Anon Yes Nationals Matters for Recruiting

[Anonymous (92c8)]

Of course the very top gymnasts will get recruited regardless, but the suggestion that DP Nationals “doesn’t really matter that much for college recruiting,” is just wrong.

First off, ANY level of influence is meaningful for something as important as recruiting. Second, it’s another chance to compete, which always matters for recruiting. Third, it’s a chance to compete in a meet that is highly credible/where scores are very legit. In fact, collegegymfans says they base their rankings almost entire off of Nationals.

Finally, it’s a chance to be seen in person. Speaking from experience, my daughter got two offers immediately after walking off the competition floor at Nationals. Both were from schools she had been talking with, but that hadn’t yet decided. They told her that her performance at Nationals was what they needed to make their decision.

Of course it’s not *all* about Nationals, and plenty of athletes will get recruited without going, but it’s just not true to say it doesn’t matter, or doesn’t matter that much.

 

[Anonymous (92c8)]

(And this is why it does matter if girls scoring high 37s don’t qualify due to the way the system is structured.)

 

[Anonymous (8fbf)]

Why are you hiding with an anon post when there's already a thread discussing this? Not cool IMHO.

 

[Anonymous (31df)]

Of course the very top gymnasts will get recruited regardless, but the suggestion that DP Nationals “doesn’t really matter that much for college recruiting,” is just wrong.

I know a girl that scored high 36s on average and did not qualify to nationals but got recruited to a top team

 

[GymnastMomX2]

I somewhat agree with you, however we have had two girls from our gym recently recruited to top D1 teams before ever making nationals. (both did make nationals in junior or senior year AFTER verbally committing). So its not the end-all to recruiting.

I do think it helps, and I know a lot of girls get a bunch of coach follows on Instagram post-nationals.

 

[Anonymous (92c8)]

As far as I know one cannot reply anonymously on CB and I prefer not to share specifics about my kid and her recruiting journey publicly, at least at this point. But I thought that the info in general would be useful to the discussion. That’s why I started a new thread but feel free to ignore if you find it uncool. And if the mods want to remove, they can feel free. I’m sharing this for the benefit of others, not for myself.

 

[JBS]

there's already a thread discussing this

Can you link to the above discussion?

 

[Anonymous (ff80)]

Recruiting and Nationals are linked, but shuffling regions won’t fix recruiting or give anyone more opportunity or exposure. That’s an illusion. It’s just rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.

The changing reality of college gymnastics means that top rosters will soon be all former/current elites and international athletes. Athletes who used to be in contention for top 25 teams will be scrambling for spots down to 50, and everyone else will either feel lucky to make a team or will decide that the geographic, academic and financial compromises required to do college gymnastics at smaller or less competitive programs just isn’t worth it. The reality is that you could probably fill the entire NCAA with quality level 10s from just one region. There just aren’t enough spots.

Gymnastics families and coaches are focused on elite and college as their reason for staying in the sport from a young age, yet there are fewer opportunities past HS than almost any other sport (except for squash, MAG and maybe wrestling?). I think it would be healthy for the sport to shift away from chasing college recruiting and focus on longevity and more depth of opportunity.

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Related thread --

G

Women New Regions?

Wednesday at 12:51 AM

Recently there was an article from college gym news that addressed the empty spots at DP nationals depending on the region. In the article, they rearranged the regions in a way that they believe would be more fair. Keeping in mind that it is in no way official, how would we feel about this if it was changed?

Data Deep Dive: Reorganizing USAG Level 10 Regions - College Gym News

All the recent articles published on College Gym News, including event coverage, recruiting news, features, data deep dives and more.

collegegymnews.com

• gymfan1
• nationals recruiting region regionals
• Replies: 23
• Forum: Women's Artistic Gymnastics (WAG)

 

[GymnastMomX2]

Recruiting and Nationals are linked, but shuffling regions won’t fix recruiting or give anyone more opportunity or exposure. That’s an illusion. It’s just rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.

I agree for the top girls, but what about mid girls scrambling for a walk-on spot on a lower ranked team, you don't think making nationals could help them get exposure to coaches?

