MOULTRIE — When Becky Bevacqua decided to become a gymnastics judge, she thought it would help enable more high school meets to be held in South Georgia.

Little did she know that four years later, she would be honored by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association and the Georgia Athletic Officials Association as their All-Sports Official of the Year.

The Georgia High School Gymnastics Judges had already named her as the state’s Judge of the Year.

And those two awards came on the heels of her being named the county’s STAR Teacher by STAR Student Stuart Cashwell.

Bevacqua says the two judging awards help validate that gymnastics in South Georgia is being taken seriously around the state.

Colquitt County High won the state gymnastics championship last spring, marking the first time a school outside the Atlanta area had claimed the title.

The championship and the awards are a vindication of sorts for the longtime Colquitt County High English teacher, who has worked to improve the quality of gymnastics in this part of the state.

“I think this just helps legitimize gymnastics in South Georgia,” she said.

Since becoming a judge herself, she has encouraged others in South Georgia to become certified so that more high school meets can be held in the area.

For many years, gymnasts hoping to qualify for the state meet had to travel to Atlanta to compete.

“Nobody would come down from Atlanta (to judge a meet) and schools down here didn’t have the budget to take the kids north,” Bevacqua said.

Now high school meets are being held in Thomas-ville, Tifton and Moultrie.

Bevacqua said having local meet should help keep young gymnasts involved in the sport.

“They like being able to compete on their high school team,” she said.

Colquitt County, Thomas County Central, Tift County, Bainbridge, Brantley County and Cairo now have gymnastics teams.

“Lowndes and Valdosta also are interested in having a gymnastics team,” she said.

Those South Georgia meets also helped prepare the Lady Packers for the state qualifying meet and then for its stunning state gymnastics championship last April.

Bevacqua has served as a judge at local meets and also at both qualifying and state meets the last three years.

And while she has often judged events that included Colquitt County gymnasts, “her credibility has never been questioned,” said Moultrie YMCA gymnastics coach Bob Swadel. “Becky is just so ethical, so honest, there’s never been a question of a conflict.”

The growth in quantity and quality of South Georgia gymnastics got its start in Moultrie YMCA program, which Swadel has led for number of years.

The YMCA program has produced several outstanding gymnasts from surrounding communities who have helped build other programs.

Bevacqua first became involved in the sport in 1995 when her older daughter Brett was a gymnast.

Younger daughter Natalie also was an outstanding Moultrie YMCA and Colquitt County High gymnast who graduated this spring from Yale.

“Becky has been a great supporter of gymnastics for years,” Swadel said.

And while never the Colquitt County High coach, she has assisted Josie Robinson and Donna Marshall in handling much of the paperwork necessary in getting the gymnasts ready for meets.

When Natalie left to attend Yale in 2002, her mother got certified to judge meets.

And it was about this time that Becky Bevacqua was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Over the last four years, she has undergone 110 chemotherapy treatments, radiation and a number of surgeries.

Through it all, she has missed only two days of classes and no gymnastics meets.

“I figured, if I can work, I must be OK,” she said. “And when you’re at school, the kids don’t cut you any slack.”

Swadel is impressed with her ability to keep working while battling cancer.

“She’s done this in spite of the treatments,” he said. “She’s never had to cancel a meet because an inability to judge.”

Bevacqua has taught for 19 years, the last 17 in Colquitt County after practicing law and teaching for two years in North Carolina.

The outstanding educator is now an accomplished judge of those who compete on the vault, the bars, the balance beam and in the floor exercise.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” she says. “And I love gymnastics. It was good for my kids.

“And I’d like for other kids to have that opportunity.”