‘Tis the season! No, not for frosted cookies and lighting candles (although, yes, that, too)… for building your fantasy drafts! Gymlytics is back with another year of fantasy fun. It’s always a treat to spice things up and create some themed fantasy drafts to really challenge yourself, and we compiled a few ranging from standard to out-there. Happy drafting!
The Classic: A Freshman Draft
Is it revolutionary? No, of course not, but that doesn’t make it skip-able. This year’s class is stacked: Nikki Smith, Selena Harris, Kayla DiCello, Faith Torrez! We won’t judge you if you include redshirt freshmen, either. Don’t forget about Morgan Hurd, Emily Lee or Makayla Green. Sometimes the only way to be sure you’ll lock down that top-tier famous freshman is to have her as your No. 1 pick, since other players with traditional drafts probably aren’t drafting a freshman first. So if your heart is set on Harris, a freshman draft might be the only way to go.
A Little Twist: The Fifth Years
The opposite of a freshman draft might seem like a senior draft, but we can go even further in 2022 with so many fifth (and sixth) years. You have the super senior transfers like Rachel Baumann and Abby Brenner, the absolute institutions like Natalie Wojcik and Abby Heiskell and the specialists who came back for more, like Maddie Quarles. That would be a nice little team right there, wouldn’t it?
She Doesn’t Even Go Here! The Transfers
It’s not Wednesday, but we’re wearing pink (leotards) and wait where does she compete? It always takes a week or two to get transfers straight, and a whole team of them would be high-risk, high-reward; who knows how they’ll fare at their new universities? There are, of course, the fifth-year transfers, but don’t forget folks like Victoria Gatzendorfer, Gabbie Gallentine and Haley Tyson who were looking for a change of scenery. Hint: Our Rosters & Commits sheet would be helpful in building this draft.
Map It: Regional Teams
Are you looking for a way to get to better know the teams in your area? Why not run a regional team! A fun twist on conference-only, this would allow you to draft across all three divisions in your local area. It’s up to you how you define “regional,” but if you’re looking for the official NCAA-sanctioned regions, you can find them on Road to Nationals. For example, Emily M is in Chicago. Her regional team could be made up of gymnasts from Northern Illinois, Illinois, Illinois State, Greenville, UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout, UW-Oshkosh, UW-La Crosse and Ball State (RIP UIC).
Event Specialist Queens
Want to get really risky? Don’t draft any all-arounders. Is it a sound strategy? Probably not, but if you’re looking to challenge yourself, this would be a fun way to do it. If you can nab a good cross-section of the top two- and three-event specialists, you might even have a top team. Who would be your No. 1 pick for this group? You at least have to consider Derrian Gobourne, but don’t forget about members of quieter teams, like Mara Titarsolej.
I’m a Homer: Gymnasts from Your State
Sure, this won’t work for every single state, but if you’re from Texas, California, Pennsylvania or Illinois, you’re golden. This is a fun way to get to know new teams, and if you stick to your guns and put every NCAA gymnast who hails from your state on your draft, you’re probably going to end up with gymnasts in all three divisions and across just about every conference.
Jetsetters: National Team Members
A National Team member draft could be done multiple ways: gymnasts from the U.S. National Team, including or not including former Junior National Team members is a start. You could also broaden it and take international athletes who competed on their national teams overseas. You’d have a very well-rounded a high-achieving group.
O Canada! Our Neighbors to the North
To wrap it up, let’s talk about another classic draft plan: Canadians. There are a lot of Canadians in the NCAA. Take a look at our list of internationals; you can toggle to gymnasts currently on rosters at the bottom.
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Article by Emily Minehart
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