Central Michigan University students rebuild school's club gym gymnastics team, finding new facilities, friendships and competitions
(From left) Lauren Pocica, Marissa Wever, and Alexa Cusimano talk by the uneven bars during practice, Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Mid Michigan Gymnastics Center, Freeland, Mich.
It’s 9 p.m. on a Monday night and seven cars sit in an otherwise-empty parking lot outside Morey Gymnastics Center in Mount Pleasant.
With echoes of laughter and Taylor Swift’s music bouncing off the walls inside, seven gymnasts occupy the gym. But this isn’t just another practice for Central Michigan University’s club gymnastics team.
Six gymnasts are working on routines for their first collegiate gymnastics competition -- the club’s first since rebuilding the team in early 2023.
From practicing at different gyms, becoming closer as a team and creating opportunities to compete, club gymnastics is having a resurgence at CMU.
Maddie Doody spreads chalk on her hands before going on the uneven bars during practice, Wednesday, Feb. 7 at Morey Gymnastics Center, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
The Beginning
Sophomore Sam Towers graduated high school and came to CMU with a decision made: She wasn’t competing in college gymnastics.
Having competed since she was 8 years old, not having gymnastics created a void that became present once Towers came to CMU in the fall of 2022.
“Moving to college, that was the first time I had ever not been doing gymnastics [in] as long as I could remember,” Towers said. "When I started going to college meets and watching more gymnastics, I knew that I needed to be back into the gym.”
Club gymnastics wasn’t something Towers ever thought of doing, but an opportunity to come back to the sport she missed opened after hearing talk of a new group wanting to form on campus.
In the fall of 2022, Towers was put in a Snapchat group chat among other CMU students interested in club gymnastics. Not being the most vocal in the chat at first, Towers watched members leave the group after realizing the amount of work it took to build a group from the ground up.
But Towers stayed.
Sam Towers, right, and Marissa Wever, left, laugh during practice, Monday, Feb. 12 at Morey Gymnastics Center, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Deciding to go to the club’s first meeting with University Recreation, Towers realized she wanted to play a role in bringing back the club, and it was at that meeting she became the club’s vice president, the role she holds today.
“I just kind of fell into the vice president role,” Towers said. “It was just funny to me how kind of the first time I had ever really made my presence known was just by me showing up at this meeting, and then all of a sudden I was like a key part in starting the club.”
Another key member of the club’s revival is sophomore Marissa Wever, Towers said. As the most vocal member in the group chat and the one who organized that first meeting in 2022, Wever became another key member of the club’s revival when voted club president.
Along with grad student Reagan Sanborn (treasurer); junior Lauren Pocica (fundraising chair); and sophomore Alexa Cusimano (apparel manager), the 2023-24 eboard members took on recruitment, social media management and communicating with gyms to further build the club’s foundation.
Lauren Pocica, left, talks to Marissa Wever, right, while driving to Freeland, Mich. for practice, Wednesday, Feb. 21, outside of Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Finding Facilities
Practicing on CMU’s campus wasn’t an option for the club team.
“When we were first starting up last spring, we were immediately told that we were never going to be allowed to practice on campus, which was frustrating and disheartening," Towers said.
The club was told the main reason was because of an incident that happened in the past, Towers said. In 1993, freshman Brian Sheridan failed a back handspring in CMU’s gymnastics room that resulted in a spinal injury and a lawsuit against CMU, according to a 2016 Central Michigan Life article.
With the only other gym in Mount Pleasant being small and not having the adult-sized equipment the team needed, the group reached out to Mid Michigan Gymnastics USA in Freeland, Michigan, and began practicing there in March of 2023.
Making sure the club had everything needed to be successful, George Young, MMG's owner, would stay from 8-10 p.m. and help the team practice, spotting girls and encouraging everybody, Towers said.
“It was hard... to have to go to MMG because of the drive and the cost and all that, but it was really helpful for us getting skills back and getting ready to compete,” Towers said.
CMU's club gymnastics team practices while the gym's owner George Young, far right, watches, Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Mid Michigan Gymnastics Center, Freeland, Mich.
The team primarily practiced in Freeland for the rest of 2023, but after Morey Gymnastics Center (MGC) opened in Mount Pleasant, the team transitioned to a new practice facility in late January of this year.
The move to MGC was a big time-saver, Pocica said.
"It’s relieved some pressure and some stress on us because of cost and just time in general,” Pocica said. "You don’t want to miss a practice just because it’s an hour away and you need time to do homework.”
Maddie Doody leaps while working on her beam routine during practice, Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Mid Michigan Gymnastics Center, Freeland, Mich.
While it was easy to go from an hour drive to a five-minute drive to practice, having to work with recreational equipment was a bit of an adjustment, Towers said.
According to USA Gymnastics, recreational gymnastics is primarily focused on beginner- to intermediate-skill levels. As the team was working to compete at higher levels, it needed to use equipment that could handle the bigger skills its members were doing in routines. So, the team found ways to make it work.
"While that first week was kind of like a culture shock switching equipment, now we've found ways to adapt and use what we have to be able to practice what we need to practice,” Towers said. “Like the other day, we set up this interesting matt-vault contraption thing with trampoline springboards so people could flip vaults here, which was something that we never thought was a possibility.
“It's been really amazing seeing just the persistence and the dedication to figuring out how to make this work, because we know that this is the way forward for our team."
