MIAA Directors Vote to Reinstate Boys Gymnastics

Boys gymnastics will be a state-sanctioned sport next season after the MIAA Board of Directors voted Thursday morning to reverse its decision earlier this year to drop the sport for lack of rules and declining participation.

The board voted 13-0 with one abstention to recognize boys gymnastics as an official sport after athletic directors, coaches and student athletes made presentations to a subcommittee Thursday, Braintree Athletic Director Michael Denise said.

The vote brought relief to boys gymnastics advocates, who for months had been working to get the sport reinstated following the board's decision in January. Denise and Richard Ellis, coach of the Braintree High School boys gymnastics team, had been among those working with the MIAA and national groups to craft updated rules.

"It was a long journey but it was a good journey," Denise said. "There was a sense of relief that we’re going to be able to remain the way we have since the early sixties."

Braintree has a tradition of excellence in boys gymnastics. BHS was one of seven that offered the sport this past season and it has dominated the competition in recent years, winning several championships. Braintree is also home to two male Olympians – Pete Kormann, bronze medalist 1976 and Tim Dagget, gold medalist 1980.

Denise said that the athletes, coaches and athletic directors provided information about the sport to the subcommittee, including about the rules and the values that it instills in young men, that they did not have when they made the earlier vote.

"These boys have a sense of belonging, they have a sense of being treated like all other athletes and they have a sense that the season will be the same as every year that they have competed," Denise said.

The directors were presented with draft rules for next season that build off previous years' rules. Both the National Federation of State High School Associations and USA Gymnastics have been helping draft the new rules, Denise said.

Those groups will meet within the next month at a national conference and finalize rules, but Denise said he does not expect significant changes from what was presented Thursday to the MIAA.

"We’re going to move forward as we have every year," Denise said.