WAG Is it possible for me to become a college gymnast?

[Gymnasticsismylife]

Neither of my parents know a lot about gymnastics. Because of this, I stayed on rec for a while. When I was 8 I convinced my mom to let me try out for the competitive team. I became a Xcel Bronze. I didn’t get to finish that season because of Covid. After that, I did competitive dance for 2 years. When I was 11, I decided I wanted to do gymnastics again. They put me on preteam because I was too old for Bronze. At 12, I became an Xcel Silver and got to finish the season. We are heading into summer practice and I’m 13. The current plan is to go to Gold. But, I have really fallen in love with college gymnastics. I could see myself doing it in the future. The only problem is that I would be 13/14 next year and only in Gold. I’m a little bit ahead and have most Gold skills already, so if I did enough privates I might be able to skip it? I would also be willing to do JO. I don’t know what path to take or if it’s even possible. I don’t know if asking my coach would be stupid if it’s really not possible for me. Does anyone know how or if I could get there?

 

[Coach Kate]

You could look for a college with a club program or near a gym with opportunities for adults, but NCAA gymnastics would be extremely unlikely at this point. I would talk with your coaches if you are interested in DP (it's not called JO anymore), but just know that you can stay involved in the sport as long as you want to. A gym near us has a whole team that competes in adult gymnastics.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

. I don’t know if asking my coach would be stupid if it’s really not possible for me

In my opinion it's never stupid to ask so long as you're open and realistic. In this case, I think NCAA is very unlikely. However, if you talk to your coach and keep an open mind they can let you know what options are available. I agree that college club gymnastics would probably be a great idea when the time comes.

I think it's always good to be open about what you'd want and why, so long as you listen respectfully to the answer. Sometimes you'll get the answer "what you want isn't possible, but here's a good alternative for you". This true for other stuff than gymnastics too.

You can also take a moment to think about why you love college gymnastics. The team spirit? The heat of competition? Competing for a crowd? You can definitely get that outside of NCAA. A massive crowd? Being on TV? You may want to look for a way to get that outside of gym. (Though being a bit famous has huge downsides too...)

As for privates, I would not take privates to try and get into NCAA gymnastics at this point. If you're stuck on a skill and feel a private would be a fun way to help that, then go for it. However, otherwise I would worry you're going to burn yourself out for a goal that's kind of out of reach. From what I read here, NCAA teams look for recruits who have done multiple years of level 10. think you could be super talented for all I know, but you're just too late for that. (Gold is probably more like level 4/5?)

Anyway, in short: talk to your coach but know you'll probably have to settle for alternatives.

 

[twinmomma]

Don't count out Acrobatics and Tumbling. LOTS of college spots for solid athletes - D1-D3 and even NAIA.