NAIGC- College Club Gymnastics

[momo]

I am looking for some information on NAIGC. I'm not sure if any of you have had experiences with this organization, but any thoughts on it would be great.

 

[jenniffir]

I looked on thier website and found out that it is an organization of clubs in colleges allowing gymnasts (from beginners to optionals) to compete in the sport of gymnastics if they did not have the opportunity to do in NCAA gymnastics. Look it up on youtube its very interesting. I'm sorry thats all i know, i would like some more info too

 

[coachmolly]

I believe there is a member here who participated on an NAIGC team, I'm sure she will be able to provide you with lots of info if she sees this.
But it's a pretty cool program, I wish my school had a team. I think rules are pretty relaxed and people of all levels are welcomed to participate.

 

[momo]

Oh boy, I've been researching. Found a bit of info. It looks really awesome.
It also doesn't look like it's to hard to start up a new club, well if you have the resources.
I found some more information and a lot of routines here http://www.gymnastike.org/coverage/236878-2010-naigc-national-championships/video/325761-ryan-maskell-on-naigc-gymnastics

 

[momo]

BTW, thank you all for your quick responses!

 

[gymkat]

What kind of information are you looking for? I competed NAIGC in college and was on my team's exec board for three years.

 

[BlairBob]

check the website, naigc.net and the facebook should give you access to a lot of people who can help you.

the board is very accessible.

there are more clubs back east but it seems to be slowly growing in the west

they actually had the opportunity to present during a clinic at region1 congress this year. in 2009 during a clinic on college gymnastics, they were able to interject just for a moment so interest is growing, especially with the demise of many programs.

what sort of questions do you have? i competed last year and know quite a few faces in my area who are in the naigc.

if you do not belong to a college club, you can compete as an "alumni" of other colleges, so long as they allow that at their hosted meets (sometimes there are insurance reasons)

 

[momo]

I actually found answers to a bunch of my questions on the website.
If I'm reading it right, there are basically no level requirements? I'm not sure if any of you can answer this, but the colleges I've been looking at so far don't have a club set up yet; so I was wondering how difficult it really is to get a club started and maintain it...

All in all it looks like a pretty awesome organization! I'm thinking about going to watch the nationals meet this year to kinda get an idea of how it works.

 

[fuzi]

I didn't end up competing because of injuries, but I trained with and helped get a NAIGC college club going, if you have more questions.

 

[gymkat]

I actually found answers to a bunch of my questions on the website.
If I'm reading it right, there are basically no level requirements? I'm not sure if any of you can answer this, but the colleges I've been looking at so far don't have a club set up yet; so I was wondering how difficult it really is to get a club started and maintain it...

No level requirements. Pretty much everyone who is competitive at Nationals was a L9 or L10, but I'd guess that the average skill level is somewhere around L6/7. There are definitely beginners who compete, too!

Every club operates differently. My club was much more organized than others, but we were also one of the larger teams. Our executive board had about 10 positions with specific duties spelled out, and we reported back to each other every other week. It also helped that we had a gym on campus and ran a recreational program to cover most of our expenses. I think most NAIGC teams work out a deal with a local club, but that just depends on what facilities are around you.

If you have specific questions, we can probably be more helpful.

 

[momo]

Oh, one more question...
Does each club have a coach, or is it also coached by students?

Other than that I can't think of any more questions for right now. I'll probably know alot more concerning college within the next couple months and that's when more questions will start popping in my head.

 

[BlairBob]

UCDavis gets to work out at the gym the team uses. However, when school is out, they don't get access to the gym so some of their members will hit the local clubs around.

As far as coaches, sometimes they are lucky enough to have coaches volunteer and sometimes the clubs will pay the coaches or have members within their ranks coach.

Officially, they compete with L9 rules.

Women use FIG JO (Junior Olympic) skill values (from the 2009-2013 FIG JO Code of Points) and Level 9 requirements. NAIGC will not limit D's or E's since this is built into our bonus structure. Judges should use both level 9 and level 10 bonus to the advantage of the gymnast. D’s and E’s will be given additive value of .1 and .2 respectively and recognized in connection value. On bars, level 9 connection bonus will be used as this is to the advantage of the gymnast.

Just bare in mind, the women use the USAG JO Code of Points. The men no longer have their own JO CoP.

They are a pretty awesome org and I hear Nationals is a blast. I didn't go last year and was fairly put out about that. I was a big grump.

 

[gymkat]

A few clubs have volunteer coaches, but most coach each other. I don't know of any teams who pay their coaches, but it's possible!

 

[momo]

Ok, looks like a bunch of it just varies between clubs.

 

[momo]

Thanks for all the info everyone!!

 

[jenniffir]

i have a couple questions.
1) How is the structure of the gym hours setup? Is it relaxed like an open gym or actually structured for a team?
2) Do the gymnasts compete individually or as a team? or both?
3) I believe it is not a scholarship program correct? But how does the tryout process work, or if there even is one.

Thanks in adavance!

 

[gymkat]

1) Depends on the gym. Our practices were pretty much open gyms, but we had specific days and times for vault. (Bars and vault shared the same landing area.) The teams that rent space from a local club might have a more structured schedule.

2) Both. To compete as a team, you need 4 scores per event. Up to 8 gymnasts can compete per event, and the top 4 scores count. (The rules are a little different at Nationals finals.) If you don't have enough gymnasts to compete as a team, you can also enter as an individual. I think every meet I've ever been to has given out individual and team awards, but some meets only give out ribbons or medals for the top 3 individuals per event. Others place top 5-6 per event.

3) Not a scholarship program, and I don't know of any clubs that have official tryouts. I admit that my club does a little weeding out by doing abnormally hard conditioning during the first week, but we do welcome beginners if they're motivated enough to make it through the first week. For competition, it really depends on the club. Some clubs are big enough to have an A and B team, and the captain or president is generally in charge of figuring out the roster.