Another new women’s gymnastics program! With the news of Greenville University adding women’s and men’s college gymnastics in the fall of 2022, gym fans were abuzz with a wide range of emotions. We discuss our initial reactions, thoughts on the move and pose any questions we still have (and will try to answer in the coming weeks and months!).
What do you think about Greenville adding NCAA gym? Let us know in the comments or on social media!
What were your initial thoughts when you heard Greenville would be adding gymnastics?
Elizabeth: I had a wide range of thoughts, but my initial one was of course excitement that we’d get yet another gymnastics program in the next couple of years. My next thought was a little bit of wariness because the initial news was published on a website called RiverBender.com with no official announcement from GU for at least 30 more minutes…
Emily M: I’m always excited to see a new program added! I was a little confused; people were excitedly tagging me on Slack telling me we had a new Illinois team, but I’ve lived in the state my entire life and never heard of Greenville the town. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that we gained both a women’s and a men’s team.
Tavia: I was very caught off guard by this announcement because I didn’t know another program was even in the works. It seemed like a very random addition, especially if USAG was involved, but I’m glad to see another men’s and women’s program. I hope more programs will continue to be added across the country.
Tara: I don’t think I’ll ever not be excited about a new team being added. I remember trying to figure out if this was the “BIG news coming” Randy Lane had tweeted about earlier in the day. I was slightly confused at the initial release being from RiverBender.com, but my main feeling was definitely excitement.
Greenville’s honor code has been a big topic of conversation since the announcement. What are your thoughts?
Elizabeth: More gymnastics programs is always a good thing, and I think this is a good opportunity for the community to rally and potentially affect real change. It’s also an opportunity for gymnasts who are Methodists to attend a school that is more religion-focused. However, for a sport that has been so vocal recently about inclusion and diversity, it’s a bit of a befuddling move, especially since it seems as if USA Gymnastics is playing a big (financial?) role in helping get the program off the ground.
Emily M: Mmm it’s not super, and it’s honestly something I’ll struggle with, much like I already do with BYU. That said, I do believe in supporting athletes as individuals, unless they personally give us some heinous reason not to. Hate the institution, not the 18-year-old who grew up in a particular tradition and was given maybe only this one shot to do their sport in college, right? We have to hope there’s space for growth.
Tavia: I’m honestly conflicted on this one. I know our sport has been making big strides in recent years toward increasing diversity and inclusion, and we still have a long way to go. I don’t think the honor code inherently negates the victory of adding another gymnastics program to the NCAA. Traditionally, I tend to err on the side of not worrying until I’m given a reason to worry, and I think that’s the approach I would take in this case as well. In theory, Christian values are supposed to be that of loving others as we’d love ourselves and not extending hatred. I sincerely hope faith is not weaponized to further add discrimination and poor treatment of athletes to a sport that genuinely cannot take another second of that behavior. I do not support spreading hatred of other individuals. However, I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to cancel a program before it’s had the opportunity to prove itself. So for now, I’m proceeding with caution on the subject.
Tara: I tend to agree with Tavia’s points. I don’t think it’s inherently a bad thing, and like she said, Christian values are theoretically about showing love to others rather than hate. It also gives gymnasts who grew up in the tradition and who want to go to a school like that and continue to do their sport another option. I think we’ve seen with BYU that not everyone on the team has to fit into the stereotype. Until proven otherwise, I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt.
What are you most excited about with the addition of Greenville gymnastics?
Elizabeth: More roster spots for aspiring club gymnasts is always a good thing, but I have more questions than answers at this point.
Emily M: Having another DIII women’s team that isn’t in Wisconsin, Minnesota or New York feels like a win. Centenary will be a bit less of an island.
Tavia: I’m excited for more athletes to have the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level. I’m also excited to see which conference Greenville joins! It really could shake up the status quo.
Tara: Like everyone else said, more opportunities for gymnasts who want to do college gymnastics is great.
We’ve had a wide range of schools add women’s college gym recently with LIU and Clemson. What are your thoughts in terms of this being a new DIII program?
Elizabeth: I wish this new program provided more financial opportunities for gymnasts (a.k.a. scholarships)—especially for the men (why would a men’s recruit go to GU when they could compete for Minnesota’s GymACT team, for example), but DIII isn’t a level of the sport that should be brushed aside. Every DIII gymnast you talk to says what a fantastic experience they had in college gymnastics, and I don’t think GU will be different.
Emily M: I agree with Elizabeth, it stinks that GU won’t mean more scholarship spots, but I absolutely wouldn’t take anything away from the amazing DIII experiences we’ve heard about. Discussion of the honor code aside, I do think a small religious institution will appeal to a certain sector of gymnasts. I’m happy to see a DIII in the greater St. Louis metro, too, since that’s a club hotbed.
Tavia: As a former DIII athlete myself, I love the idea of adding another DIII program. Smaller, liberal arts colleges are a niche that I’m sure will attract many gymnasts. Although DIII schools cannot offer athletic scholarships, that doesn’t mean they don’t bring other things to the table. DIII gymnastics continues to get better each year, and the addition of Greenville will only increase the competitive level. I’m also glad to see that there will be another DIII school besides Centenary outside of the Wisconsin, Minnesota and New York areas.
Tara: I think it’s great for the growth of DIII gymnastics and increasing the competitive level. There’s plenty of great gymnasts who would love to compete but aren’t quite DI level. It’s also a win for gymnastics that a school like GU chose to add artistic gymnastics and not acrobatics & tumbling like other similar universities have done in recent years.
What questions do you still have about the addition of this DIII program?
Elizabeth: I can’t get over RiverBender.com breaking this news. And that makes me very curious about how the coverage and promotion of this team will be throughout its existence. I’m also wondering which conference GU will be in. MIC would be my choice, but WIAC makes sense as well. I guess it depends on if it would compete for NCGA national titles or NCAA ones.
Emily M: Yes, definitely the conference question. I’m also rooting for MIC for the balance with Centenary. The timeline is also perplexing. We saw LIU get up and running super quickly, but that was with the uber-connected Randy Lane at the helm. GU needs a coach, like, yesterday if it really will compete in 2023.
Tavia: My main questions revolve around which conference Greenville will be in and when the coaching staff will be named so the team can start recruiting. The turnaround time is really tight. I fear that without a big-name coach doing the recruiting it will be difficult to fill an entire roster in time to compete in 2023.
Tara: My main question is which conference it’ll end up in. With Centenary in the MIC? Or somewhere else? Also, what about the coaching staff?
READ THIS NEXT: BREAKING: Greenville University to Add Women’s, Men’s Gymnastics
Article by Elizabeth Grimsley, Emily Minehart, Tavia Smith, Tara Graeve
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