WAG Gymnastics recruiting services

[Muddlethru]

Congratulations to your daughter! Quite the achievement. Since there are no scholarships, isn’t everyone a walkon? How many recruits can the coaches support? Was your DD also looking at non ivy programs at that point?

Ivies hook is because it is a highly academic School and extremely selective in their admission, among the lowest admission rates in the country and maybe even the world, they offer their recruited athletes a Letter of Support. They are allowed a number of Letters and this gives the recruited athlete special accommodations in the admission process. They still need higher GPAs and SAT/ACT scores because they need to know the athlete can handle their course load but they are not held in the same extremely selective admission process as regular students.

Yale has been known to reject students with perfect SAT scores, above 4.0 GPA with APs and all honors along with a long list of accomplishments. So for many, it is a way in that may otherwise be impossible. Yale's admission rate is around 6% compared to let's say some top ranking gymnastics team colleges who have admission rates in the 80%. Bingham Young though not a top team but D1 has an acceptance rate of 95%. I have to state there is nothing wrong with school with high admission rates. It is what you do with that education after that matters. I am merely answering the above question.

So in the Ivies those a walk on gets no support from the coaches. Cornell and U Penn have larger teams because the coaches let gymnasts who get in on their own join the team. They usually never compete but they attend practice and considered a team member.

 

[tomtnt]

For this who think ivy recruits weaker gymnasts, raegan walker going to Yale. 3rd AA at nastia and 1st in region 1 regionals with 38.9!

 

[inthecar]

Did your DD express interest in the IVY’s early on? When did she initially contact the coaches?

Thank you! No, she did not have serious interest in attending an Ivy until junior year. It’s a process and it evolved considerably over time.

While she’s always been a strong student, it really wasn’t until she gained first hand knowledge of the expectations and priorities that a D1 school places on its athletes that she realized that wasn’t going to be a good fit for her. She did not want to sacrifice pursuing an “easier” major to compete gym. We know athletes that have downgraded their major after realizing they couldn’t balance both the academic and athletic demands.

Also, it’s now common for D1 gymnasts to be on campus in June, instead of at their club gym until fall. Studying abroad becomes difficult under this new “expectation.”

It became obvious which schools would be a good fit after she listed out her priorities. She was able to articulate very clearly that she wanted to be at a school that prioritized academics over athletics. To answer your question about when she started having conversations, it was during sophomore year.

Her biggest challenge was her list of schools became instantly small after she realized what she wanted. I encouraged her to keep an open mind during the process and if there was interest, to keep her options open.

 

[CLgym]

So the issue of event specialists has come up several times in this thread... and I'm not sure I totally understand how this works. (Admittedly my DD's journey is unlikely to lead to college gym, but I am still curious). When referring to an event specialist (let's say... in bars), are we talking about a L10 gymnast who competes all events but has one notable strength, or are we talking about a gymnast who competes L10 but only in that one event (bars)? If it's the latter, how and when do coaches/gymnasts make the choice to "drop" the bad event(s) and focus on the strength? Should a gymnast remain an AA gymnast for as long as possible even if it means repeating levels and potentially not making to L10 "in time" (or at all)? Does anyone have personal experience with college gymnastics and an event specialist? I assume the recruiting process is much different for an event specialist (happens later, and no scholarship money)?? Thanks for explaining....

 

[bookworm]

In our experience, event specialists were decent on 1 or 2 events as a 9 but generally couldn’t do bars or would get a 6 as a level 10 so they stayed 9.

 

[bookworm]

We knew one who went to Bridgeport and did floor but the others just became regular college students

 

[tomtnt]

Always interesting to me why colleges place so much emphasis on recruiting AA when most gymnasts won’t compete AA in college.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if at some point in a level 10 career gymnasts could choose to specialize on 1-2 great events- much in the same way that you have specialists in nearly every other college sports.

I guess though, the best specialists tend to also be the best AA in many cases...

We knew one who went to Bridgeport and did floor but the others just became regular college students

 

[Muddlethru]

Always interesting to me why colleges place so much emphasis on recruiting AA when most gymnasts won’t compete AA in college.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if at some point in a level 10 career gymnasts could choose to specialize on 1-2 great events- much in the same way that you have specialists in nearly every other college sports.

