College Gymnastics For Dummies

College gymnastics season has begun ladies and gentlemen! While scrolling though my twitter feed and answering questions on Tumblr, I realized how many people are new to the world of college gymnastics. So I wanted to enlighten some of you newcomers on the key things to understanding this type of gymnastics. It's not a foreign language, BUT there are a few things you should learn before stepping into the Gymternet! 

The colleges

There are 3 types of colleges that compete in college gymnastics and they fall under the categories called Division I, Division II, and Division III schools. The divisions are organized by school size and it just so happens that the bigger schools tend to do better sports wise too. Division I is all your big universities like UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Florida, Penn State, etc. 99% of the colleges that you can think of that have gymnastics teams are Division I. An example of a Division II school would be Bridgeport or Seattle Pacific. All of the Division III schools reside in the North and are probably the least heard of gymnastics wise. For example; Hamline University, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are Division III schools. 

You can view all of the Division I, II, and III schools here

Who competes in college gymnastics?

Many of the gymnasts that you see competing in college gymnastics are former elite or level 10 gymnasts. Usually, if the gymnast is competing for a Division I school, she has either been an elite or level 10 in the past. Elite gymnasts can compete in college as long as they have not turned "pro" which means that you accept money from winning meets and having sponsors. Once an athlete turns pro, she can still go to college, she just can't compete on the gymnastics team. (Most of the athletes that do this are the Olympians, who are successful enough in the elite world and can make money off it.) The college's that are most known for recruiting top elite level athletes are UCLA, Alabama, Stanford, Florida, and Utah. College gymnasts can compete in college and elite at the same time, although not many do it. 

The scoring system

College gymnastics uses the perfect 10 scoring system still, which makes it simpler for non gymnastics fans to follow, but can also lead to bland and sometimes boring gymnastics. Sadly, you are not going to see many original skills. The easiest way to explain this is by looking at vault alone. In college, a yurchenko full is rated out of a 10. Now in the elite world, a yurchenko full is one of the easier vaults in the code of points. Majority of college gymnasts do this vault because it is fairly easy and they can still score a perfect 10 on it. Unless you like to take risks, why would you do 2 1/2 twists for a 10, when you can do 1 twist for a 10? Now there are some risk takers out there, for example Samantha Peszek does a back with a full on beam. That's a decent skill in elite competition and a very impressive one at the college level. That is why you'll see many former elite gymnasts downgrading their routines when they compete in college. In college, you simply don't get rewarded for difficulty. I was once asked, "why can't a college gymnast go to the Olympics?" The answer is simple. College gymnastics is not elite gymnastics. Their level of difficulty is just not the same! They would have to upgrade their routines to even have a shot. (Well for the USA team at least) Below is a sample of all the vaults in the NCAA code of points. (Click to enlarge) 

Basic rules/Deductions

• 6 up, 5 scores count.
• A tenth or half a tenth deduction is taken on all landings that are not stuck. It depends on the size of the hop or step.
• Generally, anywhere from a tenth to 3 tenths can be taken for wobbles or steps. 
• A fall is 5 tenths.

Vault

• Each gymnast will vault once and that is the score that counts. However, you get 3 chances to get over the vault, so for example if your running is a little off...you may start over. Once you get over the table, that counts as your vault. 
• If your feet do not land on the ground first, that is a full point off.

Bars

• Every routine must have one flight element. (Either a release move or transition)
• All dismounts must be rated a C or higher.

Beam

• Must have 2 flight elements in an acro series
• Must have at least 2 dance elements
• Must have a 360 degree turn
• Must have a leap (front or side) that hits 180 degrees

Floor

• Must do 3 passes.
• Must have a dance series that includes 2 or more leaps/jumps. 

All of the NCAA rules and some of the code can be found here