Diane Wavrik’s journey to being named a 2026 Women of Distinction honoree began long before she ever stepped into a leadership role.
It started at age 8, when she took her first gymnastics class at the YMCA — a place that would go on to shape not only her career but also her purpose.
Now the gymnastics director at the Rancho Family YMCA in Rancho Peñasquitos, Wavrik is being recognized by District 5 Councilmember Marni von Wilpert for nearly four decades of service to the YMCA of San Diego County.
View this post on InstagramWhen she first learned of the honor via email, Wavrik was at her desk. Her boss happened to be standing right there.
“I had no idea about the award, so it was a really nice surprise,” she said.
The surprise turned into a full ceremony at San Diego City Hall. To mark Women’s History Month, Mayor Todd Gloria and each member of the San Diego City Council honored 10 remarkable women from across the county.
Born in New York City, Wavrik has lived in San Diego since age 2 and has devoted 36 years to the YMCA of San Diego County. Her relationship with the Y began at the North County YMCA, where she trained as a young gymnast before competing as an NCAA Division I athlete at UC Santa Barbara. By graduation, a former club coach who was working for the Y had already offered her a job.
“I graduated in June of ’89 and I started at the Y July 1st of ’89,” Wavrik said. “Pretty much directly out of college, I started working at the Y.”
She spent 14 years at the East County YMCA before moving to the Rancho Family YMCA in 2003. After the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered a nearby Escondido branch, Wavrik expanded her program to two sites, now serving more than 700 youth each month.
For Wavrik, those numbers are secondary to what the sport teaches.
“Gymnastics is the tool,” she said. “Gymnastics is what they’re interested in, so that’s what we use to teach them the things that they really need to know to succeed in life. You don’t need to know how to do a perfect cartwheel to be successful. But you do need to have perseverance. You need to know how to overcome fear. You need to be dedicated — those are the things that are going to make you successful in life.”
A hallmark of her program is its pipeline of homegrown leadership. Approximately 75% of her staff are current or former gymnasts who got their start in her program, many of whom took their first job with the Y at age 16.
“We’re teaching them how to be in the workforce and how to have a job,” she said. “And at the same time, I’m coaching alongside people who were my students. I say, I remember when you were in fourth grade! It’s really a full circle moment.”
Diane Wavrik and her daughter Bailey. (Photo courtesy of Diane Wavrik)Wavrik’s influence extends deeply into the community through her advocacy for foster youth — a cause that became personal when she adopted her two daughters through the foster care system — Elizabeth, now 32, and Bailey, now 19.
“Being a single parent with both of them has been amazing and seeing them navigate the world and seeing them grow up to be amazing adults is super rewarding,” she said.
That experience has also strengthened her work at the Y, helping connect families to resources and broadening her awareness of community needs.
“I think it gives you a better understanding of what some of the needs of the community are,” she said.
Wavrik is quick to credit the Y’s long-standing social services infrastructure — she didn’t create those programs, she said, but she became a more effective bridge to them.
“Having someone in this foster youth realm that also knows that we have these services, I think it just helps that bigger connection,” she said.
As she looks ahead, Wavrik said her deepest hope is that what she has built outlasts her.
“I hope that the program is strong from the roots so it’s not just dependent on me,” she said. “I think the legacy that I would want is that everyone who goes through our program feels like it made them stronger as a person — that they look back on it and feel like that was something important and positive that happened in my life. A part of my story.”
The Women of Distinction honor is validation of an impact indelibly woven into hundreds of lives.
“It’s not just, oh, that was fun for today,” Wavrik said. “You’re making a lasting difference.”
To learn about the other honorees, go to: www.sandiego.gov
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