Any other college hopefuls?

[L9gymdad]

Hey everyone! Anybody on a college team? Have a team they're hoping to be on one day? Any parents of hopefuls or current NCAA athletes here, I'd love to talk to you guys! My girl is hoping to be a gymdog or a bruin (isn't everyone??)

She's the only level 9 at her gym, it's her first year. We're looking forward to big things after a so-so level 8 season. She's been training hard, we escaped a couple bad gym situations and had to let her current coach know what it is a few times, but hings are working out. So close to college and the goal, can't be slipping now!

 

[Gymdad2]

L9gymdad,

from one dad to another, welcome to CB and best of luck to your dd. How old is she now?

Good luck to you both.

 

[SkiBumGymMom]

Welcome to the CB! How old is your daughter? My daughter is 19 now and in her second year of working her way back to college gym. She's had some injuries, took two years off of gym in high school (went from level 10, to high school gym, to cheerleading then back to train level 10). She hasn't quite gotten back to where she wants to be, but she's still working hard and loving it. Good luck to your daughter!!

 

[bpatient]

Although her coaches have mentioned the possibility of a scholarship in an attempt to pique my daughter’s interest (and perhaps also to shore up parental support), NCAA gymnastics wasn’t really on my daughter’s radar screen until her young gym’s first home-grown product joined one of the nations top college teams. I suppose that dd’s recent surge of interest suggests that college gymnastics might be in her future, but that’s still far beyond the horizon. Since my thirteen year-old will be repeating level 9 this season, I suppose she will have to sustain both her interest and her health through another L9 season and four unpredictable seasons at L10 if she intends to pursue her new interest. For my part, I’m interested in how gymnasts can excel both scholastically and athletically—clearly, some of them do. If my daughter turns out to be genetically limited in terms of both athletic ability and intelligence (I am, after all, her father), I can’t see how she will be able to compete in the NCAA and realize her academic goals. (My wife was a D1 athlete, but she realized in her junior year that she’d be better off spending 20 hours each week in a biochemistry lab than at practice if she hoped to forge a career in medical practice and research; I’m not an athlete.) I need to learn more about what happens when NCAA gymnasts graduate, alhough I understand that I’m just the father of a gymnast, and in a few years my unswerving support will be a great deal more valuable than my input.

I’ll be interested in your posts regarding your daughter’s attempts to realize her goals, as well as in the replies that you will attract—there are many people here who know quite a lot about the gymnastics/NCAA/recruiting issues that will interest you and your daughter over the next few years. I know little about those subjects, so I may be able to learn from your experiences. (Thanks in advance.)

 

[bookworm]

Most NCAA gymnasts are either elite or really good level 10s...and they are starting to be recruited younger and younger...basically most are "verbally committed" in their junior year so you would benefit from being a great 10 before that (especially for a D1 school).

As far as academics and gym, we have been to visit a few of the schools and they all seem to have tremendous support in place for the athletes and their studies...buildings devoted to the "scholar athlete"..."that's is where you would go for your tutoring sessions, studying, meeting with the academic advisors for the team etc" ..the coaches monitor their grades and tutoring is available (and usually mandated at some schools) from Day 1. Their classes are scheduled around gym and according to these advisors, the girls are scheduled with professors who are "athlete friendly' in accomodating their schedules.

 

[Optionals United]

Bookworm. By brother plays soccer in college and they have to go to a athlete study hall for around 8 hours a week. To study,write papers,ect.

 

[kristilyn73]

I have a Freshman daughter who hopes to compete L9 this year. She knows that if she wants to get a D1 scholarship it is kind of a now or never type thing. She really likes the idea of a smaller school with a team and high academic results. So maybe a d2 or an ivy league school .. or so she thinks. My pocket book is already screaming.

 

[mpkbt]

My dd is a sophomore this year and has hopes of a scholarship. She is a level 10 this year with really strong skills on all events. Yurchenko full, tkatchev on bars, flic lay on beam, and double pike on floor to mention a few. This will be her first year at level 10.

