An interesting footnote on #NCAAWGym moving to one vault: the rule passed with the understanding that we’d try it for one year, with the option to vote to return to two vaults if it proved unpopular. Of course, we never went back.
I coached 3/6, 4/6, 5/6 and served on the championship committees that made those changes. I helped fight for 1 VT and 4-team sessions. We even got 5/5 passed by the
@WCGA once but it was not approved by the #NCAAGym Committee.
Progress in sport rarely begins with consensus.
Yes, fix the code. But competitive consequence doesn’t wait for a perfect rulebook.
Every format change in every sport is met with “This will ruin everything.”
Oddly enough, sport survives.
Usually stronger.
If I’m wrong, the sport will survive it. 6/6
5. And most importantly…
I’ve been advocating for five-up, five-count for over three decades now. I’m getting older and don’t know how many more years I have left to keep making the case. Throw an old man a solid and finally get this done. 5/6
3. Urgency improves the product.
Fans understand “every routine matters.” It’s simple. It’s dramatic. It’s clean. No explaining why a fall didn’t really count.
4. It tightens meets.
Fewer routines. Faster pace. Cleaner structure. 4/6
2. Lineups should matter.
When you can drop a score, you buffer mistakes. When every routine counts, lineup decisions actually become a coaching strategy. Safety nets protect strong teams. Remove the cushion and suddenly everyone has to hit. That’s where upsets are born. 3/6
1. Pressure is the point.
Every competitive routine should carry consequence. Dropping a score softens the consequence. Five-up, five-count creates real stakes. Gymnastics doesn’t need to be protected from pressure. It needs to be defined by it. 2/6
🧵Unpopular opinion: #NCAAWGym would be better with a 5-up, 5-count format.
Difficulty is driven by the code. Urgency is driven by format. Right now, #NCAAGym could use more of both.
The goal isn’t to make gymnastics easier. It’s to make every routine matter.
My 5 top reasons for 5/5👇 1/6
When leadership decisions compound over time, it’s the athletes, not administrators, who bear the consequences. My heart aches for those gymnasts. They deserved steady investment, experienced guidance, and a real chance to thrive. Instead, they’re left picking up the pieces. 2/2
Programs rarely collapse overnight. Years of inconsistent funding, limited institutional support, and the decision to place the future of the program in the hands of an inexperienced head coach created instability that student-athletes ultimately paid for... 1/2
5. Most importantly, exhibitions blur identity. Competition should mean something. Lineups should matter.
College gymnastics doesn’t need more filler. It needs more edge.
If we want the sport to feel urgent again, let’s start by eliminating the part of the meet that isn’t.
4. There’s also the matter of risk. Gymnastics is not a casual undertaking. Every routine carries physical cost. Adding competitive reps that have no impact on team outcome is hard to justify in a sport that claims athlete welfare as a priority.
3. We already struggle with pacing. Meets stretch longer than they should which tests everyone's patience. If we’re serious about presenting a sharper, more credible product for audiences and broadcast partners, trimming routines that don’t count is an easy decision.
2. Exhibitions drain urgency from a meet. The sixth routine lands, the score is in, the result is set... and then we keep going. The energy shifts. The stakes evaporate. What should feel like a crescendo turns into extended credits.
🧵 Five reasons #NCAAGym needs to eliminate exhibition routines.
1. At some point we have to decide what we want this sport to be. Is it a high-level, pressure-packed team competition or is it a loosely structured showcase?
I got a request this week from a local journalist to see if I wanted to comment on Utah's deal with Otro Capital and the potential impact it may have on women's sports. Here was my reply...
Me: I’m hemorrhaging billions, restructuring millions of people out of jobs, and nudging the stock market toward the edge of a cliff. What’s the smart move here?
AI: Easy. Blow a mountain of cash on Super Bowl ads so bad they make people miss the insurance commercials.
I don’t agree with every point the author makes, but he brings up some genuinely thoughtful concerns about what happens long term when the profit-driven goals of private equity start intersecting with the nonprofit mission of higher education. 👇
www.thesling.org/can-private-...
Keep the fans in the stands! #NCAAGym
Someone gave this card to Megan and now she has it prominently displayed. 😳
Maybe the real issue isn’t just inconsistent judging.
Maybe it’s the inconsistency of our expectations.
And maybe... brace yourselves... some good old-fashioned hypocrisy from all of us.
That score was too high!
Why don’t they take the deductions?
That score was too low!
Where did they find those deductions?
They never take those deductions on "that" team in "that" conference. So why on earth are they taking them on us?
I was a coach for forty years, a broadcast analyst for one, and a fan on my couch for the last ten. Want to know what’s truly inconsistent? What we say we want and how we react when we get it.
And yes, we’ve tried to fix it. New rules. New emphasis. More education. More accountability. Every season starts with hope… because everyone wants deductions applied with consistency.
Until it costs them a tenth.
Judging inconsistency was already a heated topic at the first college coaches’ convention I attended in 1976. It’s been a hot topic of discussion at every convention since. That’s more than fifty years of complaining about the same issue. Now that's what consistency looks like.
Inconsistent judging in college gymnastics? Nothing new. I’ve been around long enough to know. I even earned my share of yellow cards, fines, and public reprimands for pointing it out when the scores didn’t make sense to me.
Judging consistency in #NCAAGym is the sport’s New Year’s resolution. Full of good intentions… and usually abandoned by the second or third week of the season. 🤣
I find this both fascinating and a little unsettling. There’s no question AI can help but college sports are supposed to be about people, growth, and education. How these tools are used will matter far more than how powerful they become.
www.sportico.com/leagues/coll...
The issue is not that college gymnastics markets itself as joyful, unified, and aspirational. Those moments are genuine, earned, and meaningful. The problem arises when success is treated as proof that everything behind the scenes must therefore be healthy.
