Smiles All Around, I See and Enjoy My First Gymnastics Meet

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There were no fouls. No penalties. No offsides. No replay reviews. No taunting. No booing. No heckling. No collisions. No time outs. There was grace. There was athleticism. There was poise. There were cheers. There was joy.

It was a sports event but not the kind I’m used to. Yesterday I attended my first gymnastics meet: The University of California hosting the University of Arizona. 

Live and in person I’ve seen, football, soccer, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, boxing, rugby and track and field. I’ve enjoyed these sports to varying degrees, some of them, at times, I’ve positively loved and have provided me with some of my fondest memories. Some of also provided me with heartache and even caused -- if briefly -- anger.

Gymnastics was different. 

Competitors don’t compete face-to-face or even side-by-side. In basketball when you shoot the ball, someone is trying to prevent you from doing so or at least trying to (metaphorically) stuff  the ball back in your face. Football players do not run free, quarterbacks do not get a free pass to pass and receivers are not left to unattended to catch passes. Soccer players are forever being challenged for the ball and are not allowed to shoot unimpeded. These sports are the better for the constant struggle.

But gymnastics is better for the freedom of athletes to perform without interference. (You could have a very different version of gymnastics in which two competitors are on — for example — the parallel bars at the same time, or perhaps even more interesting simultaneously on the balance beam trying to knock their challenger off while they perform. Competitors on the floor exercise might be interesting too.) In a sense a gymnastics meet is an exhibition of the athletes’ talents. Whoever displays the greatest talent is the winner. That leads to another oddity — for someone like me — of gymnastics. Scoring is determined completely by judges. The official final score is not known until the meet is over. Weird.

It was nice to be at an athletic event in which everyone seemed so happy the entire time. There was no risk of one gymnast “getting in the face” of an opponent. There was no crying foul or scowling at officials or remonstrating against anyone. Every attempt at every event was celebrated by teammates with constant high fives and hugs. Each event concluded with an exhibition performance by both teams. Imagine that, athletes doing something that didn’t count towards the final score.

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Coaches were little seen and never either barked at their players or the officials. No one yelled at anybody except to cheer them.

The crowd was appreciative and cheered everything and why wouldn’t they? All athletes were out there clearly doing there best.

It can’t go unnoticed that I attended a women’s meet and not a men’s. First of all I like women’s sports and am particularly fond of women’s basketball. I’ve coached both boys and girls and the latter is invariably a much more enjoyable group to work with. When I coached soccer at school we had to, at one point, disband the women’s team because there weren’t enough teams to play. So girls were allowed to go out for the boy’s team which perforce made it the co-ed team. Every season we averaged around five girls out of the eighteen players. They brought a much greater team spirit and sense of fun while being just as fiercely competitive. 

Anyway my decision to see women’s gymnastics instead of men’s may betray some latent homophobia or objectification of women but I think it more a case of the beauty of the sport — for me — being enhanced by watching women do it. It's merely a personal preference though I wouldn't discount the possibility that I'll some day take in a men's meet. 

I was impressed with the entire atmosphere at the meet. The fans were highly appreciative and enthusiastic. They came in all ages too, though I believe a preponderance were Cal students. 

My favorite event was the bars. The leaps from one bar to another amazed me, as did the twisting, turning dismounts. But I enjoyed all the events and couldn’t help but think of the many hours of practice it would take to be merely mediocre at any of them. The Cal team — ranked among the top ten in the nation — are well past mediocre.

I had a wonderful time and plan to attend the team’s final home meet of the season. 

Smiles all around.