Kansas High School Gymnastics

 

Kansas High School Gymnastics is ruled by the Kansas State High School Activity Association (KSHSAA).  The 13 schools currently fielding the sport of gymnastics are Olathe Northwest, Olathe North, Olathe South, Olathe East,  Shawnee Mission North, Shawnee Mission South, Shawnee Mission East, Shawnee Mission West, Shawnee Mission Northwest, Lawrence High School, Free State High School (Lawrence), Emporia, and Newton.

Kansas High School Gymnastics state competition began in 1974 with two classifications.  Schools in 5A class (larger schools) and schools in 1A-4A (smaller populated schools).  After the 1977 state competition many of the smaller schools dropped the sport for different reasons.  Some reasons cited were budget, lack of a coach, and not enough student participation.  1978-2007 state competition included all qualifying individuals and schools regardless of the school classification.

Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel won four consecutive titles from 1979-1982 before dropping their program.  In recent years, Lawrence is the only Kansas High School to win three consecutive state championships winning state titles in 2004, 2005, 2006.  Olathe East broke that streak in 2007 when they won their 3rd state title after winning previous titles in 2002 and 2003.   However, Shawnee Mission Northwest holds the record for state championships having won seven titles. In 2009 history was made with a tie for the state championship.  Newton High School and Free State High School of Lawrence were co-champions.  Both teams had nick-named themselves "the Magnificent Seven".  Newton High had originally been dropped from the athletic budget in June of 2009, but after much debate, they were given the opportunity to continue for the 2009 season if they could raise $11,000.  They were able to complete the request by July 15 and "the team that almost wasn't" ended up at the top with Free State.  What a storybook ending!

Kansas High School gymnastics is a fall season sport.  It begins around the middle of August and completes the season with the state meet the first weekend in November.  The National Federation of State High School Associations “Girls Gymnastics Rule Book” and   the KSHSAA “Handbook” are the rules that govern the Kansas Interscholastic Girls Gymnastics Program.  Two rules meetings are held at the end of August to review and explain rules and rule changes from these two resources.  All head coaches and judges are required to attend one of these meetings.   They are then required to take an NFHS “open book” test and score 90% or better.  Judges who do not take the test are not eligible to judge high school meets.

High School gymnastics in Kansas is slowly declining as the number of high schools fielding programs decreases.  There are several reasons that can be cited for this decline.  One of the reasons is lack of enough judges to judge meets.  In 2007 there were not even enough judges to have two judges per event at the state meet!  However, in 2009 there were a number of new judges and getting judges was no problem.  Another problem is the lack of coaches.  In 2007 two coaches, Janine Sisk and Janice Baker, were honored at the state meet for 35 years of coaching.  That is the number of years Kansas has had state gymnastics!  It wasn’t known at the time if they would be replaced or if their programs would be dropped.  Losing two more schools in Kansas would  be detrimental to the program.  At one time the problem between high school coaches and club coaches existed and kept the numbers down, but that doesn’t seem to be the problem now.  Athletic directors are not always supportive of the programs because of liability and budget restraints.  They don’t like the fact that there are not large numbers of girls on a team.  However, it is ironic that participants in volleyball and basketball and other team sports are often cut because there are too many participants.  So what is enough for one sport isn’t the same for another sport.  Gymnastics teams with 9-15 girls are large enough for one or two coaches to handle.  Many more would make it hard to get the individual attention needed to progress.

Regardless of the reason for dropping, when one school drops high school gymnastics it has a domino effect for the rest of the schools.  It is thought that Kansas high school gymnastics will probably not last more than another five years.  There are many parents, gymnasts, and gymnastics fans who would like to see gymnastics continue.  Let’s hope they have a plan to help the sport like Newton did and that Kansas High School Gymnastics continues.

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