About Inductee

Debbie Santos, a 1976 graduate of Huntsville High School, grew up in a tough environment; the Butler Terrace Housing Project, where she helped her mother raise her five younger siblings. Her love of gymnastics began at Stone Middle School where she dreamed of being a gymnast and one day opening a gymnastics center. Later, in high school, she was not only an award winner in gymnastics, but also the Most Valuable Player in both volleyball and track. In 1973, she was awarded the Good Citizenship Award and in 1974, she was awarded the North Alabama Gymnastics Scholarship. Following her graduation from Huntsville High, Debbie worked as the Head Gymnastics Coach at Huntsville and Grissom High Schools, the assistant coach at the Huntsville Gymnastics Academy, and the head coach at the North Alabama Gymnastics Center in Arab, Alabama. In 1991, her dream came true when she opened the Southern States Gymnastic Center in Madison, Alabama. In 2008, Debbie opened her new Southern States Gymnastics Center, a 15,000 square-foot building on Research Boulevard. It is the largest gymnastics center in North Alabama and one of the largest in the state. There are locker rooms for girls and boys, and the facility has more than $150,000 of equipment. A staff of 17 works with Debbie to instruct the 300 students enrolled in their gymnastics program. Southern States also has a designated area for preschool gymnastics where Mommy and Me and Toddler classes are held. Currently, Debbie has teamed up with North Alabama Boys and Girls Club of Butler Terrace and provides free gymnastics lessons to its students. This is a blessing and I cant believe I did it, Debbie said. I feel blessed each day as I enter the building and turn on the lights. I thank God for the opportunity to help others. I was unaware for the longest time that my coaches and other parents financed my endeavors in athletics when I was in high school. Today I take those lessons I learned and exhibit that act of kindness by helping those in my gym who are less fortunate, because Ive been there. This business I operate is all about my kids at the gym. I want them to have the best and to try to be the best they can be. Debbie, with her husband, Andra, and their three children reside in Harvest.