IOWA Won 1969 Men's Gymnastics NCAA Championship when there were 139 teams. Next year there will be just 13 Division I Teams

[Franisdaman]

UPDATE:

Yesterday, September 10, Minnesota announced they were cutting men's gymnastics.




ORIGINAL POST:

This is a really nice story. And remember, the 1960's were a tense time, just like today.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Unfortunately it's a dying sport. I thought just a few years ago there were close to 25 teams?

 

[Franisdaman]

Unfortunately it's a dying sport. I thought just a few years ago there were close to 25 teams?

i have to say, I was shocked when seeing there were only 14 schools left! i wonder what the minimum has to be for the NCAA to sponsor a National Championship?

 

[HemiHawk]

Wow, had no idea there were only that many left.

 

[Franisdaman]

Wow, had no idea there were only that many left.

i would not be able to name the 14 schools

from the story:

* The 1969 National championship was Iowa's first overall National Championship (it wasn't wrestling)
* Men’s gymnastics has operational expenses of around $1 million per year at Iowa.
* In 1969, the NCAA Championships were shown on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.”
* Iowa hosted the NCAA Championships in 1997 and 2000, claiming third place on each occasion. They also finished second nationally in 1998.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

One team apparently isn't even D1.

 

[HemiHawk]

Sad. We were in Iowa City a couple few years ago and attended a men's gymnastics meet. Iowa beat Minnesota and we really enjoyed it. Even got a t-shirt signed by the team members.

 

[Franisdaman]

Sad. We were in Iowa City a couple few years ago and attended a men's gymnastics meet. Iowa beat Minnesota and we really enjoyed it. Even got a t-shirt signed by the team members.

for the Olympics, World Championships, etc, don't most of the elite gymnasts (especially female), train/develop at academies?

i know that some collegiate male gymnasts make the Olympic teams but not sure the last time a Hawkeye did.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Minnesota cutting their program now

 

[Franisdaman]

Minnesota cutting their program now

I still could not name the 13 remaining D-1 schools with men's gymnastics programs

 

[iwinagain]

So to answer some if these questions:
Stanford
Cal
Mich
Ohio St
Penn St
Illinois
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Army
Navy
Air Force
Springfield
Iowa(discontinued 2021)
Minny(discontinued 2021)
William & Mary (discontinued 2021).

It is not a dying sport, still very popular at lower levels, where it is dying is at the collegiate level. About 5 million youths in US participated last year, over 20,000 competed in HS
Most top US mens gymnasts do compete in Collegiate gymnastics most recent popular ones being Sam Mikulak and Jonathan Horton. What is sad is that some of these programs offer few scholarships and are not strongly financed by their schools yet they are cutting them. Technically there needs to be at least 20 teams to be recognized as an NCAA sport, but because of pressure and financial support by US Olympics the NCAA continues to recognize it, though I think with these three teams cutting them and possibly one or two more to come, this may be the last year. I am a baseball, fball basketball guy but my youngest son started to participate in gymnastics at age 9(considered a late starter) to better develop baseball skills and loved it and now competes in college. I still can barely pronounce one of the skills they do, but I will tell you once you watch these guys train and the discipline and strength it takes you really come to appreciate it as a sport and realize why the Colleges are making a major mistake in eliminating it on the collegiate level. When is last time you ever hear about any gymnast being in the news for a crime, plus the amount of time these teams spend on charitable contributions in their communities blows away the majority of the bigger sports programs like football and basketball.
It is a damn shame what some of these school administrators are doing

 

[Franisdaman]

So to answer some if these questions:
Stanford
Cal
Mich
Ohio St
Penn St
Illinois
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Army
Navy
Air Force
Springfield
Iowa(discontinued 2021)
Minny(discontinued 2021)
William & Mary (discontinued 2021).

