by the NUMBERS

girls in competitive artistic gymnastics in the US

small gymnastics team with unique practice situation thrives on connection.

story by greta waller

It’s 3:15 pm. Girls file into the gym, tugging at their ponytails and passing around snacks. They wriggle off shoes and socks as a line forms for their warm up. In between skips and sashays, there is chatter about football games and giggles over boys.

Coach Braxton Quell takes his place in front of the team. “Let’s stretch,” he says.

Quell coaches pole vault during track season, but during fall, he is the head coach of three Shawnee Mission gymnastics teams: South, East and West. They all practice together at South after school. Together, these schools make up over 20% of the 14 high school gymnastics programs across the state.

“[Kansas high school gymnastics] is dwindling,” Quell said. “It is dying and very much on its last leg.”

The program’s uncertain future is largely a result of low participation. Many gymnasts compete on club teams that practice year-round and don’t want to interrupt their club seasons by joining a high school team. The lack of gymnasts interested in high school competition led the Shawnee Mission and Lawrence School Districts to consider cutting gymnastics from their budgets in 2017 and 2021, respectively.

14 high school gymnasts in the US schools with gymnastics programs in Kansas school districts with gymnastics programs in Kansas 13 | Sports

“West counts as a team with one athlete,” Quell said. “East is our largest team this year—they have 11 athletes. That’s pretty big.”

South has three gymnasts: senior Zaria Redick and freshmen McKenzie Arnold and Stella Segura. Each has a different level of experience. Redick was a complete beginner her freshman year, while Arnold enters her rookie season with some familiarity from recreational gymnastics. Segura began competitive gymnastics at age six and excelled at the club level before joining the high school team this year.

“I’m still getting used to the scoring,” Segura said, “but practices are a lot easier in high school.”

Because gymnastics requires specific expertise and costly equipment, schools have to share coaches and practice facilities. They still compete as separate teams, but practicing with gymnasts from East and West has given South gymnasts a unique bond.

“It feels like we’re one team,” Arnold said. “At my first meet, I wasn’t sure what line to stand in so I almost joined East’s!”

The limited size of the sport fosters an uplifting culture at competitions. Although they line up separately, Shawnee Mission gymnasts have no hesitation cheering for girls from a number of other schools.

“Even though we compete against them, it’s really not about us,” Redick said. “It’s not about who’s better; it’s about building each other up.”