A former Iowa State gymnast and one of the most successful coaches in the team’s history has come to the defense of the fallen program.
Oklahoma gymnastics coach K.J. Kindler, who had a successful career competing for the Cyclones and coaching for Iowa State, wrote in a statement to the Des Moines Register on March 3 about her disappointment in her alma mater announcing it is dropping its program.
“I am profoundly disappointed in the decision to eliminate Iowa State’s women’s gymnastics program,” Kindler wrote. “This outcome follows a troubling pattern of chronic underinvestment, unsafe and inadequate facilities, and a failure to provide the consistent oversight and care that student-athletes deserve.”
Iowa State announced March 3 that it is cutting its women’s gymnastics program, weeks after abruptly canceling the remainder of the season due to what athletics director Jamie Pollard said were “unreconcilable differences” in the program.
In a letter to the gymnastics team and alumni on Feb. 17, Pollard wrote that the season’s cancellation resulted from “a series of complex internal conflicts between individual teammates, coaching staff members, and parents,” language that Iowa State repeated in its March 3 news release.
Kindler continued in her statement: “What is most disturbing is the attempt to place blame on the sport of gymnastics itself. That narrative is not just inaccurate — it is unjust. Collegiate gymnastics is thriving nationwide. It is one of the fastest-growing women’s sports in the NCAA, with rising participation, expanding programs, and surging fan engagement across the country.
“And beyond the competitive landscape, let us be clear about who these young women are. Women’s gymnastics student-athletes consistently rank among the highest academic achievers in all of college athletics. They graduate at remarkable rates. They maintain some of the strongest GPAs in the NCAA. They represent discipline, resilience, intelligence, and integrity at the highest level. They commit themselves fully — in the classroom, in the gym, and in their communities.
“To diminish a sport built on achievement, integrity, and academic distinction is to overlook the extraordinary young women who define it.”
Kindler, a three-time NCAA regional qualifier, was the first individual regional qualifier in Iowa State history. She was a Big 8 all-around runner-up in 1992.
Kindler went on to a successful coaching career at Iowa State, leading the Cyclones women’s gymnastics program for six seasons. During that time, Iowa State became a national contender and made its first appearance in the Super Six.
Kindler, who left Iowa State for Oklahoma in 2006, turned the Sooners into a powerhouse — winning seven national titles including the program’s first in 2014.
“Accountability and experience matter,” Kindler continued in her statement. “And when those elements are absent, it is not the athletes who should bear the consequence.
“These women deserve better. The alumni deserve better. The sport deserves better.”
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Oklahoma coach, ex-Cyclone blasts Iowa State’s decision to drop gymnastics
Reporting by Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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