But Why Does College Rule?

It is becoming increasingly clear that, for the vast majority of competitors, college is the culmination of their gymnastics rather than elite or international competition. Currently, colleges—with meet attendance as high as 20,000—are the most successful examples of what is possible in terms of building excitement as well as a spectator base.

The GT-1000 meet format is designed to promote and foster a team atmosphere that is similar to what an athlete will experience as a collegiate competitor. This shift in emphasis intends to create a format that is more satisfying to athletes and parents and one that will not only promote grassroots participation, but should result in athletes who participate over a longer period of time because of the satisfaction and comaraderie of team involvement.

Use of collegiate rules allows coaches to become familiar with the differences between collegiate and JO competition and to begin preparing their upper level athletes for futures as collegiate gymnasts.

These rules benefit the upper-level athletes by making a perfect score more attainable while
rewarding those routines demonstrating exceptional difficulty and execution—often with a perfect 10.

In addition, use of the collegiate format for judging adds to the excitement of the final session for spectators by allowing them open access to the scores of each judge.

It is hoped that this competition will encourage large audiences at every level, but especially at the upper-level of competition. Currently, there seems to be an inverse relationship between level of competition and audience size, with the lower levels fielding the largest and most enthusiastic audiences.

The GT-1000 Format seeks to build a large spectator base at every level.