Good news: Yale may be willing to support men’s gymnastics as an official Club Sport – if it operates off campus!
Yale’s men’s gymnastics initiative is a little closer to it’s goal of establishing men’s gymnastics as a club sport. While Club Sports’ responses to earlier inquiries included the statement that they “do not think Yale is in a position to try to support a men’s gymnastics club” and that there are “48 other club sports […] and I might suggest you look into one or more of those“, an email sent to freshman Philipp Arndt (who is part of the initiative) by club sports director Tom Migdalski gives us hope that we may – despite all odds – be able to bring men’s gymnastics back to Yale’s campus. While the club sports director stressed again that Payne Whitney will not be able to accommodate a men’s gymnastics club, he said that the university may support the club if we find an off-campus location where we can practice.
In the email, Migdalski wrote:
“[…] However, we would be willing to support this club as an “off-site” club sport. In other words, for example, there is a gymnastics studio in Hamden (the next town to our north, only about 15 minutes away), and we would be willing to review an arrangement/proposal that you could work out with them. There is a precedent for this, as we have had similar situations, such as curling, climbing and indoor soccer, where they have become successful as off-site club sports. All your competitions, however, would need to be “away” matches. Further, you would still need a paid and certified coach to instruct and travel with the team, as required by the University of our high-risk sports.”
The initiative, now mainly organized around Daniel Aeschliman and Philipp Arndt, will now look into possible off-site practice locations as well as means of transportation and funding. Daniel Aeschliman (who is member of the initiative) may be able to become the team’s official coach. We are also looking into the possibility of establishing gymnastics as a coed club sport at Yale. The initiative will hold an informational meeting in the beginning of the fall ’13 semester to gauge undergraduate interest in its project and it will then hopefully be able to present it’s plan to the Club Sports Advisory Board (CSAB) to ask for official recognition as a club sport.