A club gymnastics team started in the fall of 2002 to provide a way for gymnasts to stay in the sport without having to be at the varsity level. Since the club’s creation, the club has been trying to become more than just a recreational club. However, the club has only been able to compete in two events since its creation.
“So far we have done a meet last year and the year before last, both at UNC,” Allison Bailey, a senior in math education and statistics and team co-president, said. “We are trying to look into more competitions, but because of everyone’s schedules and people wanting to feel ready to compete, we have only been going to one meet a year.”
One reason the team has not been able to compete until recently is the lack of members in the club.
“The first year we competed we didn’t have enough to qualify as a team, so we just had individuals compete,” Bailey said.
The club, however, is growing.
“The growth has been enormous. The first year I was in the club, there were probably 12 gymnasts,” Bailey said. “The next year all of a sudden on the first day of practice we had 40 people out there. It dwindled throughout the semester, but there were still a good 20 or 30 people that would come regularly.”
Though the club is trying to participate in more competitions, it is still a casual club.
“A lot of people come to just work out and stay in shape,” Veera Motashaw, a junior in biochemistry and team co-president, said. “It is kind of more self-driven. Varsity is usually really strictly coached, and we are more like whatever you want to do, you do. You come to work out for yourself and to have fun. We are very relaxed.”
Tyler Mitchell, a freshman in science education, recently joined the club, not for competition, but because it was something he was interested in.
“It has just always been something that seemed fun, so I wanted to try it,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t really know that much before because I didn’t really do gymnastics, I just kind of did stuff I taught myself before this, but now I have other people helping me out.”
Though some people enjoy being able to do gymnastics in a relaxed environment, others said they would like the club to be more competitive.
“For me, I would like a little more competition,” Wil Heyer, a junior in sport management, said. “I have competed my whole life, so this is kind of like a step down.”
One of the problems for Heyer and the other men on the team is that there are no men’s gymnastic teams at any of the universities in the state of North Carolina. In addition to there being no teams in North Carolina, there are also rarely men’s competitions in the state.
“A lot of the guys’ meets are kind of far away because there are no guys’ teams in the state,” Motashaw said. “The closest ones are in Virginia.”
Despite the competitions being so far away, the club is still trying to find competitions for the guys.
“Originally, we have had our girls compete, and it is a co-ed club, so we are looking to have our guys compete,” Bailey said. “We have several guys who are very good and want to compete who are starting to see the girls compete and wanting to compete too.”
In addition to finding more men’s competitions, Motashaw said the club is hoping to get to nationals this year. However, to do that, the team needs to compete in at least one more competition this year.
“If you compete at two meets anywhere, then you can qualify to go to nationals, so that was like our long-term goal as presidents,” Motashaw said. “We have definitely worked towards it a lot. We have started competing, and we just got new uniforms this year.”
The national competitions are held every year by the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs (NAIGC).
“The NAIGC really just wants to have a participation in gymnastics and just promote the sport and celebrate the fact that you can still do the sport,” Bailey said.
The club, however, is not trying to rush into nationals before it is ready.
“We aren’t rushing anything because we don’t want to go there and misrepresent N.C State,” Motashaw said.
