Editor’s Note: The article below is First published Dec. 6 in College Gym News. Fisk this week Super 16 tournament in Las Vegas.
The end of the year brings a lot of excitement to the world of gymnastics – competition season is just around the corner. The teams have announced their schedules, conducted their official intra-squads, and are finalizing their routines. It’s an exciting time in the year, but there’s a lot to deal with, especially for a team going into its first season, like his 2023 he’s three teams.
One of those teams is Fisk, the first gymnastics team to represent a historically black college. Not only is Fisk entering his first season, but head coach Colin Tarver is entering his first year as head coach.
“It’s pretty humbling and exciting [to be chosen as the first head coach of a HBCU gymnastics team],” she said. I guess.”
Coaches have a lot to think about when preparing their teams for the weekend rush. But before teams can think about a competitive season, they need to know who they’re up against. Creating a schedule is an important part of preseason, and coaches want to create the best possible schedule for their athletes.
“We want to give them the best chance to get the best score. We all know that when you compete with big dogs, you get better scores,” Tarver said. “But I didn’t want it to be too much.
Ranking: Team and Individual Pre-Season Power Rankings
Once the team’s schedule is decided, the full-scale preparations for the tournament season finally begin. At this point in preseason, teams are working on easing into their routines. It’s important for coaches to pace their athletes and not overdo it before the season starts. “We’ve been through the routine, but they still have the safety net to go into the pits or into the cash register or get a spot,” Tarver said.
In addition to physical preparation, gymnasts must prepare mentally for the competition season. This is difficult for a first-year team. New programs usually consist of many freshmen, so there is a lot of inexperience when it comes to preparing for the college season.
“Right now, we are trying to make sure that most girls understand that they have never competed before and need to be prepared for competition,” Tarver said. “So they don’t realize how quickly the season is coming. When you start when you get back from Christmas break, basically she’s a week and then you go. Once you’re done, you can’t stop.” .”
Fisk doesn’t just think about being physically and mentally prepared for competition every weekend. The team is getting a lot of attention from the gymnastics world as it is his first HBCU team. “It’s exciting, but it’s a lot of pressure,” Tarver said. “I’m starting to see tension and anxiety and stress now.”
The team has to overcome the pressure of being the first HBCU gymnastics program, but that’s not the main focus. Gymnasts still have goals for the season like any other team. For Fisk, it’s “competing with confidence…putting on a good show, presenting yourself well and performing to the best of your ability,” Tarver said.
2023: Ultimate female college student gymnastics season notice
It’s also about proving to the fans and to myself that I can compete at the college level. “So I think it’s about the confidence they have and the feeling they belong. They’re good enough.” It means there is.”
Beyond the 2023 season, Tarver wants to show college gymnastics that smaller schools can be just as competitive as larger ones. With only about 1,000 students at Fisk, it’s easy for fans to overlook the team.
“A lot of the stereotypes that come with it are that we can make an impact, even if we are small, HBCUs,” Tarver said. “As a team, we can be competitive. We might be in the NCAA and be a DII program, but we can still really compete with big dogs. My goal for the next five years. is to keep climbing the rankings and getting stronger as a team.”
