Picture what a college gymnast looks like on meet day. A stunning leotard is essential, and the hair strikes a balance between beauty and function. Makeup understandably varies, but on many teams, there is an additional burst of school pride. Face stickers are small, typically fitting within a two-inch square, but their impact is much bigger. Putting them on is a process that can bring teammates together, and they play a part in memories that last a lifetime. Today, stickers aid in the ongoing fight for social justice, and the future offers countless possibilities. For symbols that are not required and are sometimes overlooked by fans, college gymnastics simply wouldn’t be the same without them.
What are face stickers exactly? You might revert back to childhood, to the temporary tattoos found at the bottom of sugary cereal boxes. They stuck to the skin with a wet washcloth and a firm press, staying on for a few weeks. If you got tired of yours, you could always remove it with a bit of vigorous scrubbing. That’s what University of Iowa head coach Larissa Libby said they used to be like, and she for one is glad technology has improved. Today, most stickers are waterless, more like the kind you would see on a piece of paper. They can be peeled off in one piece, and the gymnasts’ skin is grateful for it. They also bring new opportunities for embellishment and for keeping long after meet day.
Libby came to Iowa as an assistant coach in 2000 and said she wasn’t sure how long the program had used temporary face tattoos. She remembered watching then-head coach Mike Lorenzen design a Tiger Hawk logo surrounded by the words “Iowa Gymnastics,” which could get cheaply produced in bulk. On meet day, the gymnasts put the tattoos on with water, but the intricate letters didn’t always come off perfectly on the first try.
“It was pretty frustrating for the girls,” Libby said. “Sometimes you’d have to do it like 10 times, and it was very painful. You would have to scrub to get them off, and they’re always in the same place. I watched the girls get those little raspberries on their faces, and while wearing them is fun, you don’t really want to do that. They explained that there had to be a different way.”
Iowa continued to use the tattoos with lettering as Libby became head coach in the summer of 2005. She mentioned that she has always been very collaborative with her team, inviting their opinions on every topic imaginable. When the face tattoos came up, the gymnasts commented on the difficult process of putting them on and taking them off. Libby discovered there were waterless versions that were more like stickers, but they were more expensive. It was an investment that would be worth it.
She talked to representatives at the university bookstore, who visit campus annually to collaborate on collections of Iowa-branded Nike gear. They helped purchase the stickers, but the design had to be simplified. Gone were the words, only the Tiger Hawk in yellow or black. Libby eventually inquired about pink stickers for breast cancer awareness meets, and while they were rare, the team eventually got to wear them. It was a major improvement from the days of pressing and scrubbing.
Yet the stickers were not perfect, either. Former University of Michigan gymnast Olivia Karas wore the block M sticker on her cheek all four years and mentioned that they could have a mind of their own. They didn’t stick to foundation very well and would come off in the middle of meets without some extra intervention. A clear gel painted over the top of the sticker would secure it in place, and luckily, that provided the opportunity for sparkles. Some gels come flecked with glitter, and if not, it can always be added.
“The bigger the meet, the more the glitter,” Karas laughed.
Libby said her gymnasts do this too, sometimes finding a colored glitter when the meet theme changes. It is all part of a careful process of deciding what the look of each meet will be. Karas affectionately called it “leotard strategy,” something she hadn’t experienced at the club level but loved about college. She explained that at Michigan, it was up to the gymnasts to choose the uniform for each competition. One week, the freshmen would pick. Another week, it would be the seniors. If there were television cameras, special consideration had to be taken. Removing the leotards from the team closet, laying them on the floor and debating was a fun team bonding experience. Once the selection was made, it was time for the face sticker.
Some leotards went better with the Maize block M, others with the blue one. The proper sticker was added to Michigan’s “meet baby,” a small rolling bag the Wolverines always carried onto the plane or bus. The baby contained necessities for the meet ahead, such as the iPad with the team’s floor music. Placing the stickers in this bag demonstrates what they have become as a part of the college gymnastics uniform. It also hints at how essential the process of putting them on is to preparing for competition.
Karas said sticking on the block M showed that she loved Michigan, and that her team competed as a family for Michigan. It wasn’t about her but everyone together. She commented that placing the sticker on her face made it more prominent than if it had been on the arm or the leg, and therefore more powerful. Yet the M isn’t the only symbol Michigan wears. Since 2016, the Wolverines have placed purple “Flip for Chip” ribbons on the backs of their necks, a tribute to the late father of teammate Cailee Hills and a statement in support of pancreatic cancer research. The ribbon is a tattoo, not a sticker, and has become perhaps more meaningful than the school logo.
“I remember Sam Roy and Polina Shchennikova were student coaches my senior year,” Karas said. “They would post up in the locker room and put tattoos on everyone. You always got to the locker room early and made sure you had it. People were very particular about their Flip for Chip tattoo. You’d put purple sparkles on it and the coaches put it on their wrist. It was very special. The meet couldn’t really start until everyone had their tattoo and sticker on.”
Karas added that at the inaugural Flip for Chip meet in 2016, the gymnasts put the tattoos on their faces. It worked in competition, but afterward, they ran into the same problems Libby’s team had faced at Iowa. It wasn’t that the Wolverines wanted the tattoo gone, but going to class with a purple ribbon on your cheek wasn’t exactly part of the plan. Since then, Michigan has placed the tattoos on the back of the neck. Karas said that she has fond memories of standing behind her teammates during vault, looking at the tattoo and remembering what she was really competing for. The ribbon would get smaller as the gymnast powered down the runway, but the message always loomed large.