It is not a dying sport, still very popular at lower levels, where it is dying is at the collegiate level. About 5 million youths in US participated last year, over 20,000 competed in HS
Most top US mens gymnasts do compete in Collegiate gymnastics most recent popular ones being Sam Mikulak and Jonathan Horton. What is sad is that some of these programs offer few scholarships and are not strongly financed by their schools yet they are cutting them. Technically there needs to be at least 20 teams to be recognized as an NCAA sport, but because of pressure and financial support by US Olympics the NCAA continues to recognize it, though I think with these three teams cutting them and possibly one or two more to come, this may be the last year. I am a baseball, fball basketball guy but my youngest son started to participate in gymnastics at age 9(considered a late starter) to better develop baseball skills and loved it and now competes in college. I still can barely pronounce one of the skills they do, but I will tell you once you watch these guys train and the discipline and strength it takes you really come to appreciate it as a sport and realize why the Colleges are making a major mistake in eliminating it on the collegiate level. When is last time you ever hear about any gymnast being in the news for a crime, plus the amount of time these teams spend on charitable contributions in their communities blows away the majority of the bigger sports programs like football and basketball.
It is a damn shame what some of these school administrators are doing

Iowa only saves $5 million/year by cutting these 4 programs. Apparently they will be using this $5 million in savings as a yearly payment on the $75 million loan they plan on taking out to fund the athletic dept

 

[Titanhawk2]

So to answer some if these questions:
Stanford
Cal
Mich
Ohio St
Penn St
Illinois
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Army
Navy
Air Force
Springfield
Iowa(discontinued 2021)
Minny(discontinued 2021)
William & Mary (discontinued 2021).

It is not a dying sport, still very popular at lower levels, where it is dying is at the collegiate level. About 5 million youths in US participated last year, over 20,000 competed in HS
Most top US mens gymnasts do compete in Collegiate gymnastics most recent popular ones being Sam Mikulak and Jonathan Horton. What is sad is that some of these programs offer few scholarships and are not strongly financed by their schools yet they are cutting them. Technically there needs to be at least 20 teams to be recognized as an NCAA sport, but because of pressure and financial support by US Olympics the NCAA continues to recognize it, though I think with these three teams cutting them and possibly one or two more to come, this may be the last year. I am a baseball, fball basketball guy but my youngest son started to participate in gymnastics at age 9(considered a late starter) to better develop baseball skills and loved it and now competes in college. I still can barely pronounce one of the skills they do, but I will tell you once you watch these guys train and the discipline and strength it takes you really come to appreciate it as a sport and realize why the Colleges are making a major mistake in eliminating it on the collegiate level. When is last time you ever hear about any gymnast being in the news for a crime, plus the amount of time these teams spend on charitable contributions in their communities blows away the majority of the bigger sports programs like football and basketball.
It is a damn shame what some of these school administrators are doing

Considering high schools used to offer it, yes it's dying as it's only available to those who are willing pay for clubs.

 

[Legend12]

So to answer some if these questions:
Stanford
Cal
Mich
Ohio St
Penn St
Illinois
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Army
Navy
Air Force
Springfield
Iowa(discontinued 2021)
Minny(discontinued 2021)
William & Mary (discontinued 2021).

It is not a dying sport, still very popular at lower levels, where it is dying is at the collegiate level. About 5 million youths in US participated last year, over 20,000 competed in HS
Most top US mens gymnasts do compete in Collegiate gymnastics most recent popular ones being Sam Mikulak and Jonathan Horton. What is sad is that some of these programs offer few scholarships and are not strongly financed by their schools yet they are cutting them. Technically there needs to be at least 20 teams to be recognized as an NCAA sport, but because of pressure and financial support by US Olympics the NCAA continues to recognize it, though I think with these three teams cutting them and possibly one or two more to come, this may be the last year. I am a baseball, fball basketball guy but my youngest son started to participate in gymnastics at age 9(considered a late starter) to better develop baseball skills and loved it and now competes in college. I still can barely pronounce one of the skills they do, but I will tell you once you watch these guys train and the discipline and strength it takes you really come to appreciate it as a sport and realize why the Colleges are making a major mistake in eliminating it on the collegiate level. When is last time you ever hear about any gymnast being in the news for a crime, plus the amount of time these teams spend on charitable contributions in their communities blows away the majority of the bigger sports programs like football and basketball.
It is a damn shame what some of these school administrators are doing

In 1978 almost 30,000 boy participated in gymnastics at the HS level.

In 2017 that was down to less than 2,000.

That looks a lot like a dying sport to most.

