My four years as a D3 gymnast were, without a doubt, the most rewarding and enjoyable four years of my gymnastics career. For me, it was everything college gymnastics was hyped up to be: a fun, team-oriented atmosphere with positive coaching where I was able to fall in love with gymnastics again. I was NOT a superstar club gymnast (a good L9 with some L10 skills on 3 events), and struggled with mental blocks, self-confidence, and consistency. I know I would have cracked under the pressure of a top D1 program. Instead, my confidence in myself as an athlete, and more importantly, as a person, grew tremendously with the support of my D3 teammates and coaches. I learned several new skills during college and was doing the best, most consistent gymnastics of my life during my senior year. I also developed valuable leadership and communication skills that I use daily in my post-gymnastics life... Oh yeah, and I got a fabulous education and was able to take advantage of all the great things my school had to offer!
This is not to say that it was all sunshine and rainbows. It can be hard to manage your time as a student-athlete and it can be hard to be a part of a team of 15-20 opinionated, driven, college-aged girls. And yes, being taken out of a line-up hurts and having to deliver a hit routine when your team needs it is stressful. But for me, the positives of the whole experience far outweigh the negatives, and I wouldn't trade those four years for anything.
I strongly urge everyone with a potential college gymnast to check out D3 schools. The gymnastics at these schools is getting better and better each year (especially as early recruiting gets more and more out of hand), and the gymnasts have a ton of fun training and competing. Whitewater and Ursinus have recently put out preseason videos which give a taste of the current skill level in D3.