I guess though, the best specialists tend to also be the best AA in many cases...

Most coaches, if not all, I’ve spoken with indicated they want athletes to have two strong events and perhaps provide depth on a third event. I think what you are saying above holds true in the top 10-20 gymnastics teams because they can recruit the top gymnasts, elites etc. who have these capabilities. The rest recruit specialists.

 

[QueenBee]

Always interesting to me why colleges place so much emphasis on recruiting AA when most gymnasts won’t compete AA in college.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if at some point in a level 10 career gymnasts could choose to specialize on 1-2 great events- much in the same way that you have specialists in nearly every other college sports.

I guess though, the best specialists tend to also be the best AA in many cases...

In large part, the recruiting of strong AAs is most probably due to the fact each team can only have 12 headcount spots in Div 1 (full scholarships). Each team has to put up 6 routines on every event during season to be competitive. If you recruit specialists and they get injured, it is incredibly difficult to replace them unless you have some amazing AAs as well.

Teams can and do have walk-on teammates as well, but those numbers vary team by team based upon what kind of budget the team has to train/compete walk-ons. Some teams have large walk-on components (UCLA comes to mind) but it looks like most teams might have 2-6 walk ons total.

You may well become an event specialist during college (few compete the AA) but most colleges want to flexibility of strong AAs. I think Peng Peng Lee is a good example of the type of gymnast who can get recruited knowing they will only be able to compete a couple of events (international elite) at those top 10 kind of programs.

 

[doublestrike]

The role of a recruiter has been of interest to us over the last few years, our gymnast is probably an mid to lower upper level 10, qualified to nationals and good results, strong region, she's a junior now. She's received interest from schools outside of top 20, and could get a scholarship in that range, but as she's matured, her opinions have also grown. If she was offered by some schools as a freshman (she did not), she may have committed, now she is indicating she wants to walk on to one of the top programs (where she's received positive interest) unless she gets an offer from 1-2 schools for a full ride (in the top 20). She's only communicating to about 3 schools now. Hence, she knows what she wants now and I don't think a recruiter would help us. One of the schools told us they believe recruiters are helpful to the gymnasts because they are persistent and they will generally take their calls if they are reputable. We want her to be happy, and we can afford the schools she's considering to walk on to, but we want to see if she will be happy working very hard to make a lineup in one or 2 events vs. really having a chance to be an AA'r. This discussion has been helpful, because she's got great grades, but does not want to take more AP courses, and she may have looked at Stanford otherwise.

 

[bookworm]

The role of a recruiter has been of interest to us over the last few years, our gymnast is probably an mid to lower upper level 10, qualified to nationals and good results, strong region, she's a junior now. She's received interest from schools outside of top 20, and could get a scholarship in that range, but as she's matured, her opinions have also grown. If she was offered by some schools as a freshman (she did not), she may have committed, now she is indicating she wants to walk on to one of the top programs (where she's received positive interest) unless she gets an offer from 1-2 schools for a full ride (in the top 20). She's only communicating to about 3 schools now. Hence, she knows what she wants now and I don't think a recruiter would help us. One of the schools told us they believe recruiters are helpful to the gymnasts because they are persistent and they will generally take their calls if they are reputable. We want her to be happy, and we can afford the schools she's considering to walk on to, but we want to see if she will be happy working very hard to make a lineup in one or 2 events vs. really having a chance to be an AA'r. This discussion has been helpful, because she's got great grades, but does not want to take more AP courses, and she may have looked at Stanford otherwise.

The things I'd be leery of in this situation are : (and #1 is my biggest worry):

1. how much does she really want to actually compete (on the competitive floor) on a regular basis vs practicing up the ying yang and never competing? A walk on on a top tier team is highly unlikely to actually compete. She truly has to love the school she is walking on to in case she never does gymnastics there.

2. She could work her hardest at a school and STILL never make a line up for a number of reasons....we once saw Penn St warming up an athlete for floor (she walked on to the team but was comparable to their other athletes on FX) and she was pulled and replaced by "a scholarship athlete because donors don't want to see walk ons competing when scholarship athletes are sitting" ; schools are always looking for the next new shiny gymnast to replace the ones they already have (scholarshipped or not); her best may still not be enough for the line up of the school she's walked on to ( and that even happens to scholarshipped kids)...