The national decline of high school boys gymnastics

There are 117 high schools left in the United States that have a boys gymnastics program and now the focus is on building the numbers for the future.

www.iowastatedaily.com

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[L. Wade Childress]

So to answer some if these questions:
Stanford
Cal
Mich
Ohio St
Penn St
Illinois
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Army
Navy
Air Force
Springfield
Iowa(discontinued 2021)
Minny(discontinued 2021)
William & Mary (discontinued 2021).

It is not a dying sport, still very popular at lower levels, where it is dying is at the collegiate level. About 5 million youths in US participated last year, over 20,000 competed in HS
Most top US mens gymnasts do compete in Collegiate gymnastics most recent popular ones being Sam Mikulak and Jonathan Horton. What is sad is that some of these programs offer few scholarships and are not strongly financed by their schools yet they are cutting them. Technically there needs to be at least 20 teams to be recognized as an NCAA sport, but because of pressure and financial support by US Olympics the NCAA continues to recognize it, though I think with these three teams cutting them and possibly one or two more to come, this may be the last year. I am a baseball, fball basketball guy but my youngest son started to participate in gymnastics at age 9(considered a late starter) to better develop baseball skills and loved it and now competes in college. I still can barely pronounce one of the skills they do, but I will tell you once you watch these guys train and the discipline and strength it takes you really come to appreciate it as a sport and realize why the Colleges are making a major mistake in eliminating it on the collegiate level. When is last time you ever hear about any gymnast being in the news for a crime, plus the amount of time these teams spend on charitable contributions in their communities blows away the majority of the bigger sports programs like football and basketball.
It is a damn shame what some of these school administrators are doing

Maybe you haven’t noticed yet, but you are about the only person who gives a shit. That’s why it’s going away.

 

[iwinagain]

Maybe you haven’t noticed yet, but you are about the only person who gives a shit. That’s why it’s going away.

Maybe you should actually come out of your Moms basement and actually see there are others who give a shit. There is a huge support building for stopping g the elimination of the cut programs at Minnesota, W&M's AD just resigned(basically fired) due to the swell of support for their eliminated programs, and I believe Iowa has also seen a very large buildup of support with some of the programs already raising millions in pledges.
So yes there are others that care about these programs than just me.
The easy thing is to tear stuff down, while it is tougher to build things up even when it is the right thing to do.
I assume you have no children that partipated in any other activity except football or basketball, otherwise you might understand that there are many other sports that people care about besides just football and basketball(btw I love fball, basketball, baseball, just have realized they are not the only sports that kids are passionate about)

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Maybe you should actually come out of your Moms basement and actually see there are others who give a shit. There is a huge support building for stopping g the elimination of the cut programs at Minnesota, W&M's AD just resigned(basically fired) due to the swell of support for their eliminated programs, and I believe Iowa has also seen a very large buildup of support with some of the programs already raising millions in pledges.
So yes there are others that care about these programs than just me.
The easy thing is to tear stuff down, while it is tougher to build things up even when it is the right thing to do.
I assume you have no children that partipated in any other activity except football or basketball, otherwise you might understand that there are many other sports that people care about besides just football and basketball(btw I love fball, basketball, baseball, just have realized they are not the only sports that kids are passionate about)

If people gave shit they would have stepped up with funding well before the sports were cut. This didn’t come out or nowhere. I have never been asked to donate to any of these sports or even seen one of their coaches out on the circuit to drum up support or publicity. Pretty easy to ride the coattails of revenue sports for decades and then get pissed when you get cut. I am guessing the leadership within the programs, which includes coaches and alums, showed the same entitled mentality over the years that you have demonstrated in this thread.

I waste more money and time on non-revenue sports at iowa than almost anyone I know. If you can’t get ME on your side, you have serious problems.

 

[Franisdaman]

If Barta has his way, the men's program will not be back.

Meanwhile....

 

[iwinagain]

So far their team is looking very good, what sucks is they have some top gymnasts in country(Evan Davis, Bennet Huang) who are not Srs and this will be last season as they don't want to transfer as they want to graduate from Iowa.
I wish the Powers that be would get their heads out of someone's ass and rethink what a crap decision they made.

 

[Franisdaman]