A messed-up shoulder is not on anyone’s wish list, but it was probably the best thing that ever happened to Nick Persino.
The Elk Grove senior gymnast damaged a rotator cuff the summer of 2000 and underwent surgery to fix it. That meant six months without gymnastics and sent Persino looking for a way to stay close to his sport.
He discovered it as a Special Olympics coach and found that type of work so rewarding he hasn’t stopped doing it since, not even after he developed into one of the top high school gymnasts in Illinois.
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About 18 months ago, Persino switched his volunteer activities to GiGi’s Playhouse, a recreation center for individuals with Down syndrome and their families.
At GiGi’s, in Hoffman Estates, Persino started a club for about two dozen young adults called Friday Friends. It meets one Friday night a month, engaging in activities that range from laser tag to karaoke to prom night–complete with tuxedos.
The cast of participants and volunteers varies from month to month. The one constant is Persino.
“I was a little leery at first that he wouldn’t stick with it, but he has been unbelievable,” GiGi’s director and founder Nancy Gianni said. “Especially Friday nights and high school kids . . . there’s no way, but never once has he not shown up, which is amazing.”
Persino was a little leery himself when he started coaching in Special Olympics, but that feeling disappeared as quickly as a Cubs ninth-inning lead.
“That first day I was scared,” he said. “I didn’t know how to interact with them.
“But the kids make you feel so comfortable. I just love to see the obstacles they overcome.”
Persino has a gift for blending in with his Friday friends. He keeps in touch with them between meetings and recruits other volunteers for his group.
“I wish I could explain to you the feeling of pride and self-confidence he gives these young adults,” Gianni said. “It’s unbelievable.
“He doesn’t look at them as any different than he is, and they feel it. It’s an amazing bond they have.
“As soon as he walks in the door they go crazy. They think he’s the coolest guy in the world.”
Persino plans to make his volunteer work his life’s work. When he enrolls at Illinois-Chicago this year on a gymnastics scholarship, he will major in education with plans to become a special education teacher.
“He would be phenomenal,” Gianni said.
Persino signed with UIC in November, ending a scholarship quest that interrupted his career at Elk Grove. Gymnastics recruiting centers on club teams, and Persino decided to skip Elk Grove’s 2004 season to concentrate on club events with his Buffalo Grove Gymnastics Center team, especially because of a potential scheduling conflict between state sectional and Junior Olympic national competition.
“I really wanted to do both, but I knew if I wanted to do my best with club I had to stick to that,” said Persino, who believes he faltered at nationals his sophomore year because that event and state sectionals were scheduled too closely together. “Junior year is the most important year in the recruiting process, and recruiters go to club meets.”
With Persino, Elk Grove coach Bill Watts had a likely Mid-Suburban League champion and a team qualifier for the state meet. Without him, Elk Grove turned out to have neither.
“I was disappointed,” Watts said. “I knew we had a good team last year. Nick would have put us over the top.
“I understood his position, but I felt he could have done high school last year and still been noticed by colleges.”
The funny thing is, Persino really loves high school gymnastics, and early last season, before his recruiting heated up, he had second thoughts about leaving it.
Those disappeared, though, when about a half-dozen college programs started chasing him in earnest.
“I don’t regret not doing high school gymnastics last year,” he said, “but I missed it. I missed it a lot.”
So as soon as he signed with UIC, he knew he wanted to rejoin the Elk Grove team. He needed Watts’ OK, though, and he wasn’t going to get it unless he told his coach that Elk Grove meets and practices would get precedence over club activities in any scheduling conflicts.
“I wanted to see if he was committed to his high school team,” Watts said.
The coach got the answers he wanted and said he is pleased with the results. He has to be thrilled to have regained a gymnast who finished second in the state all-around as a freshman and third as a sophomore.
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“Nick is just totally committed and dedicated to gymnastics,” Watts said.
Persino, who apparently will be able to make the team portion of nationals next month, wants to win the state all-around title this season. But he’s happy to be a high school gymnast again, whether he is a state champion or not.
“All the guys have welcomed me back with open arms,” he said. “The coaches are glad I’m back.
“I’m glad I’m back.”
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