3. Just because she decides to walk on to a top tier team that doesn't mean they will keep her on the roster for all 4 years. Teams often cut their numbers, and walk ons and scholarship kids can be told their time is up.

Schools out of the top 20, who may offer her a scholarship, can be a viable option and she would likely compete. And I will say this, most kids are recruited as all arounders and many go on to compete less than 4 events ...again for various reasons...the school will put up the best 6 kids on each event and if your daughter is 7th or 8th on a few, she's not doing the AA.

 

[gymgal]

The role of a recruiter has been of interest to us over the last few years, our gymnast is probably an mid to lower upper level 10, qualified to nationals and good results, strong region, she's a junior now. She's received interest from schools outside of top 20, and could get a scholarship in that range, but as she's matured, her opinions have also grown. If she was offered by some schools as a freshman (she did not), she may have committed, now she is indicating she wants to walk on to one of the top programs (where she's received positive interest) unless she gets an offer from 1-2 schools for a full ride (in the top 20). She's only communicating to about 3 schools now. Hence, she knows what she wants now and I don't think a recruiter would help us. One of the schools told us they believe recruiters are helpful to the gymnasts because they are persistent and they will generally take their calls if they are reputable. We want her to be happy, and we can afford the schools she's considering to walk on to, but we want to see if she will be happy working very hard to make a lineup in one or 2 events vs. really having a chance to be an AA'r. This discussion has been helpful, because she's got great grades, but does not want to take more AP courses, and she may have looked at Stanford otherwise.

I have to say, one major regret we have about the whole recruiting process is that we didn't cast a wider net from the beginning. I know your dd is saying she is only interested in just those 3 schools but what if they don't offer her a spot whether scholarship or walk-on? Is she ok will walking away from gymnastics or will she pursue other schools at that point? If it is the latter, then she needs to continue to communicate with other schools. If an injury occurs and it takes her out of this competition season or summer/fall training, then coaches who once had interest may no longer. It happens all the time and can be really disheartening when you are betting only on a few schools. Also, I would have the conversation regarding what Bookworm was saying about possibly getting no competition time vs choosing a lower ranked school where she may start as a freshman and compete multiple events. My dd had always said she didn't really care if she competed - she just wanted to be part of that team but the summer before her senior year, reality hit that she only had one more season and she suddenly flipped and really wanted to continue to compete. At that point, she was scrambling to make new connections with other coaches where she would have a better chance. It worked out in the end but it caused a lot more stress than if she had been open to other options in the beginning - including moving further away from home.

 

[doublestrike]

Of course, all this is moot if she's not healthy, whether scholarship or not, fingers crossed, she will remain healthy! She knows the type of school she wants and I can't change that, I agree with her, that she has identified the type of environment she would be happy in. So in direct answer to the initial question of whether a recruiter is necessary, given my D's preferences and her skill set, I'm better off saving the $3500 because we may need to make some last minute visits to other schools that fit her profile if she changes her mind and we are scrambling!

 

[Gymmamabear]

So to add on to this (Sorry, I have been away from this site forever). Lets say your child is a multiple year L10, is very very good one one event. Decent at 2 events, say finishes never first but 2nd-6th on this most of the time, and one even she is absolutely horrific at. Say they utterly are terrible on beam, wonderful on bars and decent on vault and floor. Would that girl with one terrible event have a shot at college? Or would constantly getting in the high 8's (so never a super high AA at the big meets, always finishing 7th-3rdish) kill colleges from looking.

I see this scenario in so many girls with one very weak event and wonder how it works.

 

[Muddlethru]

So to add on to this (Sorry, I have been away from this site forever). Lets say your child is a multiple year L10, is very very good one one event. Decent at 2 events, say finishes never first but 2nd-6th on this most of the time, and one even she is absolutely horrific at. Say they utterly are terrible on beam, wonderful on bars and decent on vault and floor. Would that girl with one terrible event have a shot at college? Or would constantly getting in the high 8's (so never a super high AA at the big meets, always finishing 7th-3rdish) kill colleges from looking.

