

Today, Whitfield, 21, carries a chiseled 140 pounds on his 5-foot-9 frame and is nationally ranked in the sport. Whitfield was not a total novice to tumbling when he first visited All World.  He was a street tumbler as a kid, and he and his friends would stack old mattresses and do flips onto them.

I was the star tumbler of the family, Whitfield said. "I taught myself how to a backhand spring when I was 7 years old."

 But once he started at Detroit Murry-Wright High School, he stopped doing somersault and started putting on the pounds while working at McDonald's. "You know how when you're younger and denied certain things, you indulge in it when you first get it when you get older?"  said Whitfield, who weight 280 at his heaviest.   

McDonalds was my favorite restaurant growing up. So when I started working there I started making outrageous sandwiches,  I as taking the chicken and the beef patties and the nuggets and making one big sandwich. The food was free because I was working there, and I was just out of control.  

˜I can do that"

Then sibling rivalry intervened.

When Whitfield noticed his brother learning to tumble for the high school cheerleading squad, he began to practice his backhand spring again. In February 2004, Corey accompanied his younger brother Sedret to the AWTT Gym to watch cheerleading practice.

"I just sat back and saw what it was all about,"  Corey said.  "I was like, None of these cheerleaders out here (are) doing what I can do. Lemme go out there and show them something."

Corey did a backhand spring and that he was the best tumbler in the gym, until a young girl challenged him to follow her routine. "I was like, I can do that, Corey said. I tried to do the handstand and barely got up. Tried to do the backhand spring and landed on the top of my head.  Totally embarrassed me. So I was like, I'm not going to give up and I'm going to come back. So I came back and did one class.

After the class, Rose Diaz, the girlfriend of gym owner Pete Roberts, noticed Whitfield break dancing and offered to give him tumbling lessons in exchange for dance lessons.  Whitfield agreed. Soon, he was helping Diaz with tumbling classes. 

When Roberts returned two weeks later from a tumbling tournament, he was wary of the new kid hanging around his gym.  I didn't know the guy, said Roberts, 46, who was a Big Ten champion gymnast in 1981 for Michigan State.

I come back from the Pan American championships and these two guys are in my gym.  They hired them, and I didn't even know.

As the weeks passed, Whitfield spent more time at AWTT gym.  What began as an introductory class quickly progressed to classes four times a seek. He would spend hours at the gym helping with the younger children and getting lessons himself.

Quick Learner

Roberts said Whitfield is one of the most naturally gifted tumblers he has seen. Whitfield has learned in two years what most tumblers lean in eight.  In 2005, his first year of competition, Whitfield finished first in the state and region in power tumbling. Six months ago, started training on the double mini (trampoline) and is No 1 in the region. He's an unbelievable aerialist,  Roberts said.

Whitfield's ultimate goal is to be a tumbler for Cirque du Soleil, which mixes the circus ( minus the animals) with theatre.  Roberts said Whitfield is within three years of reaching his goal and has no doubt someday Whitfield will be on that stage.

Hes got the natural ability to do it, Roberts said. Whitfield supports himself in a variety of ways.  He teaches classes at AWTT and helps Roberts cut lawns and shovel driveways.  He also works at the Palace Patrol and Flight Crew during the Piston's season. The Flight Crew is the acrobatic group that jumps off trampolines and dunks the basketball.

I remember my first performance, Whitfield said. It was in front of a sold-out crowd. I will never forget it. It rocked, so cool. I did a front flip off the mini-trampoline and jammed down, and all the players were like shaking our hands. It was sweet. 

More online

Click on the picture to see Corey Whitfield practicing his power tumbling
and click this link to hear him rap about his life.
 

About AWTT

AWTT, which is directed by former Big Ten Vault Champion and National Team Coach Pete Roberts is located in Warren, Michigan. AWTT offers the finest gymnastics and athletic programs for the whole family including: tumbling, trampoline, and cheerleading.  Fitness, Sports Skills, and a Cafe. The first of its kind, AWTT is a uniquely-designed facility providing one place to enroll kids in a diverse set of programs. To learn more about this announcement or AWTT visit our Web site at http://www.allworld-gym.com  or call 586.978.8908.