Libby has also been a part of making stickers achieve a higher purpose at Iowa. During the 2019 season, the Hawkeyes developed a team slogan reminding them of their own power. “I am enough” was a statement about accepting that humans are not perfect, and that it is OK to be human, even in a sport constantly striving for perfection. After the 2020 season was cut short and the movement for racial justice reignited across the world, Iowa became a leader in bringing the fight to college gymnastics. Senior Emma Hartzler pitched changing the 2021 slogan to simply “Enough,” an urgent call for a better future. I am enough. We are enough. We’ve had enough. One word represented so many things, and Iowa wanted to do more than just say it.
Part of living the Enough statement was showing it proudly, and for Libby, that meant creating a tattoo. The team designed it in bold black letters, without a logo because it transcended school pride. Iowa was able to produce them in time to wear for the 2021 season. Libby said that the Enough tattoo was one of her favorites she has worked on.
“It’s just a very bold statement. I wish I could put Enough with the Tiger Hawk and have it be a constant statement for Iowa Gymnastics. It doesn’t go away. It’s a way of life.”
Libby continued that the tattoos and stickers can create difficult but necessary conversations. Spectators notice what gymnasts wear on their faces, especially if it’s unexpected. When Iowa diverged from the traditional Tiger Hawk logo, people craned their necks and took photos. They wondered what the team was doing, and that led them to look up the story. Maybe they would ask questions. Maybe they would listen and learn. If wearing a tattoo could help someone do better and be better, it was going far beyond simply reminding the team what it wants to stand for.
“It has become about more than tattoos for us,” Libby said.
Iowa wants to continue making statements for causes it believes in. Libby said that her next goal is to create a lavender Tiger Hawk sticker. Lavender represents the fight against all types of cancer, a disease that has affected the lives of so many Iowa gymnasts, coaches and support staff. The traditional pink meet has done great things to address breast cancer, but there is so much more that could be done. This season, Iowa has worn lavender sweatshirts, a visible statement, but one that must be taken off while competing. A sticker wouldn’t face this issue.
Perhaps their constant visual presence is part of what has made stickers so popular in college gymnastics. It is certainly what makes them a primary candidate for further customization. Over the past few years, teams have gone beyond the school logo or pink ribbon and created stickers that reference Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ equality. Utah gymnasts display a 22 emblem on their upper back in remembrance of football players Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, best friends who wore No. 22 and died exactly nine months apart. Karas remembers her senior night for many reasons, but one of them was how Michigan made T-shirts to honor the late husband of Jenn Richardson, athletic trainer for the visiting Oklahoma Sooners. It wasn’t a sticker, but it still showed that they cared.
“It’s always really nice to see,” Karas said. “It’s a camaraderie, like we’re against each other but we completely and utterly compete for this person in this cause. I love that. I think it subconsciously brings our community together.”
With the expansion of NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policies, we could see stickers personal not just to teams but to individual gymnasts. Florida senior Megan Skaggs has created waves with her Tiny Bow Project, a charity initiative made visible by changing colored ribbons in her hair. It’s natural to picture other athletes extending such a platform to face stickers or tattoos in the future. We may someday remember our favorite gymnasts not just for their feats of athleticism or competitive fire, but for the way they literally wore their reason for pursuing college sports.
Libby does wonder if NIL might bring about some less desirable changes, though. Her athletes sponsor products and services using their social media, and in professional leagues around the world, sponsorship has become visual. Company logos on uniforms, NASCAR vehicles plastered with promotions—these have become commonplace. Could this type of advertising find its way onto the bodies of gymnasts? Currently, the NCAA has few specific rules regarding uniforms. It states that all uniforms must be the same, but this refers only to clothing and shoes. There is nothing about face stickers, and jewelry is the only other accessory mentioned. It is safe to assume that, at least for now, a gymnast could wear whatever they want on their face. Both Karas and Libby were hopeful this would only lead to awareness for more individualized causes, but the latter mentioned it wouldn’t be out of the question for a sponsor to ask that their logo be worn. Promotions for energy drinks and finance companies can sometimes be found on the side of the balance beam. Will we see them on the face of the beam worker someday, too?
Karas, now a commentator with the Big Ten Network, said she has enjoyed watching teams across the country bring the fight for health and equality to their face stickers. She wishes it would have happened sooner, but she is proud of the work Michigan did for autism and pancreatic cancer research. Today she still finds some of her block M stickers, which she kept stuck to her mirror in college. She commented that it was common for her teammates to keep their stickers—on a mirror, on a hairbrush, in a makeup bag—because they were a small token of the incredible memories formed during each week’s meet.
“You’d get to the hotel before the meet and you’d see M stickers everywhere,” Karas said. “They came with you and not a lot of people would throw them out.”
It is a nostalgic image, an object sitting on a dresser, covered in colored stickers and remnants of glitter. Gymnasts likely remember something special about each one and could match them to iconic photos of celebration and heartbreak. Face stickers certainly don’t make gymnastics what it is, but they at times represent it. They celebrate a sport of powerful women, beautiful on the inside and out, wearing a humble visual symbol to stand for something greater. Gymnasts have a voice whether or not they are speaking, and a sticker on the cheek or tattoo on the back of the neck is just one way to use that voice. They have only scratched the surface of what they can do and who else they can inspire. The next time you picture a college gymnast on meet day, don’t forget the face sticker, but most importantly, don’t forget about what that sticker means. And of course, don’t forget the sparkles.
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Article by Ryan Wichtendahl
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