In
1982 the NCAA first began to sponsor championships for
women. At that time, gymnastics was one of the most well
attended women's championships and there were 179 institutions
sponsoring women's gymnastics. [see
chart]
Since
then, the number of women's gymnastics programs has dwindled
to 84, and while the average attendance at our championships
has remained largely unchanged, other women's sports
have dramatically improved their attendance. These sports
have developed their rules, championship format and site
selection procedures in a manner that would help them
accomplish this. As examples, the final rounds in women's
basketball have been sold out since 1993 and in 2006
women's volleyball averaged over 17,000 in their final
rounds. [see
chart] In basketball rules
changes such as the "shot
clock" and "three point line", while controversial
at the time, have had a dramatic effect. The same can
be said for "rally scoring" in volleyball.
We
have done little to improve our image or increase interest
in our post-season events. Our rules continue to be difficult
for the occasional observer to understand, and post-season
events are too long, too complicated and anticlimactic
in nature. Other than when hosted by a few institutions,
who have their own large following, attendance has been
disappointing. [see
chart]
While other sports
have moved forward, we have held on to the notion that
gymnastics is somehow unique in nature. We
have proceeded as though it is more important to maintain
what we have rather than consider what might help us improve
our popularity and our status among all NCAA sports. We
have been inclined to concentrate on things that primarily
address issues that can never be fully resolved and often
only make us appear more eccentric in nature. We have been
distracted by the never-ending effort to perfect our rules
surrounding competition and judging issues. While these
things should certainly be addressed, we have focused on
them at the expense of taking on bigger issues.
"Insanity:
doing the same thing over and over again and expecting
different results". ~ Albert Einstein
MISSION
In order to begin
that process, we should first identify the issues
and define objectives that will act as our compass as we move forward.
If we want to accomplish things such as 1)
improve our image within the NCAA community,
2) become more popular to the general public,
3) increase attendance at our post-season events,
and 4) maintain as many programs as possible,
our actions should reflect those goals.
In order to improve
our image within the NCAA community, we should consider
changes that could help us be viewed by our administrators,
support staff and other coaches, as more mainstream in
nature. We should attempt to make gymnastics appear as
much like the most popular sports in the NCAA as possible.
To help increase
our popularity with the general public, we should consider
simplifying our rules and procedures whenever possible.
They should be easy for almost anyone to understand.
This will require us to think about changes that may
not fit neatly within the traditions of how we have done
things in the past. We must keep in mind that what may
appear to make things better to us, may not translate
to what will make gymnastics more understandable to others.
To
increase attendance at our championships, we should consider
creating a format that is fast moving, easy to follow
and exciting for even the most casual of viewers. If
we hope to grow, it is not enough to appeal only to hard-core
gymnastics fans or to fans of our institutions.
We
should consider changes that would also allow an opportunity
for our post-season events to be televised live. As Steve
Penny of USA gymnastics recently said, "because
of the way media is now set up, if you're not live, you're
not real". This will require us to make the
difficult decision about whether we continue to be more
concerned with maintaining our participation numbers
in post-season events, or whether we will create events
that are more marketable.
Last
but not least, we should consider what effect, if any,
these types of changes may have on the continuing decline
in the number of institutions sponsoring women's gymnastics.
Gymnastics will
never be bigger than many other NCAA sports with regard
to the number of programs. That battle was lost some time ago.
However, we can be better - more entertaining, more
exciting. In order to do that we should minimize our weaknesses and
maximize our strengths. Our weakness is our complexity...
we can minimize that by simplifying our rules and procedures.
Our strength is the nature of what our athletes do.
Their athleticism is undeniable and they are exiting to watch.
We appeal to a demographic to whom everyone is trying
to gain access... women and families. Gymnastics is a great
product. We have the potential to produce an extraordinarily
entertaining event if we package it correctly.
We
need to be realistic about what role we can play
in shaping the future of gymnastics on college campuses.
What will likely determine the future of programs
is how administrators view the status of gymnastics on their
campuses, in their conferences and within the structure
of the NCAA. In this economic climate, we should assume that everyone has
a contingency as to what may be eliminated, if and when budgetary concerns
require that they do so. We should try to see it through their eyes, as a
business decision based on budget, gender equity requirements and the political
environment in their communities.
It is unlikely
that we can significantly improve our sponsorship
numbers and in fact it will be a challenge to maintain our current
numbers. Some expenses associated with our sport
are inherent in nature due to the need for a dedicated facility and the
cost of our equipment. The cost of officials and
other expenses associated with hosting events can also be problematic. In addition,
our NCAA regional meets are an expense that team
sports do not incur. If these types of issues are at the core of why
some programs are in jeopardy, there may be little
we can do to reverse that trend. However, if we are
able to improve our image, popularity, and post-season
attendance, we may still be able to have some affect on the stability of many
of our remaining programs.
CHANGE
What types of things
might we consider in order to simplify our rules
and procedures in a way that would make our events more understandable and
entertaining? Perhaps we could start by counting
everything. Why compete routines or conduct meets that don't count? Let's
make every score and every meet mean something. Then
let's create a competition format that that is fast moving and allows
everyone to always know who's ahead and who's behind. Let's make our post-season
championship process look more like other popular sports and let's create events
that provide an opportunity for greater spectator interest and live television
coverage.
"Change
has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful
it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful
it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring
because the challenge exists to make things better". ~ King
Whitney Jr.