Her coach has gotten every girl who is eligible a scholarship since she opened her gym. We already have 2 jrs who are about to verbal in the next couple of weeks. It is up to the parents and the gymnast to do a lot of the work required. We have a web site for her and we are in the process of sending out emails to all of the schools that she is interested in. She is not looking for the top 10 because they don't interest her. She would like a much more laid back program that would allow her to excel in her studies as well. She is also a good student with a 4.0 so far, and that doesn't hurt either. It is the plan at this point, but anything can happen. She was to do 10 last year but ended up having surgery to remove an extra bone in her foot. She did a very short season and ended up finishing 7th at westerns.

We have made several unofficial visits when we are at a meets and there is a college nearby. It helps rule schools in or out. She also did a camp at a school she was thinking about and will do another one next year at one of her top choices. There is a lot of really good info out there on things that you need to do during the recruitment process.

I help her do the work but the goal is hers. As with everything in this sport, this too is a marathon and there is still many miles to the finsih line. It doesn't hurt that we have girls come back to the gym every summer and tell the girls that college is nothing like club gymnastics. The high school years are sometimes called the dark years because it is tough sport and they have been doing it a long time. The college girls come back to the gym and tell them what an awesome experience college gymnastics can be and to just stay strong through the next couple of years because the payoff is amazing!

 

[bpatient]

Her coach has gotten every girl who is eligible a scholarship since she opened her gym.… It is up to the parents and the gymnast to do a lot of the work required. We have a web site for her and we are in the process of sending out emails to all of the schools that she is interested in.

It sounds like the support system in your daughter’s gym is about as good as it gets. The situation in my daughter’s gym is nothing like that, but—as I mentioned earlier—success is still possible, given a little luck and some hard work.

The first athlete to “graduate” from dd’s gym never contacted a college coach until the autumn of her senior year, didn’t prepare a web site or even a recruiting video, and didn’t have any role models or a network of experienced gymnasts and parents to guide her. She had to find her own way: she never went to Westerns or Nationals, she trained fewer hours than other NCAA hopefuls and devoted those extra hours to her studies (and earned a National Merit Scholarship and a full-ride four-year academic scholarship to her first-choice university), improved steadily (her coach says that the girls who used to beat her in the compulsory and lower optional levels have since left the sport due to competing interests, fear, or injury), stayed healthy, and earned a reputation as a terrific, kind, and extremely coachable kid. Despite her late start, she did receive gymnastics scholarship offers from some mid-level D1 programs in addition to the academic scholarship that she accepted (so I suppose that some coaches still have scholarships available for those who are late to the party). She will start for a Super Six team as a freshman.

 

[bookworm]

It's nice to have the support from the gym and if girls have done it before, it makes the process a little easier. A lot too has to do with the reputation of your gym and gymnast...if you are coming from a decent program, schools will contact the gym about their gymnasts. We have had a lot of schools visit our gym because of the program and of course they cannot talk to the girls if they are not seniors but it does give them exposure.

 

[mpkbt]

In regards to having a few scholarships to give away late...One coach at a D1 school said he was always amazed by the types of girls that are still left in their senior year. He said that a lot of schools may be in the running for a top kid with 3 or 4 other choices available to her. At that point, they are at her mercy as to when she decides to make her choice and if they aren't it, they have a late scholarship to give a way. He said that it happens pretty frequently.

My DD list of important factors:

1. Good academics (and good support of athletes)
2. Good coach
3. Support for the program
4. Campus (safe, comfortable dorms...)
5. Teammates (a little hard to tell until after you sign.)
6. Town (she is not really a big city girl)

There may be more. I am thinking off the top of my head about things we talked about!

A friend's daughter is a junior right now and it is crazy how fast it is happening for them. It is also a little stressful. When do you make a choice, wait for your 1 st choice or sign quicker at your 4th choice....

 

[Granny Smith]

My dd is a "young" college hopeful. She is a freshman in HS this yr and college is always what she aspired for. She will be competing L9 this yr and hopefully will remain healthy through the entire season.

