Above photo courtesy of the UMHB Athletics Department
BELTON- There will be a new head coach leading the fledgling acrobatics and tumbling program at UMHB entering the 2023 season, as it was announced by the university athletic department Friday morning that Raffaela Scotto has been tabbed as the program’s second head coach.
Scotto’s hiring comes about a month after the resignation of Courtney Oates, who started the program in 2020, and led the Cru to a 7-7 record in three seasons. UMHB also swept the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) major awards this spring.
Like Oates, Scotto is an alum of the Baylor acrobatics and tumbling program, where she walked on in 2019. She helped Baylor to three NCATA national titles, and was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 At-Large team as a senior this past spring. In fact, she went up against the Cru on three occasions during her recent collegiate career.
“I am so excited to join the Crusader family and honored to have been chosen to lead such an amazing Acrobatics and Tumbling program,” Scotto said in a statement from UMHB. “I am thrilled to continue the legacy Coach Oates has started here at UMHB. These girls have such a passion for the sport and I am eager to watch them go out and make history.”
UMHB is rising to national recognition as a program, and went a perfect 3-0 against D-III teams last year, while also going toe-to-toe with top-ranked Baylor and No. 2 Azusa Pacific on the road.
“Raffaela’s walk-on mentality, attention detail and expectation for success on and off the mat makes her a great fit for UMHB,” Vice President for Athletics Mickey Kerr said in a UMHB press release. “She will relate well with our teams and we are excited to see all she accomplishes.”
