MAG College scholarships and difficulty finding a boys team in my area

[Joe S]

Joe, I don't know what your financial situation is like, but it occurred to me that maybe you could travel to a mens coach for privates/camps.
For example; Chicago is 5 hrs drive. find a school willing to train you 1 or 2 lessons..
Would cost $200. maybe you could even work out Video/chat lessons. I know it's done with other sports.
Would take some work , and begging, on your part to find someone.

That's a pretty good idea! But a really hard idea to pull out. You see with my parents, it wasn't the usual "parent puts kid in gymnastics" situation. I was the one who wanted to do it and they were skeptical at first. They see it more as a hobby than a passion. That's probably more on my part because I'm not as open about it because they would rather me be a doctor and my mom is always so afraid that I'm going to extremely hurt myself. She doesn't even like it when I tumble in the grass because she's afraid I'll hurt my hands. I honestly would love to give to Chicago or some far place once I learn how to drive. My parents will probably find it inconvenient. My dad might be for it because he recently told me that he doesn't care what I do just as long as a get a scholarship. Which is nice and encouraging but also puts pressure on me because gymnastics is my passion (besides track and field which I started just this spring; getting an educational scholarship is there too i guess) but I don't know if I can get myself to college level if I don't start pushing boundaries and sacrificing. And it's kind of scary because time is going by fast.

 

[BlairBob]

A men's gymnastics scholarship is unlike given the state of Men's gymnastics. Maybe if you are a L10 by your junior/senior year.

Track&Field seem way more possible or cheerleading if they give those to guys.

 

[sbonham]

Joe,
I'm not sure where you are located but it definitely sounds like you need a gym with better equipment (Really?? playground rings?!) - and a program that has a coach that is familiar with the USAG competitive level routines.

At age 15 - practicing one hour a week you are not at all likely to succeed (why has someone not shared this?! I don't want to be the bearer of bad news - but blunt honesty is needed here.) on on levels (Level 8, 9, or 10) where NCAA coaches will look at you seriously as a potential recruit. That could change with excellent coaching, ample practice time (a minimum of 10-15 hours per week), and good training facilities - which would include pits.

All that said - competition for a Men's NCAA scholarship is HIGHLY competitive nowadays. Most men's programs have 4-6 full scholarships - and those are often sub-divided. With 16 teams that a max of around 96 scholarships... and only around a quarter of those (about 24) open up each year as seniors graduate. So - getting into the top 24 range nationally is tough!!! NOT impossible(!) - I've seen it happen.

Having a strong high school academic background is going to be important as well... you'll be competing with the cream of the crop in both athletic and academic areas.

On the "cha-ching" (Gym Expense) bit. Don't be discouraged. I was in a similar situation when I was in high school. I started at age 15 also BTW - so I do understand your concerns. It was years (decades!) ago... but I taught kids recreational classes at my gym five days a week, helped set-up and tear down the gym every weekend (it was a YMCA program) and that was a trade-off for my training, meet entry and team travel fees. Find a great gym with a good coach. Ask about "scholarship" possibilities at that gym - trade instruction/gym maintenance (whatever!) so that you might have a chance at making your dream come true. The cheerleading/diving thing - that might serve as a fall-back tho those scholarships are competitive as well.

On the request for level assessment: USAG Levels this skill is used in)
FLOOR:
Cartwheel; (4 & 5)
back walkover
front walkover
handstand (Step to handstand... roll; 4 & 5 - - 360° pirouette; 5 & 6
back handspring
round- off back handspring; Bonus in 4, required in 5, 6, & 7
round-off double back handspring Bonus in 5
front handspring; required in 5, 6 & 7
back tuck; required in 6 & 7

POMMEL HORSE:
around the worlds??? Are these double leg circles - I don't think so....
pike hold (L-sit?)
tuck hold
pendular swings to leg cut forward and backward - I call it cut-swing-cut you said "those ones where you lift one arm and kick a leg over and back and then do it on the other side"
All these are progressions for level 4 and above

RINGS:
Straddle hold??? (don't know what this is...)
Pike hold (L-sit?)
pike to inverted (hang?)
Tuck hold
Back roll (backward drop to inverted hang from support? - or skin the cat (to German hang)?)
inverted hang?

