Head Over Heels

Not only did participation in gymnastics for kids six years and older increase four percent to 4.76 million from 2022 to 2023, the momentum from the gold medal success of Simone Biles and the rest of Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics is sure to raise interest as well. Adding to the sport’s popularity, LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne is a social media influencer with eight million followers on youth-oriented TikTok.

According to NBC, the 2024 US Olympic Trials drew in 8.2 million viewers between the peak times of 10 p.m. and 10:15, the time when the women’s gymnastics finals were aired. This was a 30 percent hike compared to 2021.

The excitement bodes well for locations with proper venues to handle the athletes and crowds of youth and collegiate events, as well as enough amenities and attractions outside the arenas.

“There is tremendous power within the sport of gymnastics, and their movement is only going to continue to swell,” says Adam Wisniewski, vice president of sports development for Visit Oklahoma City. “As a destination that is very much on the rise, we are always looking for partners that have the same trajectory and that very much seems to be the case for the sport of gymnastics.”

Here are eight locations that have had success with hosting gymnastics and continue to seek additional events:

Rocky Mount, North Carolina

This city has hosted gymnastics events regularly since the downtown Rocky Mount Event Center opened in 2018. The venue boasts a 75,000-square-foot multi-use fieldhouse that can be converted into a 50-foot by 94-foot master event space to fit three full gymnastics or cheer floors with stadium seating for 4,000 spectators.

The center offers unique amenities such as a family entertainment center with climbing walls, arcade games, an aerial ropes course, cornhole and soft play area and a Ballocity area for younger attendees.

“For big sports events like gymnastics, we turn one of our banquet rooms into a players’ lounge for the players and families to relax in between games,” says Ashley Pittman, the center’s marketing manager.

The first gymnastics event the destination hosted was the North Carolina AAU State Championships in 2019. Pittman says this event had 865 participants from 29 gymnastic clubs from all across the state and over 2,200 spectators. In January 2020, the Rocky Mount Rumble Gymnastics Challenge brought over 800 athletes and over 2,500 spectators to the center and town.

Auburn and Opelika, Alabama

An established arena and an upcoming venue ensure that gymnastics will continue to thrive in this area, according to Travis Harrison, event and marketing specialist for Auburn-Opelika Tourism. The area’s gymnastics enthusiasm is fueled by the success of Auburn University’s program, most recently highlighted by Auburn alumni like Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee.

Auburn University’s Neville Arena, which seats 9,121, will be joined by the upcoming Lake Wilmore Facility, which Harrison says will feature a state-of-the-art indoor space perfect for annual gymnastics meets. He says 10,500-capacity Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum is another area option.

“Neville Arena remains our flagship venue due to its modern amenities and a vibrant environment that is hard to beat,” Harrison says.

Other than regular youth gymnastics events, the area’s notable gymnastics highlight was the 2022 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship Regional at Neville Arena.

“Our location is ideal for hosting gymnastics events due to the strong partnerships we’ve cultivated with the City of Auburn, City of Opelika, Auburn University and local gymnastics gyms,” Harrison says. “These relationships provide us with extensive resources to ensure memorable events.”

Foley, Alabama

The 90,000-square-foot Foley Event Center is the anchor for this town’s solid history of hosting gymnastics events. According to City of Foley Executive Director of Leisure Services David Thompson, the FEC is a perfect venue for hosting gymnastics.

“The facility can handle two full competition areas to run simultaneously, allowing planners to keep the event moving without delays,” Thompson says. “Each area features its own competition space, spectator seating and awards stage. Strong computer networking allows scores to be posted immediately on projection screens around the venue.”

Past meets hosted by Foley include the USA Gymnastics Region 8 Championships Levels 6, 7 and 8 in April, which drew nearly 6,000 people and had an overall estimated economic impact of $704,230. In December 2022, the facility saw action with the Alabama Compulsory State Meet, with over 4,000 in attendance and more than $300,000 in economic impact. In May of that same year, USA Gymnastics Region 8 Excel Championships came to town, bringing with it  $1 million plus in economic impact.

Upcoming events include the annual Bounders Beach Bash, held the first week in September each year, and the Alabama Compulsory State Meet, which moves in the first week of December.

Thompson says the city offers gymnastics event athletes and families much to do beyond the meet. OWA Parks & Resort is located just steps from the FEC and features shopping, dining and hotel options as well as a waterpark and amusement park. Tanger Outlets is less than five miles from the FEC. Also, Foley is home to more than 100 restaurants.

Greensboro, North Carolina

This city has three venues for hosting gymnastics events. Greensboro Coliseum Complex (a multi-building, multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue), the 40,000-square-foot Novant Health Fieldhouse and the 120,000-square-foot Special Events Center.

According to coliseum general manager Scott E. Johnson, Greensboro Coliseum seats 22,000 and has hosted the USA Gymnastics American Cup twice and the USA Gymnastics Combined Championship multiple times, as well as Olympic Team training, touring exhibitions and most recently, the inaugural ACC Gymnastics Championship.

The Novant Health Fieldhouse hosts local meets and the Special Events Center services all levels of gymnastics: local gymnastics meets, Greater Greensboro Invitational, USA Gymnastics state and regional meets, AAU state and regional gymnastics, Combined USA Gymnastics Championships and more.

