It’s an exciting time of year for gymnastics fans! Athletes are entering the transfer portal, and club-level gymnasts are committing to schools nationwide. Plus, ever since COVID struck in 2020, the offseason also brings fifth-year announcements. As many college sports fans probably know, any athlete who competed in the 2021 season has been granted the opportunity to take a fifth “COVID” year. We’ve already seen a lot of amazing gymnastics from fifth-year gymnasts, but there’s more that goes on behind the scenes than meets the eye to coordinate it.
In 2022, the first year that COVID years went into effect, the NCAA allowed for each team to exceed the 12-scholarship limit that a gymnastics team is usually allowed. But after 2022, the limit on scholarships went back to 12. Because of this, coaches have had to figure out how to allocate their 12 throughout a roster to take into account he possibility of seniors wanting to come back for their fifth year, as well as new recruits coming in.
But before a coach can even begin thinking of which of their gymnasts will stay with the team for another year, the gymnast themself needs to decide whether or not they want to. At Florida, Trinity Thomas, Megan Skaggs, and Alyssa Baumann are just a few notable Gators that…
