Equal Opportunity in Men's Gymnastics

Equal Opportunity in Men's Gymnastics

Over the past decades, what once was a sport of prominent importance in society has slowly dwindled and died. Men's gymnastics in the United States has been a dying sport due to a lack of equal opportunity, funding, and marketing across the NCAA and USA Gymnastics landscape. Since introducing Title IX in 1972, we have seen a positive shift in the diversification in all sports sectors. With this diversification, we have seen a balance of budgeting at colleges and universities to help ensure fairness and equal representation for all sports. It includes, "According to this view, to achieve equity between men's and women's athletics, schools tended to cut men's sports like swimming, diving, track and field, and gymnastics" (Guerra, 2024). Cutting athletic avenues like men's gymnastics impacts those who can participate in collegiate competitions. With limited access to where athletes can continue to compete in college for gymnastics, it is only a matter of time before there are conversations about the end of the sport. It would surprise many to find the drastic drop in programs, leading to a massive lack of opportunities for men. In 1980, there were over 200 NCAA men's gymnastics programs. There are currently only 12 Division I men's gymnastics programs today (Ross, 2020). A diminished number of NCAA men displays how hard it can be for a male athlete to advance from high school to collegiate. With the absence of exposure for male athletes and a minimal number of programs, men who want to compete in the sport find it challenging and feel uninclined to want to compete at a higher level. The NCAA and USA Gymnastics must embrace a new organizational culture to restore the sport to high competition levels with broader participation. Expanding collegiate opportunities, especially in lower divisions, and incentivizing schools nationwide to support both men's and women's teams will ensure financial stability and sustained growth of the organization and the sport.