Imagine showing up to compete in a sport where no one who looks like you has ever had a team before. No gym. No trainer. Limited funding. Just a group of determined young Black women at Fisk University who decided that wasn’t going to stop them.
In 2023, Fisk made history by launching the first ever HBCU women’s collegiate gymnastics team. And what these women built from virtually nothing into a symbol of triumph and perseverance is one of the most powerful sports stories you probably haven’t heard. Until now.
Flipped, a new short form documentary directed by award winning filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper, follows that journey. From the team’s inaugural season to a surprising and heartbreaking end just three years later, the film captures everything. The sacrifices, the breakthroughs, and the unbreakable spirit of trailblazers who created something that had never existed before. Competing fifty years after the passage of Title IX, Fisk’s women of color athletes didn’t just break records. They broke the mold.
This one is personal. Flipped is the debut project from Baller Alert Films, produced by founder Robin Lyon alongside Coffee Bluff Pictures. From day one, the goal was simple. Make sure these women get the recognition they deserve on a platform built for the audience this story was made for.
That platform is BET, and this partnership couldn’t feel more right. Baller Alert and BET have been friends and partners for over 15 years, so bringing the first Baller Alert Films project home to BET was a natural fit. A special shoutout to Kim Paige, who greenlit this project without hesitation. That kind of support means everything when you’re telling stories that matter.
Stream it on BET.com or the official BET YouTube channel Watch it. Share it. These women earned every second of it.
https://youtu.be/n9Gc8KhXJLw?si=PwCuUoQ_u3vQR1Nc
I am so saddened to have heard that the Fisk Gymnastics Team was dissolved. These talented, resilient group of athletes will now have to take their talents elsewhere. Our (Fisk Alumnae here) shortcomings constitute a loss for HBCU gymnastics everywhere, not to mention the horrific statement made toward lack of support of women’s competitive sports.