College Club Gymnastics 

After graduating high school some gymnasts choose to do division one, two, or three gymnastics for NCAA in college. Some gymnasts choose to go into different sports including diving, track, or acro. Most gymnasts decide to either retire or join club gymnastics for fun.   

When deciding on a college, I looked at all the decisions open to me. The main thing I was looking for in a school was academics. After I narrowed down my colleges based on academics, I researched sports. I had the option to do division three gymnastics, division one acro, division two diving, or club gymnastics. When I thought about college, I did not want to have to commit a large amount of time to a sport. I wanted to be able to join any club I wanted and I wanted to have some free time to hang out with friends.  

I decided to go to Penn State University and do club gymnastics. My coach from home, Kenny, wanted me to do club gymnastics in college and was pushing for me to do it. My first practice was the third week of this semester. There were around seventy to eighty people at practice. I was nervous because I have not done gymnastics in a while. I was shocked about the difference in levels between the people there. Some students have never done gymnastics before while others have trained level ten.  

As the weeks went on less and less people came to practice. Now we have a club gymnastics competitive team and another team that just practices. We practice four days a week for two and a half hours. While training I realized that I loved gymnastics, but I liked coaching better than doing it. The club team did not have a coach. Most gymnasts were willing to help if someone asked them but there was no dedicated coach.  

I talked to the club president about being the coach and we came to an agreement. I would coach the competitive team on Wednesday and Thursday and at competitions, and I would be able to practice on Sunday and Monday. I was happy I was able to coach! I had to get CPR, AED, and first-aid certified and I also needed to get USAG coaching certification.  

Every Wednesday and Thursday I lead the girls in a warm-up, give them conditioning, and give them assignments on each event. Coaching club gymnastics is very different from coaching USAG gymnastics. In USAG gymnastics coaches are very strict and expect every assignment to be completed. In club gymnastics I give assignments as an outline. If the girls get the assignments, I give them done that is great, but if they don’t that is okay too.  

It is nice going to a school with a division one gymnastics team because we are able to train in the same facility as the varsity team. I am excited for next semester to begin because we will be going to competitions! We plan to compete in four to five meets next semester and one of them will be at Penn State.  

Club gymnastics is a great way to continue doing the sport in a less competitive way. Club gymnastics also introduces you into a great community. I love club gymnastics because you can get as involved as you want, and you can also join other clubs. I would recommend joining to any gymnasts.