College Gymnastics?

[B Gymnast]

Right now I am 13 years old and I am training level 8. My ultimate goal in gymnastics is to get a gymnastics scholorship to a D1 school. Is that realistic? My coach has said something about possible only doing 1 year of level 8, but I would have A LOT of skills to get.. So I'm probably looking at 2 years of level 8, 2 years of level 9, and 1 year of level 10, then I'd be going to college. I mean I don't know if that's how everything is going to work out, but that's just an estimate. So can I get some honest opinions on whether or not I could get a scholorship to a D1 school (or at least walk on)? My goal isn't really to go to one of the top schools.. Like I would love to go to the University of Missouri. If I had a choice of any school that is probably where I would go..

 

[cathiann]

I think that getting a scholarship with one year of level 10 to a D1 school would be stretching it. We have two level 10s right now--both are Juniors--and have been level 10 for two years now. One just got a verbal offer from a college this past winter. Most schools (from what I hear from her mom) have offered all their scholarships already (verbally) for that far out.

You can always try a walk-on--that never hurts! I know someone that did a walk-on at a D1 school and got awarded a scholarship the following year. I would suggest looking at the girls that your school of choice has offered to (should be on their website) and checking them out on youtube to see what types of skills they have now. I know both our girls looked at Univ of Missouri and were turned down in favor of other level 10s.

At our gym--if you want to try for college gymnastics scholarship, the goal is to be level 10 by freshman year. I would really push to get your skills faster, if you can, to do at least two years of level 10. Or look at other schools than D1.

Probably not exactly what you wanted to hear, but I think it's pretty close to what most colleges are looking for at that level.

 

[Mary Reiss Farias]

Although there is no way to predict the future, I'm not going to tell you that it's out of the question for you to make it to a D1 school. There are many D1 schools out there, all looking for different types of gymnasts for each of their recruiting classes. (For instance, I was recruited by one school because of my vault skills, yet another liked what I had to offer on beam.)

Obviously, it would work more in your favor if you were a level 10 for more than one season. However, there are no rules like that set in stone. I've known solid level 9s that have walked on to great college teams (including my own). I've also known level 10s that received scholarships that competed at level 10 for just a year. What really matters most is your skill set, maturity in competition, making it to Nationals, or doing well at other nationwide meets, and, of course, grades.

Good luck!
Mary
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[B Gymnast]

I just found out that one of the gymnasts who is walking-on to Mizzou next year just finished her first year of level 10