Gymnastics star Sabrina Rose Visconti will attend Arkansas on a full scholarship
By Cary Shuman
Revere’s Sabrina Rose Visconti will be taking her elite gymnastics talents southward after signing a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Arkansas during an impressive ceremony Nov. 12 at Essex Tech in Danvers.
Visconti, a senior who turns 18 next month, is assuredly entering the world of big-time college athletics. Arkansas competes in the Southeastern Conference, a league of powerhouse programs and its own television network (SEC Network).
Revere friends and family will thus be able to watch the electrifying, 5-foot-2-inch Visconti on national television soaring 10-12 feet off the ground after an 80-foot run-up in her premier event, the vault.
Visconti, daughter of former city councillor Gerry Visconti and Danielle Rose Visconti, selected Arkansas after considering Arizona State University, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Utah.
“I visited Arkansas three times,” said Sabrina. “The facilities are amazing and the campus is gorgeous. When I stepped on campus, it just felt like home. I felt it was the right choice even before I committed. I felt safe and there’s a whole supportive staff behind me.”
Early success in the sport
Sabrina said she started in gymnastics in Mommy and Me classes at Brestyan’s in Burlington.
“That was my club for 11 years,” said Sabrina, who attended the Whalen School for grades K-5 and Rumney Marsh Academy (Grades 6-7). Though her father, Gerry, was an All-Star pitcher, Sabrina played shortstop and second base in the Revere Girls Softball League.
In seventh grade, she became “serious with the sport,” and the championship ribbons and medals began to accumulate.
“That’s when I knew I wanted to do gymnastics in college, and the Olympics was also a dream,” she said. “I always wanted to be a higher athlete than Level-10 (the highest level in Junior Olympics).”
Sabrina triumphed in several state and regional events and qualified for Nationals in 2023 as a freshman at Essex Tech.
With her elite training schedule (30 hours per week) and experience, Visconti would have likely cruised to multiple MIAA state championships, but she opted for a highest-caliber circuit in gymnastics.
“My best events are the vault and the beam,” related Sabrina. “I’ll be competing in those events at Arkansas, and hopefully doing all-around as well.”
Meeting her coaches
and teammates
Sabrina has traveled to Arkansas where she has met her future teammates and the Razorback coaches, all of whom are former Olympians or elite college athletes.
“I love my teammates – they’re like second family to me, the best group of girls to surround myself with,” she reports.
Several states are represented on the 20-person Arkansas roster. Over the next few seasons, Visconti and her teammates will compete regularly against traditional SEC opponents such as Alabama, Florida, and LSU.
Visconti has already received an introduction to the prestige and popularity of major college sports.
In college athletics today, there is NIL (Name, Image and Likeness), and Visconti is now eligible for professional, paid endorsements and media opportunities.
Thank you to her parents
Danielle Rose sensed early on that her daughter was on the road to something grand in sports.
“Sabrina was always very wiry and talented,” said Danielle of her daughter’s Division 1 prowess. “She just has this kind of locked-in personality. She’s very focused and likes structure. She’s a rules follower. Her coaches wanted all their athletes to be like Sabrina, because she was focused, followed the coaches’ instruction, and accepted constructive criticism well.”
At Essex Tech, Visconti is specializing in landscaping.
“I like the school a lot,” said Visconti who travels to Noha’s Gymnastics Academy in Manchester, New Hampshire for her training. “It’s really nice to have a week of shop and a week of academics. My teachers and classmates have been really supportive.”
Sabrina Visconti said the amazing trajectory of her gymnastic careers would not have been attainable without the support and encouragement of her parents and her three siblings, Gerry (Bryant University), Sofia (High Point University) and Joseph, who is a freshman at Essex Tech.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today with their support and I’m so grateful to my family,” said Sabrina.
And where she is today is the beginning of a new chapter in her journey and set to compete at the highest level of collegiate sports.
