The decision by the Old Town-Orono YMCA to pause its competitive gymnastics program has devastated athletes and their parents, who are still trying to get more answers about the future of the program.
That pause, slated to start on June 28, was announced on the Old Town-Orono YMCA Gymnastics Facebook page on May 7.
“While this decision was not made lightly — we feel it is in the best interest for the future of our tumbling sports programming,” the post said. “We will continue to focus on, and offer preschool and recreational gymnastics programming.”
That announcement, and the way it was made, has alarmed the close-knit local gymnastics community.
“The competitive gymnastics team has been like a second family for us, and that gym has been like a home,” said Sarah Twombly, who has a daughter on the team and is a member of the team’s booster club. “So to find out in a Facebook post that that was being taken away was devastating for the kids and for the parents alike who spend hours together making this happen.”
Twombly said there are between 30 and 35 gymnasts on the competitive team.
“We feel blindsided,” said booster club president Tonya George, adding that team members are struggling with the news and the uncertainty it brings. And she stressed that developing gymnasts can’t go months without building new skills and then expect to pick up where they left off.
“You don’t pause gymnastics,” George said. “It’s not like basketball where you can come back in a few months and just, you still know how to shoot a ball. Gymnasts go 50 weeks a year.”
The boosters are concerned that a program pause could eventually turn into a program closure, and are also concerned about the level of transparency from YMCA leadership.
Twombly said parents “have met with a brick wall” when trying to get answers. As one of several parents selected for a closed-door meeting with YMCA leaders on Wednesday, she is hoping for that flow of information to improve. But she and other boosters say even the way that meeting is being handled raises questions about transparency.
Twombly said those invited are showing up ready to engage with YMCA leadership. George, the booster club president, said she was not invited to Wednesday’s meeting but is “completely confident” in those who were.
George has a daughter currently on the team and has two older daughters who previously participated in the program.
“In my opinion, if they wanted answers and they wanted somebody who knows how the program is run, I would be at that table tonight,” George said. “And I’m not.”
She said parents understand that tough decisions might need to be made, but that people are still struggling with the question of transparency.
“Even this meeting is not transparent,” she said.
Scott Wilcox, the CEO of the Old Town-Orono YMCA, hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comments, but he told Bangor TV station WFVX last week that his organization would be hosting a “community forum” with staff and board members to get answers.
He has also told local TV stations that the YMCA apologizes for any miscommunications and understands people’s frustrations and shared a follow-up Facebook post on May 9.
In the post, he wrote the decision was not made lightly and attributed it to the program struggling to staff the competitive team with experienced coaches.
“This decision came down to our ability to keep our athletes safe and provide quality coaching that upholds the standard of excellence that generations of gymnasts and coaches have built at our Y,” Wilcox wrote.
Parents and other members of the gymnastics community have pushed back against those asserted safety and coaching concerns. Carol Brewer, the State Administrative Committee chair for USA Gymnastics Maine, said she was unaware that the Old Town-Orono YMCA was in need of experienced coaches and that if the organization had reached out to her or others, members of the gymnastics community would have stepped up to help out.
“The OTO YMCA has always had an amazing team and was always a gracious host,” Brewer said in an open letter expressing sadness and raising transparency concerns about the planned competitive program pause. “All their coaches are USA Certified coaches as well as the program is a member club meeting all USA Gymnastics standards.”