IU gymnastics club remains only Big Ten sport not supported at IU

The IU Athletics motto is “24 Sports, 1 Team”.
But there is one sport missing that most Big Ten universities have — gymnastics.
In women’s gymnastics, eight of the 12 Big Ten schools have a varsity in program. In men’s, seven of the 12 schools have programs (Michigan State has a women’s program, but not a men’s).
Indiana did once have a gymnastics program in men’s and women’s, but they were both disbanded in the mid-1980s.
IU hasn’t had a varsity gymnastics program in more than 25 years, but is there a possibility for the program to be brought back?

IU Gymnastics History

IU did have a gymnastics program from 1949 to 1982.
In 1982, IU Athletics dropped men’s gymnastics and women’s field hockey.
These programs were cut off due to NCAA regulations making changes in scholarship distribution for Olympic sports.
IU’s decision was to eliminate those two sports instead of hurting the strength of other Olympic sports.
Also, men’s gymnastics and women’s field hockey were having recruiting troubles, due to instability of varsity high school programs in the southern Indiana area.
To add to that, men’s gymnastics was a sport with insurance concerns.
Rounding out the list of reasons to cut the program was that the facilities weren’t up to par. “We also had the poorest facilities available to support men’s gymnastics and women’s field hockey,” IU Sports Information Director JD Campbell said.
The women’s gymnastics program only lasted eight years (1978-1985).
In 1985, three years after the men’s program was ended, the women’s program followed for similar reasons.  
It was mainly due to declining high school sponsorship of gymnastics, which made recruiting tougher to get the best talent in nearby areas.

IU Club Gymnastics

Since the departure of both IU gymnastics programs in the ’80s, there has not been another resurgence of varsity gymnastics.
However people can still get involved with gymnastics, not through the varsity level but at the club level.
The Gymnastics club team ranges from beginners to high-level competitors.
“The average competition level of our team is about a level seven, although we have a few gymnasts who compete at a level nine competition,” IU club gymnast Ashley Smith said.
The levels range based off of experience and talent, which contribute to club traveling capabilities to competition in the region or other surrounding areas against various colleges.  
Recent members of the club team have tried to bring up the idea of a varsity team, but it never came to fruition.
The last president of the club gymnastic squad, Billy Gruin, led the charge.
“Gruin was working with some people to try and bring a varsity team to IU, but he was never successful,” IU club gymnast Caitlin Radke said.

The Future of Gymnastics at IU

IU club gymnastics is positive about a varsity program returning to IU because of the impact it would make.
“The club team would love it if a varsity team was brought to IU, because that would improve the level of our club team,” Smith said.
But the possibility looks dim at the moment from the IU Athletic Department’s perspective, due to the funding situation.
“We are one of the most underfunded athletic programs in the Big Ten,” Campbell said. “It is more than unlikely that we would add any sports at the varsity level in the future.”
So at the moment, the motto “24 Sports, 1 Team” will not change anytime soon.