The collegiate gymnastics season has begun. Many of you non-US fans are unfamiliar with how it works. Here is a three part (brief) guide to how it all rolls. Seriously people, even if you are not from the US, learn to love this fun, exciting and inspiring gymnastics league. There is a lot to love.
Besides, what are you going to do all February? Twiddle your thumbs and wait for the American Cup? So, as we are about to head into a new, exciting college season (the meets start this weekend!), I thought I should break college gymnastics down for elite gymnastics fans who are not familiar with it as they are missing out on some terrific gymnastics!
What is NCAA?
For starters, NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) gymnastics is a gymnastics league that is competed by college students. But these are not just any college students. These are- particularly among the top teams- students selected for their gymnastics talents. Read on.
The NCAA is an organisation that rules college sports leagues- that is, sports you compete in while you are attending college. Some athletes join sports teams when they arrive at a school and do it in their spare time. But NCAA is actually a big business and for sports like football and basketball it is very important for talented young players to get a spot on a college team in order to be discovered for major league teams later. This means many high school athletes are scouted and recruited by colleges and offered scholarships to study at a university while competing for that school because although they earn no money themselves, they bring money and attention to the college, receiving a free education while doing it. College football and basketball and some other sports are huge in the US and are shown on television, attended by huge crowds and have massive fan followings. It is also hosts a huge talent pool.
College athletes must be amateur, as in, have never received money for playing sport, even if they have gone as far as the Olympics or World Championships. If this makes no sense, please refer to an earlier TCG article ‘Going Pro’ Explained.
How do gymnasts join a team?
College gymnastics is pretty popular too and many of the top gymnastics schools scout and recruit top gymnasts to join their teams, sometimes meeting them when they are years off going to college in order to encourage them to attend their particular university. Some colleges host summer camps too, where they spot some talent early on. These gymnasts who are actively recruited by a college are often offered scholarships (in Division I and II). It is not the only way to get on an NCAA team, however. You can just attend a college and try out for the team as a ‘walk-on’. It is pretty competitive among the top (Division 1) gymnastics colleges and you would have to be pretty good to get on the team. Many gymnasts start websites and collect footage of themselves in competition so as to promote themselves to colleges for scholarships and team places.
How does it work?
Each team in the top divisions comprises of a reasonably big group of gymnasts who compete against each other for a place in the line-up for each meet. For example, there are 18 gymnasts currently on the UCLA Gymnastics team, but maybe only half of them would be used in a meet- maybe even less. Some gymnasts are selected as all-arounders, some just for one or two events.
The meet season lasts roughly four months of the year. Meets are usually held on the weekends and team compete in ‘home’ matches but also travel to other colleges to compete, sometimes even right across the country. They also might compete in more than one meet a week, meaning that it is very exhausting. The gymnasts are expected to train, compete and keep on top of their work and school commitments as well as they have to attain a certain grade level to stay on the team. Some of the top colleges provide tutors for the athletes to help with this.
The US is divided into ‘conferences’, which are geographic areas that colleges belong to. There are conference championships near the end of the season and then the full season is finished with a National Championships where the top teams and individuals from around the nation compete to become champions.
How is it scored?
NCAA gymnastic has its own particular set of rules, modeled along US level 10 Junior Olympic rules. Some rules are different and some skills are given a different value to level ten, though.
Routines are scored out of a 10, making it easier to follow. Open scoring is used. The judges sit apart and their scores are collecetd and averaged as long as there is not too great a difference between them. The team must decide their competitive order and they must compete in this or earn a deduction. There are, like elite gymnastics, a set of requirements for each event, suchg as having to use three kinds of saltos on floor, or having an acro series and a dance series on beam.
Where can I watch it?
There are several ways you can watch a college meet. If you live in the United States it is particularly easy because it is sometimes shown on television. Many of the college teams have live feeds on their websites, or at least videos of the meet featured in the week after it. Check out Youtube as well, as many teams have official or fan channels that feature portion or routines from competitions.
Don’t you wish they had college gymnastics in every country!?
Article: Brigid McCarthy
Cover photo: Alabama
Related posts:
- 2012 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics: Evaluating The Teams
- Trying to Qualify for Gymnastics College Scholarship
- Solve the Collegiate Gymnastics Problem – Privatize