Johnson says the Greensboro gymnastics scene is hot; events in 2023 and 2024 generated over 3,000 room nights.

“We launched the inaugural ACC Gymnastics Championships in March 2024 as our next growth opportunity and have a multi-year agreement,” he says. “We added AAU Gymnastics in 2024, and we booked our next exhibition, the Gold Over America Tour featuring Simone Biles and the Olympic Gymnastics Team, for  November 1, 2024, in the Coliseum. All of these event efforts, combined with a strong local gymnastics club, continue to strengthen our position.”

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board’s Sports Director Jon Scheuren gets right to the point when asked why his organization loves hosting gymnastics events.

“We think gymnastics is a growing sport and we love the passion they show for their teams,” Scheuren says. “Additionally, they are a demographic that brings the whole family, so it increases the economic impact of the event. We have learned that they are a group that loves to come in early and really make their trip a vacation, so we highlight things to do for long trips and make sure we let our businesses know that the family is coming.”

Valley Forge’s most recent event was the YMCA Gymnastics Nationals in June. For three days, nearly 2,000 athletes converged on the 240,000-square-foot Greater Philadelphia Expo Center from 81 YMCAs across the nation. The competition entertained 10,000 fans and the event generated an estimated $7 million in economic impact.

Schueren says the Philadelphia area is ideal for event hosting. It’s drivable for one-third of the population and has an international airport within 45 minutes.

“Also, we are considered a top-tier family destination with plenty of kid-friendly activities, including a world-class zoo and the largest retail mall in America,” Scheuren says.

Wildwood, New Jersey

Most recently, Wildwood has hosted the USAIGC (United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs) Beach Classic Gymnastics Competition and the USAIGC Regional Gymnastics Championships.

The location for events is the Wildwoods Convention Center, a 260,000-square-foot facility with a 75,000-square-foot arena, 30-foot-high ceilings and unobstructed views with bleacher seating for 5,500. It can accommodate 28 wrestling mats, four indoor soccer matches, 12 futsal matches, 12 volleyball games and two full-court basketball games.

The sporting events at the convention center attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the destination each year, generating over 31,000 hotel room nights and over 281,400 dining opportunities, while providing an overall yearly economic impact of over $8 million.

Since 2002, the Wildwoods have had over 300 group bookings for youth sports-related events, including gymnastics, for a total of over 800,000 athletes. Their economic impact has contributed to the area becoming a year-round destination.

Springfield, Illinois

The combination of being centrally located within 20 percent of the nation’s population, having numerous cost effective family-friendly activities and a strong presence in the sport makes Springfield an ideal location to host a national or regional gymnastics competition, says Terry Truman, sales manager for Visit Springfield.

The Bank of Springfield Center is a multi-use facility with 44,000 square feet of column-free space, 21,000 square feet of meeting space and seating to accommodate 7,700 spectators. The venue, located in Springfield’s downtown historic district, is within walking distance of over 700 hotel rooms, local shopping and eateries as well as Abraham Lincoln sites and attractions.

Highlights include AAU Gymnastics National Age Group Championships, with 1,900 attendees; the USA Gymnastics “Gymnastics For All” event with 750 participants, and USTA Trampoline & Tumbling National Championships, which brought in 2,500 people.

“Springfield has been looking to support future gymnastics events through possible expansion to the BOS Center as well as the development of other facilities at the SCHEELS Sports Park at Legacy Pointe,” Truman said. “Additional funding mechanisms through the state of Illinois also provide more opportunities to support gymnastics events in our area. We look at our relationship with national gymnastics competitions as a win/win. The organizations typically receive some of the highest attended events in their history and our downtown area receives a huge economic impact that sustains numerous businesses.”

Truman said Visit Springfield is constantly trying to improve on the experience families will have outside of the competitions. Knights Action Park has recently added a surf machine and Malibu Jack’s Indoor Theme Park has opened as well.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

This city is quickly becoming a major gymnastics presence. In 2023 it hosted the USA Gymnastics Development Program National Championships. According to Adam Wiesniewski, Vice President of Sports Development at the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau, the event acts as USA Gymnastics’ highest level national championship at the youth level, and members of the US Olympic Team often have taken part in this event at a younger age.

The event brought more than 1,700 athletes and 5,500-plus total spectator attendance over the course of five days, says Wisnieski. The economic impact is estimated at close to $5 million. The event is scheduled to return in May of 2026. In January 2025, Paycom Center, home of the NBA’s OKC Thunder, will host ESPN’s Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad.

“This will only be the second year of the event, which is a premier collegiate showcase that kicks off the season,” Wisniewski says. “We will be hosting 12 of the nation’s top-ranked women’s gymnastics collegiate programs, including the last two champions, LSU & OU.”

On a smaller scale, OKC has hosted multiple USA Gymnastics sanctioned regional events that bring $400,000-$500,000 in economic impact, Wisniewski says.

OKC is well set up for hosting, with multiple venues other than Paycom Center ideal for gymnastics events. The three-year-old Oklahoma City Convention Center has up to 200,000 square feet of exhibit hall space and is located in the heart of downtown. In 2028, the city will open a new voter-approved $1 billion arena. OKC Fairgrounds has Bennett Event Center, another 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall facility, as well as OG&E Coliseum, which is set to open in early 2025 for events expecting between 4,000-7,000 in attendance. SDM