Ellis to Speak Before MIAA Board on Boys Gymnastics Status
USA Gymnastics may write rules for the sport in Massachusetts for next year. The lack of rules was a main reason the MIAA said it would not sanction the sport.
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After a meeting earlier this month was cancelled because of weather, Braintree High School Boys Gymnastics Coach Richard Ellis said his visit to the MIAA Board of Directors has now been rescheduled.
Ellis said in an email that he will speak to the board about its decision to drop the sport during its Wednesday, May 1 meeting at 11 a.m.
The BHS coach is among many supporters, including Braintree Athletic Director Michael Denise, who have been working to reinstate boys gymnastics as a championship sport for next year. They have also vowed to keep the sport alive regardless of the board's final stance.
"Gymnastics has been practiced as a form of physical exercise since the time of the ancient Greeks. Since 1896, the quadrennial meeting of athletes from around the world at the Olympic Games has proved to be a time of high drama and great performances," Ellis wrote in a public letter earlier this year after the board announced its decision.
"Massachusetts High Schools have produced two male Olympians (Pete Kormann, bronze medalist 1976 and Tim Dagget, gold medalist 1980) and scores of NCAA All-Americans. Braintree High School’s program alone has been in place for over 50 years!"
For more on the issue, see these past stories:
http://braintree.patch.com/articles/braintree-ad-working-on-appeal-of-miaa-boys-gymnastics-decision
