North Dakota high school gymnastics in jeopardy as another school drops program
Apr. 3—FARGO — Fargo Public Schools has discontinued high school gymnastics, a sign of a wider issue that could bring an end to that level of competition in North Dakota. In February, the school district announced it would cut an unidentified, lesser-used athletic program for a cost savings of $35,000 as part of steps to reduce a budget deficit.
The Forum has learned the dropped sport is gymnastics, with low participation numbers cited as the reason. Todd Olson, activities director at FPS, said the district started a co-op in 2023 between Fargo North, Fargo South and Fargo Davies high schools, along with Oak Grove and Shanley high schools, to try to preserve the program. "Out of those five schools, we ended up with three kids," Olson said.
Those students decided in mid-February to forgo the rest of the season, including conference and state competitions. The move leaves the state with just nine intact high school gymnastics programs, down from 12 teams in place from 2016 through 2023, according to the North Dakota High School Activities Association. Before Fargo, the most recent to drop programs were Valley City and Grand Forks.
The Eastern Dakota Conference, with 11 member schools, has just one gymnastics team left, in Wahpeton/Breckenridge, Olson said. The other eight teams in the state are all in central or western North Dakota. Under a 2024 NDHSAA policy, the threshold for "sunsetting" programs that have declining interest is fewer than 12 participating teams or schools in an activity or sport that previously had that number.
Matthew Fetsch, executive director of NDHSAA, said gymnastics coaches were notified before the 2024-25 season that the sport was "at-risk. " The NDHSAA Board of Directors can choose to no longer sponsor a state tournament for "at-risk" activities when there are fewer than 12 teams for three consecutive years, putting the program in probationary status. The 2026-27 high school gymnastics season and state championships are safe, Fetsch said, but the status is up in the air after that.
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