This 24-25 season is unusual for the Spartan gymnasts, as they have no home meets. This affects not only the team, but their fans as well.
The reason for no home meets is a lack of judges and unavoidable expenses. In order to host a meet, there must be a minimum of two WIAA certified judges, but it’s preferred to have four. The Spartans have faced difficulty finding judges in the past, and it has become a bigger problem this year with no judges willing to make the trip to Superior.
“It’s kinda hard because a lot of people are not already involved in gymnastics at all and it just kinda looks like it’s been left out, and by having no home meets it just adds to that,” captain Lauren Heintz said.
The lack of judges motivated coach Hallee Balavance to get her certification as a judge in order to have a home meet in future seasons.
“I would say that the number one reason we don’t have home meets consistently is because we do not have officials,” said activities director Ella Olson. “Last year I was able to get one judge to come up.”
This season has resulted in many disruptions in the gymnasts’ traditions for home meets. This year they do not have the option to dress up at school the day of home meets and their local fans might not be able to attend meets to support.
