WAG College gymnastics and homeschooling

[Natasha]

Welll...I have anecdotally been paying attention to this in the meet programs to entertain myself during college gym meets in our area. Granted, the college team here is a very good D1 team. But, it appears that over half of the girls do seem to homeschool. However, that being said, many of the girls were elite gymnasts who dropped back to 10 for college gymnastics. The more disheartening thing than the school piece is that it appears you almost have to go elite at least for a while to be competitive for a college team.

This is true of the top D1 teams, but certainly not most teams.

 

[LJL07]

This is true of the top D1 teams, but certainly not most teams.

I’m glad to hear that because it’s very discouraging. The great irony is that we have one of the top D1 teams in the country right in our backyard and not one strong upper level optional level JO program nearby for miles.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I was told to suggest regular school
For senior year or more. But I do hand a home schooler who is now in college doing fine. . We did go over her eligibility several times though

 

[Texasmomof3]

I’m glad to hear that because it’s very discouraging. The great irony is that we have one of the top D1 teams in the country right in our backyard and not one strong upper level optional level JO program nearby for miles.

Whereas I am surrounded by top JO programs and not a single Div 1 program in my entire state.

 

[thefellowsmom]

I've heard some of the online schools are well established in re to NCAA eligibility? Anyone have experience with those?

My dd does her core classes at public school and Supplements at laurel springs online. This provides her the flexibility in her schedule to have a sane life.

They have provided us with an NCAA counselor that we have access to whenever we have questions and keeps track of all her schooling and makes sure the classes she takes at LS are NCAA compliant and she stays on track overall with the class load at both schools. We also get a summary at the beginning of each class with the requirements to keep the class NCAA compliant. Things like not getting too far ahead or behind, not turning assignment in in bulk etc.

They have been great and the vast majority of their classes are NCAA approved. My dd has found their classwork, curriculum and coursework as challenging if not more challenging than her brick and mortar classes.

She is only in 8th grade but is taking high school classes in several subjects, also did last year, so we had to start paying attention earlier.

 

[gymgal]

I've heard some of the online schools are well established in re to NCAA eligibility? Anyone have experience with those?

Connections Academy is an online school that is well established with NCAA. You can to it privately through international Connections (and pay) or, if you live in a state where there is a public charter set up for Connections, you can attend for free.

 

[raenndrops]

Connections Academy is an online school that is well established with NCAA. You can to it privately through international Connections (and pay) or, if you live in a state where there is a public charter set up for Connections, you can attend for free.

THE Ohio State University has a gymnast from Connections Academy
Ohio offers free online school options.

 

[LJL07]

Whereas I am surrounded by top JO programs and not a single Div 1 program in my entire state.

I think this is a better problem to have. The div 1 program doesn’t seem very interested in recruiting within the state, so the programs are all pretty bad. No one can get anything off the ground.

 

[Aero]

Whereas I am surrounded by top JO programs and not a single Div 1 program in my entire state.

Isn't it absurd how Texas is literally the center of gymnastics in the USA, yet there is not a single Division I gymnastics program for either men or women?!

So WEIRD!!! Like, how?!

 

[Texasmomof3]

Seriously! We hear rumblings about A&M wanting to add a team, but that sounds like it is years away.

I just wish there was a walk-on option that didn't involve out of state tuition or traveling so far.

 

[3girlsmom]

Whereas I am surrounded by top JO programs and not a single Div 1 program in my entire state.

We were just talking about this the other day. Why is it that Texas does not have many college gymnastics programs. Texas womans is all I know of despite the many many successful large JO/Elite gyms in the state. Do you have any insight as to why this is?

 

[gymjunkie]

Most homeschool HS kids I know roll out of bed when it suits them (before 9 or 10), starts school about 9:30-10, finishes at noon and has rest of day to relax before heading to a sport or job.

They don’t stress, if they don’t get whatever assignments done today, no problem, as long as it’s turned in by a weekly or monthly timeline. Running behind, no problem, just pick up that lesson back up later.

Meanwhile my kid would get an F if it went in a day late and there were no extenuating circumstances. And I don’t know a teacher that takes kindly to “i’ll Pick that lesson up later”.

You just described everyone I know in the homeschooling group I belong to (including my family, lol). That being said, all the kids in our laid back community start community college between age 14-16 & most graduate highschool with an associates degree. My oldest went full-time and will have her bachelor's when she graduates highschool. All the kids in our group made a very quick transition from the laid back homeschooling lifestyle to the demands of college & employment. I think that the lack of stress (and adequate sleep) is what helps them become very focused and passionate about their chosen study/field at a young age, which is what motivates them to be "on-task" when it's time to be "on-task."

Many of the colleges are anti-homeschool, which is why it's a good idea for homeschooling gymnasts with scholarship aspirations (who don't want to switch to on-line school or brick and mortar school) to take community college classes while they are homeschooling. I also recommend having a membership in HSLDA. They would love to litigate for a homeschooling gymnast who gets left out of the recruiting process simply because they are homeschooled, because they have done it for homeschoolers who participate in other sports.

 

[Texasmomof3]

We were just talking about this the other day. Why is it that Texas does not have many college gymnastics programs. Texas womans is all I know of despite the many many successful large JO/Elite gyms in the state. Do you have any insight as to why this is?

At our last gym, the owner coached at a Div I program in state before it closed. He said that it was actually an unintended consequence of Title IX. Colleges here just shut down smaller sports rather than investing the time and money to bring them into Title IX compliance. I have no idea if this is true, but that was his explanation.

 

[bookworm]

1. Many of the colleges are anti-homeschool, which is why it's a good idea for homeschooling gymnasts with scholarship aspirations (who don't want to switch to on-line school or brick and mortar school) to take community college classes while they are homeschooling.

