To:     Parents, Prospective Student-Athletes & Collegiate Gymnastics Enthusiasts
From: Mike Lorenzen, President NACGC/W
Re:     Recruiting Information, materials and events                                 '.pdf ' file for printing
Date:  September 16, 2004

   Thank you for your interest in women's collegiate gymnastics! Our sport is one of the most vibrant and exciting that the NCAA offers and one of the best reasons for young gymnasts to continue their career through the challenging years of high school. Whether your goal is a college scholarship or just the opportunity to participate, college athletics represents one of the greatest laboratories for learning that our society offers. Young women who continue their participation in gymnastics as collegiate student-athletes have the opportunity to develop leadership and lifeskills that will open doors and create possibilities for them as leaders in the community after graduation.

   We have offered our "recruiting packet" as a bundle of printed materials in the past but in an effort to make this resource available to more people we are now presenting the same materials on-line and free of charge. If you do not have access to or the ability to print these materials, please contact me directly and I'll be happy to put a package together for you in return for the cost of printing and mailing.

   By seeking this information you have taken a very important first step in your exciting adventure of looking into college gymnastics as a part of the next chapter in your life. There is no question that you should consider the academic opportunities of each university first and foremost-education is the reason you are going to university! We do believe that athletic participation greatly enhances the college education experience and these materials will help you understand the process and procedures that you must follow to help guarantee a smooth transition into the collegiate athletic environment. 

   Please be advised that information does change and we do our best to keep the materials current and updated. Through this website you can access our official membership directory (containing contact information for each university that offers gymnastics) and a link to the NCAA's web page (including their Guide for Prospective Student-Athletes and information about registering with the NCAA Clearinghouse). You can additionally access links to university websites and information about competition schedules and results: www.collegegymnast.com 

   Please do not hesitate to contact the NCAA offices in Indianapolis if you have any specific questions that we have not answered: www.ncaa.org 

National Collegiate Athletic Association
1802 Alonzo Watford Dr.
Indianapolis, IN 46206
(317) 917-6515

   If you do need to contact the NCAA offices, we would make the following suggestion during that process:

  1. Keep a record of your call, you spoke to, the basic content of the conversation and the name and direct dial number of your contact there.
  2. In the written record of your conversation, be sure to record the responses to your questions.
  3. Strongly request that the person that you spoke to commit their responses to you in writing and that they be sent to you to keep in your files
  4. Do not make any decisions based upon hearsay or rumors. Get your information directly from the NCAA offices, the respective collegiate institution that you are planning to attend, or from the NACGC/W. That is the very best way to protect yourself and your future participation in collegiate athletics.
  5. Please be advised that while our materials are current, rules and policies do change. There is current NCAA legislation being discussed all the time. Do not assume anything is current regardless of the publication date. Also, please understand that within the NCAA, different sports have different rules. Therefore, getting information from someone in another sport may not apply to the sport of gymnastics

   I also want to mention another opportunity that you may want to consider. The United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs (USAIGC) hosts an annual tryout event called "the College Bound Invitational". The event is conducted by the USAIGC on behalf of the NACGC/W. The College Bound is held at the same location as our annual convention which makes it the only event that virtually guarantees attendance by representatives of every college gymnastics program. It is intended to be a low-pressure opportunity for gymnasts at a variety of levels to demonstrate their skills and abilities for college coaches and to facilitate the recruiting process both for colleges and clubs. You can get information on the event on the NACGC/W website or the USAIGC website: www.usaigc.com  

   You may also call the USAIGC at (212) 227-9792.

   Thank you for your interest in collegiate gymnastics. You are on your way to a magnificent experience and all of us wish you every possible success. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,

Mike Lorenzen