Potentials Waiting to Achieve
- Nearly 16,000 male gymnasts in USAG program
- Over 1,000 Level 10s in USA
- About 300 male collegiate gymnasts participate in the NCAA
Having over 1,000 Level 10s competing for spots on the 16 remaining teams means that many will be left without the opportunity each year. However, this is where teams like ours come into play.
In April 2017, I attended the Region 7 Championships and JO National Championships in an effort to meet the various high schoolers
interested in college gymnastics and to start recruiting for Temple to grow the program again. I came across many gymnasts that felt that they were not good enough for a college team. But in actuality, they are. Little do those gymnasts know how quickly they can improve when in the college team environment. Not only that, but men peak in their 20s and our program has plenty of roster spots available!
As a former gymnast myself, I experienced the route of mediocre gymnastics in high school, never making finals, just squeaking into JO nationals and not getting approached by college coaches. In 2006 I was "redshirted" my freshman year as a Temple gymnast because my gymnastics was not of a high enough caliber to compete. But because I was given an opportunity to be on a college team of 20+ guys, I trained harder, smarter, better than before, and had countless tremendous experiences which helped me grow. By the time I finished my career I was decent enough to be a consistent pommel anchor, qualify and place in the conference championships, and qualify to the NCAA semi-finals. Many collegiate gymnasts have taken a similar path and delivered some serious results by becoming All-Americans and national champions.
Men's collegiate gymnastics is evolving and growing on a separate tier from the NCAA. Our program, along with other collegiate clubs are being redefined. Fortunately we have some fantastic services at Temple. Some of them include:
- Personal access to professional athletic trainers
- AAI equipment
- An on campus gymnastics facility
- Two dedicated coaches
- Access to weight training facilities
- NCAA and collegiate competition nationwide
As my fellow alumni and I venture into reviving and reformatting TUMG, the college gymnastics dream will survive. I am here to tell any and all prospective students that there is a home for you at Temple. Any graduating senior that has hopes to be a college gymnast should have the confidence to know they can make it a reality. There are no failures on our men's team, only potentials waiting to achieve. Those that work hard will have tremendous opportunities coming their way.
Photo Credit- Rick Hoffman
Come see our campus, our gym, and meet our team. Temple is hosting an open house on November 11th from 9 am - 2 pm. Prospective gymnasts should read about it and register here- https://admissions.temple.edu/visit/fall-open-house
References:
- USAG stats sent from Dennis McIntyre