 

[Anonymous (ff80)]

I agree for the top girls, but what about mid girls scrambling for a walk-on spot on a lower ranked team, you don't think making nationals could help them get exposure to coaches?

I don’t think those programs all have the funds or bandwidth to be showing up to nationals. They’re forming relationships in their local area and recruiting based on clubs they already know, or swinging by meets when they’re already on the road in-season. And then flip side is that they’re also looking at athletes who are proactively marketing themselves to these programs. I know an athlete who signed with a lower-ranked (but not basement-level or new program) program before her first level 10 season because she emailed the coaches, set up her own visit on a family trip, and had really specific reasons for why X school and what gaps she’d fill in the program.

Waiting to be seen at nationals is to passive in such a competitive environment. I think in the future it will only serve to confirm choices that coaches have already made.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Ill stand by my statement that making nationals is just not as important is many make it out to be. As I said in the other thread, that's not to say it does not help/improve a recruits chance. My position is that if one is going to put more "effort" in to making nationals OR having a strong season, I would say there is more impact on the strong season than making nationals for college recruiting.

Everyone has their personal stories. And that's great that your daughter had that experience after participating in nationals. But do not confuse correlation with causation. You cant prove that if she didn't make nationals she wouldn't have ended up in the same place. All we can do is offer our opinions and experiences (which you kindly have shared) and participants can make their own inferences.

 

[Coach Kate]

As a fan and mom of littles who won't be doing DP, with no dog in this fight whatsoever, I'm enjoying both threads of conversation. I live and used to coach in Region 2, but in one of the most densely populated parts of the region. I do have friends who had family who lived in other parts of the region who are dying for more gyms and more opportunities though.

 

[JBS]

Lot's of talk in this thread about AA scores... let's be honest... gymnasts are not recruited for AA scores... they are recruited for individual events. Having an all-arounder is secondary to the team. Let's face it... 9.9 + 9.9 + 9.9 + 8.3 = 38.0.

 

[Anonymous (45dd)]

Lot's of talk in this thread about AA scores... let's be honest... gymnasts are not recruited for AA scores... they are recruited for individual events. Having an all-arounder is secondary to the team. Let's face it... 9.9 + 9.9 + 9.9 + 8.3 = 38.0.

This is SO true, I know a girl who was highly recruited by a top 5 program because of her vault. She competed it at ONE meet as a sophmore before getting injured and out for the season, still got called on June 15th, still got an official visit and an offer. She competed one level 10 meet... didn't score over a 35 I don't think, didn't have a 10.0 sv on all other events, but her vault is phenomenal and thats what mattered to that team.

 

[JBS]

This is SO true, I know a girl who was highly recruited by a top 5 program because of her vault. She competed it at ONE meet as a sophmore before getting injured and out for the season, still got called on June 15th, still got an official visit and an offer. She competed one level 10 meet... didn't score over a 35 I don't think, didn't have a 10.0 sv on all other events, but her vault is phenomenal and thats what mattered to that team.

Yes... and even if they are competing AA... they were evaluated on 4 events individually by the college coaches.

 

[Anonymous (aebd)]

Interesting topic and slightly different than the OG post. I am curious, what individual events, in people experiences, are the most sought after by colleges. If an athlete is going to really excel at one event what event or 2 do most colleges look for? I realize it will be dependent on what the roosters at each school look like but in general is there an event or 2 that seems to be often needed across the board? It seems to me right now vault might be the big event everyone is looking for. Do college coaches usually also attend the all star session of nationals where event specialists that might be in very hard regions or age categories compete?

 

[Anonymous (45dd)]

I am curious, what individual events, in people experiences, are the most sought after by colleges. If an athlete is going to really excel at one event what event or 2 do most colleges look for?

I think bars and vault, but curious others opinions.

 

[JBS]

I think bars and vault, but curious others opinions.

The ones they can score 9.9's on. Other than that... the events that they need to fill holes in their lineup.

If you want an event that is really sought after as a whole right now... it would be vault.

 

[Anonymous (efb5)]

People always say vault but beam falls have cost teams their spots in Regionals and Nationals … think back to when 3 beam falls by Georgia cost Jay Clark his job (albeit he failed up) and more recently, last year when Oklahoma had multiple falls on beam …