(WHTM) -- abc27 is honoring black history with a look at those who are inspiring others.
As of 2021, black women accounted for nearly ten percent of scholarship athletes at NCAA division one schools.
Opportunities for these women are growing, and abc27's Sports Director Allie Berube met with a Harrisburg gymnast whose decision to transfer schools may help change the future of gymnastics.
Breyana Daniels has always been a gymnast.
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The Bishop McDevitt graduate went on to compete in college, but after her freshman year, things didn't feel right.
"Last year I was very depressed. I really didn't want to do the sport. And I came here and found the love again," said Daniels.
Daniels transferred to Fisk University, a historically black college or university (HBCU), and life began to change.
"It's just so comforting to know that I don't have to be something that I'm not anymore. I can freely be myself. And they're very accepting," Daniels added.
Daniels is making history on the the first gymnastics team in HBCU history.
"I feel like that I'm blossoming. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would have an opportunity to compete against all brown girls and like girls of color," said Daniels.
Fisk's head gymnastics coach Corinne Tarver is no stranger to making history.
"So it's about time. I mean, it's something that's a long time coming," said Tarver.
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Tarver was the first black gymnast to win an NCAA all-around title in 1989, So she understands the impact of this team even 30 years after her collegiate career.
"It is a small community, and it's not just the black community that feels like it's important. This is like everybody. So we've been getting a lot of love," said Tarver.
Daniels hopes this opportunity turns into more for other little girls looking up to the Fisk Bulldogs.
"I feel like that we're the blueprint, and I really hope this like leads on for other HBCUs to put out programs because if this was here my freshman year, I 100 and thousand percent would have went here," Daniels said.
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