HAMPTON, Va. — Robbie Koll is an 80-year-old woman who can run circles around people half her age. When I barged into a recent class she was teaching at the Hampton Family YCMA, Koll did not miss a beat.
I was there to surprise her with a News 3 Everyday Hero award for her decades of dedication. Koll has been a fitness instructor at the Hampton Family YMCA for 40 years, teaching fellow seniors in the Silver Sneakers program six days a week. Fellow instructor Christine Hunter wrote me to sing Koll's praises.
"She really is what I want to be when I grow up," Hunter explained. "She has such a big heart and she gives to everyone, but she also stays so strong and is so motivational."
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I learned Koll started taking classes at the YMCA as part of her own fitness journey. Decades later, and she's still an inspiration to fellow members.
"To be as active as I am at my age is a blessing," Koll said.
While she and I chatted, I learned this was not the first time she's been featured on News 3. Koll told me she got a visit back in the 1980s from a young reporter named Kurt Williams.
"He was the cutest little thing," she laughed. "He's still on TV, but he's got gray hair now."
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I brought something with me that Kurt didn't have during his visit 40-something years ago — a $300 Visa gift card from community partner Southern Bank.
"Is this real?" Koll asked.
Yes, it is, just like the love everyone in that workout room has for her.
"You are my purpose, you are my heart, and I love you so much," she told her class as it ended.
Robbie Koll, a News 3 Everyday Hero, and the heart and soul of the Hampton Family YMCA.