Dd is at a gym that is very college focused and has had girls who have received college scholarships every yr for schools ranging in Top 10 to lower level D1 schools. HC has already had a meeting with the HS girls and parents tell them what they should be looking for, among other things. The girls had to bring a list of their Top 20 school choices, the girls had to find those schools gym rankings. They also had to have a list of their gym goals along with dates they plan to achieve those goals (this was more gym skills).

One thing HC said is that if you are interested in D1 that you should be L10 by your freshman yr. Not say you can't do D1 if you are not D10 at that point, but you are sort of behind... She said for most of the girls, who are not L10 by Freshman yr, they should focus on the D1 schools ranked 60 and lower - that would still leave a ton of schools to choose from.

At this point my dd can say that she would like to attend a school in the central part of the country or East of that. She's not too sure what she wants to do with her life so as far as major goes she doesn't know - and that's fine, she's a freshman.

She did attend a college gym summer camp this past summer and loved it and now that school is her front runner for where she would like to go. That could easily change though when she attends a different college camp next yr. The one good thing that came out of the camp is that the coaching staff at the camp were all the college coaches and they awarded her with the best attitude award. So my dd stood out to the coaches from that stand point and hopefully they will remember her when she fills out their questionaire in the next few weeks to express her interest in their program/school. Fingers crossed!!!

 

[mpkbt]

One thing HC said is that if you are interested in D1 that you should be L10 by your freshman yr. Not say you can't do D1 if you are not D10 at that point, but you are sort of behind... She said for most of the girls, who are not L10 by Freshman yr, they should focus on the D1 schools ranked 60 and lower - that would still leave a ton of schools to choose from.

I think there are only 63 D1 schools and 5 ( who happen to be at the bottom 1/3) do not give athletic scholarships. So I am not sure what schools your coach is talking about. I have heard that being a 10 as a freshman is important as well, but I also think it has to do with the quality of their skills when they go 10. Most sophomores are not doing single bar release moves or anything other than a layout Vault. My dd is a sohomore but doing skills equal to or better than a lot of the girls who have done 10 since 8th or 9th grade. I think it makes her work harder to get noticed in a shorter time span but still doable for the schools ranked 10 - 40. The girl from our club who is about to verbal has been a 10 since her freshman year but has the same bar routine as my dd. She also as a sophomore had the same floor and same vault as my dd will have this year.

 

[Granny Smith]

I think there are only 63 D1 schools and 5 ( who happen to be at the bottom 1/3) do not give athletic scholarships. So I am not sure what schools your coach is talking about. I have heard that being a 10 as a freshman is important as well, but I also think it has to do with the quality of their skills when they go 10. Most sophomores are not doing single bar release moves or anything other than a layout Vault. My dd is a sohomore but doing skills equal to or better than a lot of the girls who have done 10 since 8th or 9th grade. I think it makes her work harder to get noticed in a shorter time span but still doable for the schools ranked 10 - 40. The girl from our club who is about to verbal has been a 10 since her freshman year but has the same bar routine as my dd. She also as a sophomore had the same floor and same vault as my dd will have this year.

I think you are right. I swore she said below 60 but maybe that number was higher than that. Regardless, if you really want to do college gym and you are not elite, career L10 by your Freshman yr, you might want to consider looking at the bottom half of the schools rather than focusing on being a gator/gymdog or the such. Not saying you can't take a shot at the higher schools, but you might have to consider being a walk-on. I know my dd's top school right now might be a stretch for her, but hey everyone should take a shot at their stretch schools while still remaining realistic and not thinking that is the only possibility.

 

[Tuduri]

College

My daughter is a high school freshman this year and is entering her first year level ten. She had a great second year level nine season and Westerns placement after recovering from a serious injury the previous year. She was invited to Karolyi's camp in October.