2. I also recommend having a membership in HSLDA. They would love to litigate for a homeschooling gymnast who gets left out of the recruiting process simply because they are homeschooled, because they have done it for homeschoolers who participate in other sports.

Point #1. I don't know that colleges are "anti-homeschooling" per se, but with brick and mortar schools, the colleges know what they are supposed to be getting...and it's probably just easier for them to process the regular school kids. If the home schooler has all the requirements, and not like the young lady I mentioned before whose homeschooling credits were disallowed , then I'm sure the colleges are fine with it.

Point #2. I think you'd have a hard time proving the gymnast was "left out of the recruiting process" strictly because of homeschooling....the school would be sure to cite other reasons....vault not good enough, bars not clean, no triple series on beam , no E pass , just not a good fit with our team...you get the drift....and seriously, you DO NOT want to send a kid to a program that doesn't want them, for whatever reason because it would just be a hellish 4 years for the poor kid..

 

[wandrewsjr]

At our last gym, the owner coached at a Div I program in state before it closed. He said that it was actually an unintended consequence of Title IX. Colleges here just shut down smaller sports rather than investing the time and money to bring them into Title IX compliance. I have no idea if this is true, but that was his explanation.

Title 9 has been rough for smaller men’s sports - like gymnastics and wrestling- since they have been cut to balance the numbers(football takes up so many men’s slots). But I don’t think it can be used to describe women’s college gymnastics situation in Texas, since it is thriving fairly well everywhere else.

 

[profmom]

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Title IX compliance problems are not a women's sports problem. They are a football problem. Any college that decides to stop investing in the enormous expense, human carnage, and collateral bad student behavior that accompanies football will have plenty of resources to support many sports that benefit young athletes of all genders and gender identities.

(The rapidly growing mountain of concussion evidence has finally tipped me over the edge here.)

 

[Madden3]

College football is the third most popular sport in the US after professional football and professional baseball. Yes college football is more popular- much more, than most professional sports in America. Other college sports are not even in the same galaxy. The idea football (immensely popular, even beloved, drawing a racially and ethnically diverse athlete student body to American colleges) would have rationally been sacrificed by university administrations trying to come into compliance with IX rather than men's swimming, wrestling or gymnastics defies logic. It was never going to happen. And the merits of the sport itself (or lack thereof) has nothing to do with it.

Title IX has done good. This is proven by the numbers. It has also done harm. Also proven by the numbers. These facts can coexist- no one is trying to turn this into a "women's sports problem" except those who think rational criticism of Title IX and the call for some common sense reform of Title IX is anti-women. It isn't. In fact Title IX compliance (if it were enforced equitably, and it usually isn't) would also act to reduce and eliminate college programs that are more popular among women than men.

But Title IX is a men's sports problem. Virtually every men’s collegiate sport- including baseball- has lost programs due to Title IX. In the case of some sports, including MAG, the harmful impact of Title IX is likely irreparable and is felt in every level and aspect of the sport. MAG lost 80% of its college programs since passage of Title IX. As a result, American men's gymnastics as a whole is barely holding on.

 

[wandrewsjr]

Northern California has 5 D 1 football programs, 5 D1 women’s gymnastics programs and 2 D1 men’s gymnastics programs. This kind of balance can be achieved, at both large public and private Universities if the Universities see value in the diversity of sports and what they contribute to the college experience.

 

[profmom]

No sport offered exclusively for women eats up anything remotely close to football's average roster of 103 men. If a university is to provide equal opportunities for men and women to play sports, the calculation of numbers of athletes and costs will force a decision between football and other men's sports. It's simple math. Once you do that math, then you can start thinking about whether a school should field a football team and a couple other men's sports or field a wider array of men's sports.

The response to this argument too often is "but football revenue!" However, at most colleges and universities, football pays for itself -- if it does that -- through magic accounting and by not counting things that actually are part of the cost like managing traffic, hiring security, and paying student life staff to clean up the extra messes created every weekend there's a home game. And some of those sold-out stadiums you see in the crowd shots are produced by things like miscellaneous student fees that subsidize low cost or "free" tickets for students. The games played in this arena are truly creative.

And if those in charge of college football cared about diversity, we would see higher graduation rates for student athletes and quite a lot more diversity in college coaching staffs. A lot of those kids are athletes first and only students as a long-distant second afterthought. I have seen the good side of this in a completely unremarkable D1 program that did get their scholarship guys through with an education, but I have also seen for myself and heard from friends about programs that are absolutely detrimental to their players and care not one whit about supporting their academics.

Since the year 2000, almost a dozen colleges have eliminated their football programs. All are still open for business. And I bet if you gave me between $1 and $5 million dollars a year to market a college men's gymnastics team, I could make it popular.

Here's a rundown of the package offered to Temple University's new head coach in December 2016. https://www.seccountry.com/florida/...d-former-florida-dc-geoff-collins-deal-temple Those of you who are NCAA men's gym fans will undoubtedly be aware that legendary coach Fred Turoff, who was Temple's head coach, retired this fall after presiding over the elimination of their NCAA program a few years ago due to university-wide budget cuts.

I used to love football a lot too, so I know this is hard. Hell, I wore a black armband when Art Modell stole the Browns from Cleveland. But I cannot look away from what is right in front of my face across a number of different dimensions.

Sorry for the rant and derail. I will desist.

 

[jenjean70]

Connections Academy is an online school that is well established with NCAA. You can to it privately through international Connections (and pay) or, if you live in a state where there is a public charter set up for Connections, you can attend for free.

Our state has connections academy for free. Many of the boys who home school at gym do connections academy.