Photo courtesy of Yolanda Taylor.
Yolanda “Yo” Farley Taylor
Left: Yolanda “Yo” Farley Taylor stands at the Wall of Fame bearing her name, honoring her legacy as the first female athlete at Auburn University to receive a full athletic scholarship.
Yo Taylor had no idea when she registered at Auburn years ago that she would someday have a Wall of Fame named after her. The wall highlights her pioneering role in women’s athletics at Auburn and became even more meaningful as her family — especially her grandchildren — took some time to share in her accomplishments.
A high school gymnast
Yolanda “Yo” Farley Taylor was a gifted high school gymnast. Her dad, Tom Farley, made sure she had every opportunity to hone her sport, investing a great deal of time and money in her training.
During her senior year, Taylor had a serious knee injury that required surgery — three surgeries, as a matter of fact. Taylor’s surgeon told her dad that her gymnastics days were over. But Tom didn’t relay that concern to his daughter.
“I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be able to do gymnastics anymore … they didn’t tell me … so I just kept going,” she said.
Making the college decision
After high school, Taylor applied to several colleges where she could continue in the sport she loved so much. Among those colleges were LSU, Alabama and Auburn.
She did her due diligence and visited the campuses. It was a pretty easy choice for her. Even though she grew up an Alabama fan, her sister was already at Auburn.
“We would go down and visit and I just loved the campus … and then I was sold,” she said. “Once you go to Auburn, you are hooked. It is a beautiful campus … it just felt like a fit for my whole life.”
Photo courtesy of Yolanda Taylor.
Yolanda Taylor in college
During her time at Auburn, Taylor was a four-time team MVP, a two-time national qualifier and a four-time All-SEC performer.
But the campus was not the only deciding factor.
Only a few months earlier, Taylor had started dating a guy named Alan Taylor, who at the time was working and attending school at nearby UAB. LSU would be too far from her new beau, and Alabama didn’t strongly pursue the talented gymnast, as they sensed her connection to Auburn.
It wasn’t long before Alan followed the young gymnast to Auburn. Alan, too, had been a lifelong Alabama fan. The next quarter after Christmas, Alan was accepted to Auburn.
Taylor's boyfriend becomes a coach
Once on campus, Alan soon became involved with the gymnastics team. Taylor had mentioned to her coach in Birmingham that her Auburn coach needed help with spotting his gymnasts during their practices. The Birmingham coach had a solution.
“Bring your boyfriend in here. I’ll teach him how to do it.”
So Taylor’s boyfriend learned to spot and soon found himself working as an assistant coach at Auburn for the gymnastics program — a paying gig, which went a long way toward tuition at that time. He also became a van driver and chauffeured the team to their meets.
A strong work ethic
Looking back on the time of her injury, Alan truly admired Taylor’s willingness to continue. Programs didn’t have pits to provide soft landings at practice like they do now. Yo was determined to keep going.
“She was the most driven athlete I’ve ever been around. Many people would have quit — but she didn’t. To see someone overcome that kind of adversity and still become an elite college gymnast … it was amazing to watch,” he said.
Taylor remembers working hard.
“If they said do 15 of something, I’d do 20. That’s still my personality — whether it’s rehab, motherhood or anything else.”
Taylor compared how today’s meets have changed.
“It’s just so fun now. The meets are a production — smoke, lights, sparkly leotards,” she said. “We didn’t have any of that, but we had a dang good time.”
Photo courtesy of Yolanda Taylor.
Yolanda Taylor competing in college
During her time at Auburn, Taylor was a four-time team MVP, a two-time national qualifier and a four-time All-SEC performer.
Making history
While at Auburn, Taylor received several honors, including team MVP all four years and national qualifier twice, and she was an All-SEC performer all four years.
Taylor didn’t realize how historic her scholarship would be until years later. All she knew then was that she would get a full scholarship.
“They’d never given anybody 100% — not like football or basketball — but with Title IX, they had to start funneling money in,” she said. “And they started with gymnastics.”
How did it feel to get that first full scholarship?
“I don’t think I had any emotional attachment [back then] to being the first. It was more a proud moment for my family — especially my dad. He spent a lot of hours in the gym with me,” Taylor said.
The honor decades later
Located in Auburn’s gymnastics facility, Taylor’s Wall of Fame includes plaques for All-Americans, national qualifiers, academic honorees and athletes who have shaped the program. The wall now bears Taylor’s name, with her own plaque alongside generations of Auburn gymnasts.
On March 13, at the last home meet of Auburn’s season, an official dedication is planned.
“My family thinks it’s funny I can still do a handstand. Not very well, but we have handstand contests sometimes,” Taylor said.
Her daughter Ally Taylor Coleman perhaps said it best.
“Before any woman had a scholarship, she stuck the landing,” Coleman said. “Auburn honored my mom, Yolanda Farley Taylor, with her own Wall of Fame — recognizing her as the first female athlete at Auburn University to receive a full athletic scholarship. Watching her grandkids beam with pride is the real gold medal moment.”
