School: Moon | Sport: Gymnastics
Simply put, Amy Caprino is WPIAL gymnastics. If not for the passion and commitment of the longtime Moon coach, the WPIAL would not sponsor the sport, said WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley, adding that Caprino is the reason Western Pennsylvania girls have the opportunity to compete in interscholastic gymnastics. Caprino has coached Moon’s team for 39 seasons, leading the Tigers to six WPIAL championships (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018) and eight PA Classic titles (2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) since 1980. But her dedication to the sport as a whole is even more remarkable. Caprino has served as chairman of the WPIAL gymnastics steering committee for more than two decades. She led the effort to keep gymnastics as a WPIAL-sanctioned sport even after the PIAA discontinued its sponsorship after the 1993-94 season. With the PIAA no longer crowning state titlists, Caprino started the PA Classic to keep the state championships alive. The WPIAL had 27 girls gymnastics teams in 1980, and previously had as many as 35, but that number dropped in recent decades to as low as four. Her efforts helped lift that total back to 14 schools with a couple of others now thinking about joining. Statewide there are less than 30 schools participating in gymnastics. Caprino, a 1972 Rochester graduate, was a member of the school’s gymnastics team for two years. Gymnastics can appear to be a sport for individuals, but as Moon’s coach, Caprino stressed the team aspect. Everyone must contribute to win a WPIAL or PA Classic title, she said. In 2009, Moon won the PA Classic title by one-thousandth of a point (.001). In 2008, the Tigers won by 35-hundredths (.35). Under her leadership, Moon’s program grew to be one of the best programs in the state.