FORMED THROUGH ADVERSITY
The roots of the Washington Men’s Gymnastics Foundation (WMGF) started back in 1980 when the University of Washington dropped their funding for men’s gymnastics. Left with few options and very little budget, it would have been understandable if the team had dissolved right then and there. But true to Washington Men’s Gymnastics spirit, they accepted the challenge and resolved to fight on. At first, the team was held together with volunteer coaches and funds raised through team coordinated efforts. In 1994, supporters of the team officially formed an organization called the Washington Men’s Gymnastics Booster Club (WMGBC) which eventually morphed into the WMGF in 2004. The purpose of the WMGF is to provide support (financial and otherwise) to the men’s gymnastics team which has continued to prosper despite the lack of university funding.
WHO WE ARE
The WMGF is made up of former team members, parents of team members, and people who just love the sport of gymnastics and want to help. We are all dedicated volunteers who do our best to juggle full-time jobs, kids, and other commitments with our roles as WMGF board members. The board organizes fundraisers to help support the team financially, but more importantly, it serves as a steadfast entity that ensures the team history, values, and focus on developing good people through hard work and dedication is maintained. We pride ourselves in cultivating student athletes with our philosophic goal in mind: “To develop people to the highest standards of integrity, truth, work ethic, perseverance, dedication, desire, and reciprocity.”
THE WORK
Our main fundraisers involve organizing and hosting boys gymnastics meets in which hundreds of Junior Olympic gymnasts compete for state and/or regional championships. We also host our annual Washington Open gymnastics meet which has been going strong since 1982. In addition, we operate a scoring service for other local meets (including all the UW women’s gymnastics home meets), and coordinate other fundraising activities.
The WMGF is also responsible for all administrative tasks associated with the team including maintaining the team website and managing finances. We also help with recruiting, coordinate scholarships, and publish a tri-annual newsletter which helps our supporters stay current with the latest team news and alumni updates.
FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN
EXPENSES
There are many expenses related to supporting a thriving collegiate men’s gymnastics program. We pay both a head coach and assistant coach salary which is something we were not always able to do. In the beginning, the dedicated coaches volunteered their time because they loved the team and wanted to see it succeed.
“First let me say Coach Russo is one of the most dedicated gymnastic coaches I know. For his first eight years he volunteered approximately six hours a day not including time for preparation at home, recruiting, and attending competitions. Last year [1996] the WMGBC [WMGF] was able to provide a salary of $5,000 and this year we hope to do the same. This works out to about $1.25 an hour. See what I mean — that’s dedication to the sport. “
– Dr. Eric Hughes, 1997
We have certainly come a long way since then. We are now proud to say we offer the highest head coach salary of all the GymACT teams!
We also ensure the gymnasts on the team are equipped with everything they need to practice and compete at no expense to them. We supply all equipment, uniforms, grips, tape, gym rental fees, and travel expenses. To help with academic success, we also offer scholarships. The breakdown of 2022-2023 season expenses can be seen below.
INCOME
The WMGF works in conjunction with the team members to raise the necessary funds each year. The majority of the funds are raised by the WMGF through meets hosted and scoring system income. But, one of our core values is work ethic and we strive to instill this in every gymnast that comes through our program. We do this by giving them opportunities to raise money to support themselves. In addition to going to school and doing gymnastics, each gymnast must also participate in fundraisers such as ushering Husky football games and moving gymnastics equipment for the UW women’s gymnastics team and other local gyms. These fundraisers are extremely time consuming and so physically demanding that often times alumni will reminisce with smiles on their faces about how these fundraisers shaped who they are as a person.
Ushering UW Football Games
“Part of what got me that job in Alaska was my excellent work ethic, which I attribute to being on this team. The work I have done in order to raise money for this team has been some of the hardest work I have ever done, which in turn has made me a hard worker with a good work ethic when it has come to getting a real job.”
– Ben MacColl (1998-2002)
We cannot overlook the third source of income we value so much – donations and grants. We could not be the successful program we are today without the generous donations from our alumni, friends, and family. Both the WMGF and the team work to promote our program and solicit donations mainly through social media, our newsletter, and our website. We have two dedicated campaigns each year but are grateful for donations that come in year-round! The breakdown of 2022-2023 season income can be seen below.
COMMITMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION
The WMGF understands the equal importance of education and excellence in sports. This is why it is so important to us to raise enough money each year to cover not only a coach’s salary, travel, equipment, gym fees, and uniforms, but also scholarships. In the early years, the budget was so tight that much of the travel for competitions involved the entire team piling into a passenger van for a road trip across the country while sleeping in the living rooms of distant family friends or even on the ground in the open Arizona desert. We could not even afford to pay the coach let alone provide scholarships.
Through the hard work of the team members themselves and the WMGF board, we have been successful enough in our fundraising efforts that we currently provide over $40,000 in scholarships every year. This money is a big help to these student athletes. So many of their daily hours are spent practicing, traveling for meets, and participating in fundraising activities. This, in addition to their school obligations, leaves little time for any part-time job. Many of these athletes rely on these scholarships to pursue their higher education.
