Spring Athletics: Gymnastics at UA

Many students have the unfortunate feeling that UA athletics end for the year when football season ends. As a freshman, I made the same mistake. That's why we are creating a series of posts about springtime athletics at UA. Our previous post on men's basketball can be found here. Enjoy

Gymnastics is probably the second most popular spring sport among UA students (right behind men's basketball). Our gymnastics team has a tradition of winning (4 national championships, 6 SEC championships, and an NCAA-record 25 regional championships), and we are one of the best programs in the nation year-in and year-out. All home gymnastics meets take place in Coleman Coliseum. Attendance is always high (over 10,000), and we have set a few gymnastics attendance records over the years.

Sarah Patterson has been the head coach of the gymnastics team since the fifth year of the program's existence (1979). Her husband, David Patterson, is also a coach. The do a lot of great work for UA and the Tuscaloosa community, including raising money for breast cancer research. As a part of these efforts, the Pattersons help to organize the annual "Power of Pink" meet at which all fans are encouraged to wear pink. This year's Power of Pink meet will occur this Friday (Feb 18) at 7:30pm against Kentucky.

In my opinion, the best way to describe the atmosphere at a gymnastics meet is "family friendly." A ton of families with small children come out for the meets, and you can tell that the kids really enjoy the show. I will personally guarantee that we have the best team introduction of any gymnastics program in the country; pyrotechnics, lighting effects, and sweet music are all a part of the introduction. On a related note, we also have a pretty incredible introduction video. Unfortunately, I cannot directly embed the video on this page thanks to the really annoying video player on rolltide.com. However, click this link and watch the video: VIDEO.

So, you want to go to a gymnastics meet? Let's figure this thing out:

• Like all spring sports, every home meet is free to all UA students. The only thing you'll need is your ACT card.
• The student gate is located on the right-hand side of Coleman if you are looking at the main entrance. I know that this is probably common knowledge, but as I mentioned in the basketball post, I did not know this as a freshman.
• I would recommend getting to Coleman 30-45 minutes before a meet.
•  Each meet will last approximately 1.5-2 hours. It's a perfect evening activity, even on a weeknight.
• Each team will participate in four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor routine. All are pretty incredible to watch.

Gymnastics really is a lot of fun at UA. If you haven't been to a meet yet, then you're missing out! A great place to get started is at the Power of Pink meet this Friday at 7:30 vs. Kentucky. Our team is currently ranked number 6 in the nation, and we (as always) have championship aspirations this year.

Check it out and Roll Tide!