VAULT:
Front handspring; 6
round-off; 7

PARALLEL BARS:
straddle swings
pike hold (L-sit?); 4 and up
tuck hold?
shoulder stand
shoulder stand to roll
shoulder hops? All the above are progressions for levels 4 and up

HIGH BAR:
Pullover; 4, 5 & 6
back hip circle; 4 & 5
tap swings are getting high almost for them giants; 4-6
close to kip; 5 -7
front hip circle (not used much in men's high bar)
muscle ups; this is a Stills Rings skill - level 5

Send me your email address (mine is sbonham at georgiasouthern dot edu) and I'll send you a complimentary Ganba Gymnastics Illustrated Guide (Sequence Illustrations of USAG Men's Compulsory Routines Levels 4-7). It includes the names of the skills and should be helpful.

All the Best,
Steve

sbonham@ georgiasouthern.edu

 

[BlairBob]

Steve, I believe I tried. Deaf ears or not what wants to be heard.


"Competing NCAA doubtful unless you bump your difficulty up and could compete as a Floor/Vault specialist which are a dime a dozen in MAG."

I guess I should have just said, "Lottery odds, mate. Good luck."

 

[ZJsMom]

Most 5'10 MAG gymnasts are only to known to do well on Floor and Vault and perhaps High Bar though it would be possible maybe on PB. SR and PH doubtful.

BlairBob, I know you know what you're talking about, but I think of tall guys as good on PH, e.g., Louis Smith.

I agree with the poster who suggested cheer though. If you're a good tumbler and big enough to base, there are college cheer programs that will give you money. It's unfortunate, but there's not a lot of money available for guys in NCAA. My ds had a team mate who was a level 10 and qualified to nationals multiple times and he ended up getting a significant scholarship to do cheer. The ironic thing is that his sister went to the same scho

 

[profmom]

According to Wikipedia (yeah, yeah, I know), Christian Berki is 5'10". But according to DS's coach, the build is what matters for PH. It's the guys with the long arms who tend to excel, all else being equal.

 

[skschlag]

Oh d is screwed. short arms. maybe we can stretch him?

 

[BlairBob]

Actually short arms are better for the apparatus such as rings though it doesn't matter much for PB or HB.

I'm personally not sure if short arms or long arms matter much on PH because I never bothered to measure any of my guy's armspans.

I actually don't think you would want longer arms on PH as it would make a longer lever.

 

[Joe S]

Joe,
I'm not sure where you are located but it definitely sounds like you need a gym with better equipment (Really?? playground rings?!) - and a program that has a coach that is familiar with the USAG competitive level routines.

At age 15 - practicing one hour a week you are not at all likely to succeed (why has someone not shared this?! I don't want to be the bearer of bad news - but blunt honesty is needed here.) on on levels (Level 8, 9, or 10) where NCAA coaches will look at you seriously as a potential recruit. That could change with excellent coaching, ample practice time (a minimum of 10-15 hours per week), and good training facilities - which would include pits.

All that said - competition for a Men's NCAA scholarship is HIGHLY competitive nowadays. Most men's programs have 4-6 full scholarships - and those are often sub-divided. With 16 teams that a max of around 96 scholarships... and only around a quarter of those (about 24) open up each year as seniors graduate. So - getting into the top 24 range nationally is tough!!! NOT impossible(!) - I've seen it happen.

Having a strong high school academic background is going to be important as well... you'll be competing with the cream of the crop in both athletic and academic areas.

On the "cha-ching" (Gym Expense) bit. Don't be discouraged. I was in a similar situation when I was in high school. I started at age 15 also BTW - so I do understand your concerns. It was years (decades!) ago... but I taught kids recreational classes at my gym five days a week, helped set-up and tear down the gym every weekend (it was a YMCA program) and that was a trade-off for my training, meet entry and team travel fees. Find a great gym with a good coach. Ask about "scholarship" possibilities at that gym - trade instruction/gym maintenance (whatever!) so that you might have a chance at making your dream come true. The cheerleading/diving thing - that might serve as a fall-back tho those scholarships are competitive as well.

