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Aly Raisman had heard about plans to drop competitive boys' gymnastics in Massachusetts and she was not pleased.
"Extremely disappointing that boys gymnastics is being dropped by MIAA. This quote upsets me," the gold-medaling gymnast from Needham tweeted on Sunday. Then she posted the quote from the Boston Globe story from Massachusetts interscholastic Athletic Association spokesman Paul Wetzel to which she was referring:
"It’s a girls’ sport," said Wetzel, referring to the lopsided [gymnastics] participation rates. "When was the last time you watched boys’ gymnastics? They don’t get on the cover of the Wheaties box. They don’t get the endorsements."
Raisman's next tweet:
There is absolutely no such thing as a "girl sport" #ridiculous
The whole issue of MIAA's decision to drop boys' gymnastics from official competition centers around statistics that reportedly show declining interest by boys in gymnastics as a sport.
Seven high schools in Massachusetts offer active boys' gymnastics programs: Burlington, Newton North, Newton South, Andover, Attleboro, Braintree, and Lowell. Coaches, students and others have expressed their disappointment.
So, if there appears to be declining interest in boys' gymnastics, is the MIAA right to drop its official competition? Is gymnastics a 'girl's sport'? Or is Aly Raisman right, that there is no such thing as a girl's sport (or, by extension, a boy's sport)? Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
Doug Davison
12:19 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Is the MIAA shifting to a position of determining which sports will be played by which sexes based on popularity? If so, I would expect them to stop sanctioning a significant number of womens' sports. The number of female sports that make the Wheaties box can be counted on one hand. What a ridiculous thing to say. The fact that an official of the MIAA would refer to any sport as a "girls' sport" is concerning. The fact that it would be said of one of the oldest Olympic sports and one of the most physically demanding is absurd.
Mens' gymnastics is a break even sport in terms of finances for MIAA. There is an international body that sets rules and scoring. There are many judges already trained in the region. It provides a winter option for strength and conditioning for many young male atheletes. The schools that offer it have large programs. I would like to see a better explanation of this decision.