I see this scenario in so many girls with one very weak event and wonder how it works.

Any L10 has a shot at college gym. You just have to be realistic with the colleges you pursue, make sure you pursue the colleges ( i.e., send emails, updates, videos, phone calls, visit the campus, establish some kind of relationship with the coaches). Most top 20 teams might want all arounders but like I’ve mentioned above the rest want two strong events and maybe provide depth on a third event. The chances of getting into a college team also depends on the pool of gymnasts that year and what events they are looking to strengthen.

 

[Gigi]

Any L10 has a shot at college gym. You just have to be realistic with the colleges you pursue, make sure you pursue the colleges ( i.e., send emails, updates, videos, phone calls, visit the campus, establish some kind of relationship with the coaches). Most top 20 teams might want all arounders but like I’ve mentioned above the rest want two strong events and maybe provide depth on a third event. The chances of getting into a college team also depends on the pool of gymnasts that year and what events they are looking to strengthen.

Since I have been paying attention to college ranking just the last few years, the top 15 schools are usually consistent, but beyond it can be pretty wild. One might identify schools with ranking in the sweet spot range but then next year some may jump to pretty high ranking where she would never have pursued, then the next year some might go down 10 spots. It is really hard to know where they would rank when you are a junior

 

[Gigi]

I didn't mean to post it yet.....don't know how it happened

I meant to say it is really hard to know where they rank when you graduate if recruiting starts years ahead. We know one girl started at a school that jumped from low 40s to 20s in the year she started.

 

[tomtnt]

I think it depends on:

1) which schools: top 10 versus 10-20 versus 20-50

2) which events: being great at bars and vault seems to bring more value than beam and floor.

3) how great they are at those particular great apparatus: 10.0 SV Vault? Multiple E-passes on Floor? natural bar swingers with multiple releases?

4) how well they do at State/Regional - being weak on 1 event hurts when it comes to qualifying for nationals where most potential recruits will get noticed. so if they can't make it to Nationals, it's important to do extremely well in your best events at regular season meets and state/regional meets.

So to add on to this (Sorry, I have been away from this site forever). Lets say your child is a multiple year L10, is very very good one one event. Decent at 2 events, say finishes never first but 2nd-6th on this most of the time, and one even she is absolutely horrific at. Say they utterly are terrible on beam, wonderful on bars and decent on vault and floor. Would that girl with one terrible event have a shot at college? Or would constantly getting in the high 8's (so never a super high AA at the big meets, always finishing 7th-3rdish) kill colleges from looking.

I see this scenario in so many girls with one very weak event and wonder how it works.

 

[Muddlethru]

I didn't mean to post it yet.....don't know how it happened

I meant to say it is really hard to know where they rank when you graduate if recruiting starts years ahead. We know one girl started at a school that jumped from low 40s to 20s in the year she started.

There are some fluctuation on ranking. But not as significant as you think. The top 30 teams usually stay in the top 30. The teams may have “bad” and good years but the coaches will typically recruit the same caliber of gymnasts. The team rank is only one aspect of determining what schools to pursue. Don’t be too concentrated on one aspect. There are a lot of factors that come play. I suggest casting a wide net. But typically the top 40 teams will recruit top gymnasts, getting 37s. If you typically score 35s and lower, you’re better off concentrating on 50 to 80 teams. Throw in a couple top 40 just in case you have a very strong event.

 

[doublestrike]

Just an update for some of you in the same position, my gymnast has been invited to official visits to her top 2 choices, she's excited, and so am I. They're very neck and neck, one offers more realistic competition time, possible AA and she's really excited to go to the football game, which will be a unique experience. The other is a team she's very familiar with, been on same club teams with many gymnasts, etc., but will have to battle for a line-up spot, no shot at AA, solid chance at one event. She's kind of a late bloomer in some ways but is considered a strong level 10 now as a rising senior (JO's, state and regional titles, over 9.5 on 3 events) and received a good amount of interest from Ivies, SEC and Pac 12. No interest as a freshman. It started as a sophomore, but these top 2 choices did not start calling until summer after her sophomore year and a strong JO finish that year and more interest with a consistent junior year. We'll see where she ends up.