On the request for level assessment: USAG Levels this skill is used in)
FLOOR:
Cartwheel; (4 & 5)
back walkover
front walkover
handstand (Step to handstand... roll; 4 & 5 - - 360° pirouette; 5 & 6
back handspring
round- off back handspring; Bonus in 4, required in 5, 6, & 7
round-off double back handspring Bonus in 5
front handspring; required in 5, 6 & 7
back tuck; required in 6 & 7
POMMEL HORSE:
around the worlds??? Are these double leg circles - I don't think so....
pike hold (L-sit?)
tuck hold
pendular swings to leg cut forward and backward - I call it cut-swing-cut you said "those ones where you lift one arm and kick a leg over and back and then do it on the other side"
All these are progressions for level 4 and above

RINGS:
Straddle hold??? (don't know what this is...)
Pike hold (L-sit?)
pike to inverted (hang?)
Tuck hold
Back roll (backward drop to inverted hang from support? - or skin the cat (to German hang)?)
inverted hang?

VAULT:
Front handspring; 6
round-off; 7

PARALLEL BARS:
straddle swings
pike hold (L-sit?); 4 and up
tuck hold?
shoulder stand
shoulder stand to roll
shoulder hops? All the above are progressions for levels 4 and up

HIGH BAR:
Pullover; 4, 5 & 6
back hip circle; 4 & 5
tap swings are getting high almost for them giants; 4-6
close to kip; 5 -7
front hip circle (not used much in men's high bar)
muscle ups; this is a Stills Rings skill - level 5

Send me your email address (mine is sbonham at georgiasouthern dot edu) and I'll send you a complimentary Ganba Gymnastics Illustrated Guide (Sequence Illustrations of USAG Men's Compulsory Routines Levels 4-7). It includes the names of the skills and should be helpful.

All the Best,
Steve

sbonham@ georgiasouthern.edu

This was super helpful and well put . I really loved this reply. And everyone please be honest with me yeah it hurts me but I can take it. I'm not gonna cry or become depressed. I need to hear these things sometime. Sorry about my inability to name skills Steve. I guess that shows I really do need to change up gyms.

This is my e-mail btw [email protected]

Also how well did you do and how far did you get in your gymnastics career? (You know since you were 15 like me) What was your training like?

 

[sbonham]

Morning Joe.
I'll get your Illustrated Guide to you shortly - check your email for the attached PDF.

On your question about my gymnastics experience...
I did fairly well - but that was back when there were 100+ men's NCAA programs. I went to the JO Nationals as a Jr & Sr in high school. My coach at the YMCA was Robert Dillard. We were both learning gymnastics together it seemed - and it was wonderful. Coach Dillard was awesome! He provided us with many many opportunities to learn. We attended clinics all over the southeast (I grew up in B'ham, AL), and he invited many really talented coaches and judges to stop by our gym to visit and train with us. He would often have us over to his home to watch gymnastics films - and he sought out all kinds of teaching resources. Gymnastics magazines and books in particular. Coach Dillard went on to a successful career as the women's coach at Jacksonville State University and at Auburn University.

Training in HS; we worked out from 6-9 (I taught classes M-Th from 3-6) M-F and I usually worked out about 3-4 hours on Sundays. Our gym was fairly primitive by today's standards. Few mats. Zero skill cushions. Pits weren't even imagined at that time. No high bar for my first two years... I practiced HB on one PB rail. A PH that was ancient - seriously - a 1912 Medart that was covered in duct tape because the leather had dry-rotted. STEEL (not still) rings.... ALL that said - you shouldn't have to suffer thru that kind of situation.

I received an athletic scholarship at Louisiana State University (first two years at LSU New Orleans then transferred to LSU - Baton Rouge when coach Armando Vega moved there). I was at LSU in '75 and '76 when we were team runner-up at NCAAs. I was a fair All Arounder (tho I didn't really understand PH swing until after graduation!) but did get in the top 10 NCAA rankings on HB my senior year averaging around 9.5 (back then that was a respectable score!).

I graduated with a BS in Biomechanics/Kinesiology and taught on the high school and college levels - for a decade - then taught biomechanics and coaching techniques courses for six years. Returned to college to do doctoral work in Instructional Design - was a faculty developer for the remaining 14 years of my career. Now retired - and volunteer coaching again at a local gym. Gymnastics has been a wonderful influence in my life, and provided me with many opportunities I would not have had otherwise - and I hope that you will feel so too.

Best of luck,

Steve