Lauren Pocica, center, sprints toward the vault, while Sam Towers, left, and Maddie Doody, right, cheer her on during practice, Wednesday, Feb. 7 at Morey Gymnastics Center, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Along with adapting to the new equipment, the club agreed to practice at both gyms during competition weeks, so gymnasts could practice full out on proper equipment.
“A huge thing is we don't want anybody to get injured,” Towers said. “We want people to have fun. We want people to be able to compete the skills and the routines that they want to do, but not at the expense of getting injured."
While the team continues to use both gyms, it works toward a future of practicing on campus. Working toward this goal hasn’t been easy, Pocica said.
“We feel like we're [being] annoying by just constantly going back and forth to the SAC [Student Activity Center] trying to find the right people and going through the right channels, and we're not getting any reciprocation,” Pocica said. “So that's kind of where we're at right now, but we're trying, we're really trying.”
The club wrote a letter regarding practicing on campus that is now with university lawyers, Towers said.
“Being able to practice on campus... that has always been our goal, so we'll see what happens with that,” Towers said. “We're not giving up hope, but it's been really nice to be able to kind of make this place [Morey Gymnastics Center] our home for the time being and for however long we have to be here.”
CMU's club gymnasts talk near the end of practice, Monday, Feb. 12 at Morey Gymnastics Center, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Coming Together
In its first two semesters, the 50-minute drives to practice helped bring the team closer together. Towers calls it "a blessing in disguise."
“It was really hard to have to take that much time out of our schedules and spend the money on gas to drive, but we made so many important connections and bonds during those drives that has led to us being super close and connected,” Towers said.
Discussing things like school and gymnastics, the group formed deeper connections during the long rides, Pocica said. Meeting other people through the team and getting out of her comfort zone has positively impacted her experience at CMU.
“There was a shift that happened once I started gymnastics,” Pocica said. “I started studying what I wanted to do. I started becoming friends with more people. I started going out more, ultimately being more comfortable and happy with who I am and what I was doing here.”
The close relationships the gymnasts made early on also created a positive environment and bond that carried into practices, competitions and life outside of the club.
“Being in gymnastics and sports is something that I feel like I took for granted when I was younger, just because it was an intense environment,” Pocica said. “[Having] the people that are in my club team supporting me and each other, that environment definitely helps throughout school and just regular life.”
Maddie Doody, left, and Marissa Wever, right, high five after Wever's vault during practice, Wednesday, Feb. 7 at Morey Gymnastics Center, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
The environment the team created allows the group to be themselves and have more fun competing with there being less stress about performing perfectly, Towers said. She’s proud of the mental growth she’s seen within the team.
“I know for a lot of us competing as we were younger, it was super, super stressful and we cared so much about how we did at meets; we cared about every single tenth,” Towers said. “We're really focusing on having fun and doing it just for the love of the sport of gymnastics, and that has just created such a great atmosphere ... knowing that if you make a mistake, it's not the end of the world.”
The team’s first competition season was in February. With around 11 total team members, the group had six competing gymnasts: Reagan Sanborn, Alexis Pultorak, Maddie Doody, Alexa Cusimano, Marissa Wever and Lauren Pocica.
The team’s meet was Pocica’s first in around six years, and her nerves had her shaking, Pocica said.
“I actually messed up a little bit on bars because I was so nervous, but then I realized what the environment was like and how it's really not that deep anymore,” Pocica said.
Traveling to judge competitions on the weekends and not wanting to reopen “old wounds” or stresses, Towers chose not to compete this season. This year, she was proud to see the team’s work pay off during the competition season and looks forward to the future of the club.
“I just hope moving forward that we're able to keep the same fun-loving spirit and gratitude for being in this position,” Towers said. “Ultimately, it’s not the scores or the medals ... that’s the most important.
“What's most important is the fact that we're even able to be out there and that just by being out there, we've already accomplished so much.”
Gallery – Competing at Grand Valley State’s Meet
Maddie Doody, left, applies a CMU temporary tattoo on Alexa Cusimano, right, before Grand Valley State University’s Health Heart Classic meet, Saturday, Feb. 24, at Kids Unlimited Activity Center, Jenison, Mich.
Lauren Pocica salutes after performing on the uneven bars during Grand Valley State University’s Health Heart Classic meet, Saturday, Feb. 24, at Kids Unlimited Activity Center, Jenison, Mich.
Lauren Pocica, left, and Reagan Sanborn, center, cheer as Alexis Poltorak, right, performs her floor routine during Grand Valley State University’s Health Heart Classic meet, Saturday, Feb. 24, at Kids Unlimited Activity Center, Jenison, Mich.
Alexa Cusimano warms up on the vault during Grand Valley State University’s Health Heart Classic meet, Saturday, Feb. 24, at Kids Unlimited Activity Center, Jenison, Mich.
Alexis Poltorak, center, fist bumps Lauren Pocica, right, after Pocica performed on the beam during Grand Valley State University’s Health Heart Classic meet, Saturday, Feb. 24, at Kids Unlimited Activity Center, Jenison, Mich.
Reagan Sanborn performs on the balance beam during Grand Valley State University’s Health Heart Classic meet, Saturday, Feb. 24, at Kids Unlimited Activity Center, Jenison, Mich.