Jamy, my daughter, is a very serious student. She got straight A's last year and currently, knock on wood, is headed in the same direction. But she has lost some interest in gymnastics. She no longers wants to be an elite gymnast. I think that stems from her injury in her first level nine season when she was injured at a Hopes competion at the Metroplex in Dallas, Texas. But she still wants to do college gymnastics and hopes to get a scholarship-of any kind. My wallet wants that, too.

Jamy has always wanted to go to Berkeley because it's close to home, has a good academic reputation and because her two cousins, Anja and Isabel, went to school there and competed as gymnasts as well.

Jamy's coach wants her to go to a more "competitive" school. But I don't know if we'll be at such a competitive level when Jamy graduates in four years. That's still a long way off. Hopefully it will be a school that will offer her a great education and a good career track....and a scholarship, too. I would not be able to afford a a private school.

It seems that a lot of gymnasts are good students. I think that the need to focus and the work ethic in the sport is conducive to excelling in academics. My two nieces who were in the sport are now in education and in specialized ICU nursing. One of our former gymnasts, Amy Chow, is a pediatrician here in the bay area. Hard work is required to excell. That work ethic is instilled in gymnasts and translates into the real world after gynastics.

Good luck to all your girls,

Julio Garcia,
Jamy's dad.

 

[GymCoachSara]

As a coach in a gym that has dealt with a few college recruitments, although recrutiers are looking at gymnasts much earlier now, it does not mean that they need to be a level 10 by their freshman year. I have a few girls who are going into their 1st year as a level 10 by 10th grade and 2 as juniors, however aside from working routines the girls are always work extra hard on skills bars and vault, that they might not even be competing, but are skills they need for college. The most important thing you can do for your athlete is have a coach that understands the process, and knows how to market your gymnast. Remember colleges are rarely looking for all around gymnasts, they are looking for strong bars and vault, as beam and floor are a dime a dozen. The best thing you can do is make a website for the gymnast and start communication with college coaches before their 11th grade year. It is also very nessary to make it to westerns, easterns, nationals, and as I found out this year at a congress I attended The IGI Chicago Style Meet. Apparently this meet is largest in America and most colleges are there.
We have a college coach coming into our gym on Monday to look at a gymnast who took her sophmore year off to do highschool and has not even competed level 10, but has all of routines that she would need under the NCAA rules. It was her website and videos that sparked a few coaches interest.
My main point is don't put too much pressure on your gymnast needing to be a level 10 too early. I've seen a lot of injuries that end careers because of parents and coaches pushing to move up the levels too soon.
Good luck with your process its a fun and exciting adventure, and I wish you all the best!

 

[Granny Smith]

Dd will be competing at the Chicago Style Meet this year. We went out there a couple of years ago when she was a first yr 8 and she loved it.

HC wants to go because like you said a lot of college coaches attend and she (HC) has a senior that is still looking to be recruited. Works for me!

 

[Pogo]

I'm a college gym parent

My daughter is doing her third year of college gymnastics. I don't claim to know any more than anyone else here, but I would be willing to answer any questions based on our limited experience.

 

[GymCoachSara]

We actually hand out profiles with our gymnasts website or u tube pages on them to the college coaches while we are in the Chicago Meet. this also a good idea. You should always carry a dvd or profile (gym reseme) to give out. You never who you will see at meet

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Most NCAA gymnasts are either elite or really good level 10s...and they are starting to be recruited younger and younger...basically most are "verbally committed" in their junior year so you would benefit from being a great 10 before that (especially for a D1 school).

As far as academics and gym, we have been to visit a few of the schools and they all seem to have tremendous support in place for the athletes and their studies...buildings devoted to the "scholar athlete"..."that's is where you would go for your tutoring sessions, studying, meeting with the academic advisors for the team etc" ..the coaches monitor their grades and tutoring is available (and usually mandated at some schools) from Day 1. Their classes are scheduled around gym and according to these advisors, the girls are scheduled with professors who are "athlete friendly' in accomodating their schedules.

and some as young as 8th grade have verbaled. geesh...go figure.