The Elite season is heating up, we look ahead to this week's NCAA Championships, and chat with Will Graves about his piece on trans and non-binary athletes in NAIGC gymnastics

LIVE SHOW at 2025 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Jessica and Spencer are joined by former professional musical theater boys turned super choreo-coaching duo, Daymon Jones and Patrick Kiens to discuss Celine van Gerner's iconic Cats makeup, the Paris Olympic FX final from their perspective as Romanian team head coaches, choreographing in over 15 countries combined and the 2025 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships of course. They will also take your questions live.

How: Virtual and In-Person Tickets 

When: Friday, April 18, Doors at 6:30, Show 7:00 CT

 Where: Ft. Worth, Texas or online from anywhere

Live Show Virtual Season Pass now available (For a limited time, four live show tickets for the price of three)

Updates

• Meet and Show Schedule for NCAA Week
  • Thursday, April 17 - All-around, Event Finals, Team Qualifying & LIVE Podcast
    • Semifinal One: ESPN2 at 4:30pm ET/1:30pm PT featuring Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Alabama
    • Semifinal Two: on ESPN2 at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT featuring LSU, Utah, UCLA, Michigan State
    • After awards and press conference, we will go live for a post-meet podcast for club members after semifinals. The top two teams will advance to finals
  • Friday, April 18 at 7 pm CT - GymCastic LIVE SHOW
    • No meets, but our first live show of 2025! Expect games, shenanigans, and interviews
    • Got a question? You can submit it with a virtual or in-person ticket
    • Want to upgrade to an in-person ticket? Be sure to do it before Friday!
  • Saturday, April 19 - Team Finals & Podcast
    • 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT on ABC
    • The four teams battle it out for the 2025 NCAA title
    • Join us after the NCAA Finals press conference and award ceremony for our live reaction podcast

Headlines

• A mixed-gender gymnastics event is coming to LA 2028!
  • We spent 300 hours discussion options on Behind The Scenes: Mixed Team Event Added to LA28. We still don't have details on the format, but expect more information in May after the next FIG meeting
• Livvy Dunne spoke at the House NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) settlement hearing about being consistnetly undervalued and not having a say in the process.

GYMTERNET NEWS

• Italy won the team final Jesolo!
  • Manila Esposito won the all-around with a 55.750
  • Zoey Molomo suffered a knee injury on vault during training
  • Both of the D'Amato sisters made their return
• Osijek World Cup
  • First-year senior Jun Iwai tied Tokyo Olympic Champion Artem Dolgopyat for the floor title
• Naya Howard announced she is transferring from Georgia
• Badass woman alert: Marta Pihan-Kulesza won the Polish national championships for the thirteenth time
• Carly Baumann and Reyna Guggino (University of Michigan) announced they will be returning for a sixth year
• Morgan Price (Fisk University) makes history again for HBCU gymnastics, repeating as the USA Gymnastics All Around Champion
• The University of Iowa opened its new $20 million training center for its spirit squads and gymnastics teams

NCAA Nationals

• Four enter only two survive!
  • Semifinal #1: Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri
  • Semfinal #2: LSU, Utah, UCLA, Michigan State
• What does a victory look like for each team?
• Who is each team's secret weapon?
• What is each team's biggest roadblock to winning?
• Who is our favorite to win the all-around
  • You may have heard of her, but we think Jadey Carey has a convincing argument
  • Jordan Bowers' 39.900 at Regionals (with three 10s) could challenge Carey
  • Chae Campbell won the Big 10 all-around title - how could she fit into the equation?
• What about our apparatus champions?
  • We pick our likely and our dream winners for each event

Olympic Team Draft: College Edition

• If we draft a hypothetical Olympic team made of gymnasts competing at NCAA Nationals, who would be on our teams?
  • Round One: Pick any gymnast, but only one per school
  • Round Two: Pick ONLY gymnasts who have never competed at a Worlds or Olympics
  • Round Three: Using the NCAA code, pick ONLY gymnasts who have never competed at a Worlds or Olympics

Interview: Will Graves

• Read Graves' article on how NAIGC gymnastics is provides trans and non-binary athletes an inclusive space to compete and thrive in the sport

Fact Checker Wrote a Book with Simone's Coach Pre-Order Now!

UP NEXT

• Two podcasts and a live show from NCAA Championships in Ft. Worth
• Pre-order Fact checker and Aimee Boorman's book "The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles"
• National Championship Fantasy Game is open now!

BONUS CONTENT 

• • • Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
    • Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and get access to all of our exclusive extended interviews, Behind The Scenes and College & Cocktails.
    • Not sure about joining the club?  College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
    • 2025 College & (M)Cocktails menu (including mocktails of course)

MERCH

• GymCastic Store: clothing and gifts to let your gym nerd flag fly and even “tapestries” (banners, the perfect to display in an arena) to support your favorite gymnast!
  • Baseball hats available now in the GymCastic store

NEWSLETTERS

• Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters 

NATIONALS FANTASY GAME:

• • Lineups are now open (with new pricing!) Get your teams set before Thursday at 1 pm PT for the chance to win a mini-commission!
  • GymCastic 2025 College Fantasy Game. Never too late to join!

RESOURCES

• Spencer's essential website The Balance Beam Situation 
• Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim

RECENT 

• Behind The Scenes: Mixed Team Event Added to LA28
• The 5th Rotation: April 08, 2025
• Regionals: Carnage and Courage
• College & Cocktails: Regionals Day Four
• NIL Gymnastics Deals & Regionals Debate Club

RESISTANCE  Submitted by our listeners.

• ACTION
  • Indivisible
    • Practical ideas about what you can actually do in this moment, check it out: indivisi.org/muskorus
  • 5Calls App will call your Congresspeople by issue with a script to guide you
    • • Make 2 to your Congressional rep (local and DC office). 2 each to your US Senators (local and state offices)
        • State your name and zip code or district
        • Be concise with your question or demand (i.e. What specific steps is Senator X taking to stop XYZ)
        • Wait for answer
        • Ask for action items -  tell them what you want them to do (i.e. draft articles of impeachment immediately, I want to see you holding a press conference in front of...etc.)
  • ResistBot
    • Turns your texts into faxes, postal mail, or emails to your representatives in minutes
• SUPPORT THE LAWSUITS
  • Donate to organizations suing the administration for illegal actions.
    • ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Northwest Immigration Law Project
• STAY INFORMED
  • Suggested podcasts:  Amicus, Daily Beans, Pod Save America, Strict Scrutiny
• Immigrant Rights
  • Know Your Rights Red Cards, We Have Rights Video, Your Rights on trains and buses video