Scholarship - Gymnastics University

Dr. Jerry George Memorial Scholarship

Purpose and Spirit

The Dr. Jerry George Memorial Scholarship exists to keep a highly talented elite gymnast in the gym when training costs would otherwise force a compromise in hours, coaching, or competitive opportunity.

The award honors Dr. Gerald “Jerry” S. George, who died January 10, 2025, at the age of 82, USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame coach, teacher, biomechanist, and author. Dr. George competed at Michigan State, earned a Ph.D. in kinesiology, built the LSU men’s program to its first NCAA Championships appearance, directed education and safety for the United States Gymnastics Federation, and wrote the texts that still shape how coaches see movement—including Championship Gymnastics and earlier work on the biomechanics of women’s gymnastics. He believed that sound models, physical readiness, and disciplined teaching were the shortest path to excellence. This scholarship extends that standard to an athlete who already shows the talent to pursue it.

Gymnastics University administers the scholarship as an internal company program. It is not a college scholarship, not an NCAA award, and not a prize for past results alone. It is a one-year training grant, paid to the gym, so the athlete can keep building. The 2026 cycle is open to athletes competing through USA Gymnastics, the National Gymnastics Association, or another recognized United States competitive association.

Scholarship Award

The annual Scholarship will provide $1,000, for one selected gymnast, which may be applied only to the athlete’s training tuition or team training fees at the named gym: monthly or seasonal tuition, team hours, and required in-gym training fees that keep the athlete on the elite training track.

Additionally, the nominating coach of the selected gymnast will receive a one-year subscription to Gymnastics University’s Women’s Competitive Gymnastics course.

Eligibility

To be eligible, the athlete must meet the following criteria:

1. Women’s Artistic Gymnastics.

2. Training in the United States at a club, academy, or national training site, and competing, or preparing to compete, in sanctioned events of a recognized United States gymnastics association. USA Gymnastics and the National Gymnastics Association both qualify. Another association qualifies if it sanctions competitive Women’s Artistic meets.

3. Current athlete membership in that association, or membership in process with a number or written confirmation supplied before payment. No single association’s membership is required.

4. Highly talented and promising on a competitive pathway. The coach must show current competitive level in that association’s own terms, skills mastered, recent scores, and a credible 12–24 month trajectory. The committee does not convert levels across associations and does not require a USA Gymnastics elite designation (Developmental, HOPES, Junior Elite, or Senior Elite) or an equivalent National Gymnastics Association label.

5. Nominated by the athlete’s current primary coach.

6. Written approval from a parent or legal guardian if the athlete is under 18; written approval from the athlete if 18 or older.

7. A plain-language description of financial need, provided by the coach and confirmed by the parent/guardian or adult athlete.

8. The athlete will not be enrolled as a varsity NCAA gymnastics student-athlete during the award period.

Application Process

Only the athlete’s primary coach may nominate a candidate. A coach may nominate more than one athlete if each is independently eligible. Each nomination is a separate file. An athlete may be nominated by only one primary coach.

How a coach applies:

Download the official application form.
Obtain parent/guardian (or adult athlete) approval before submitting.
Complete every required field. Attach optional video links if they help.
Email the form and attachments in one message to the published scholarship address, subject line: GEORGE SCHOLARSHIP — [Athlete Last Name].
The Administrator replies within three business days confirming receipt and whether anything is missing. Missing items may be supplied until the deadline. After the deadline, the file is scored as submitted or declined as incomplete.

Applications for the 2026-27 Cycle must be received by Monday, November 23, 2026 no later than 11:59pm PST.

Selection Process

The Selection Committee includes three members. Each committee member scores complete applications against the rubric, reviews outliers, and proposes one recipient and one alternate. The Committee compares the results, votes and selects the recipient and an alternate. Applications and deliberations are Confidential.

What the committee is looking for:

Level — where the athlete sits on the elite pathway and whether that placement is current.
Skills mastered — difficulty and quality appropriate to the pathway, especially skills that signal the next stage is realistic.
Competition scores and results — recent meet evidence, not a career retrospective.
Trajectory — the coach’s case that the next 12–24 months matter, and that training continuity is the constraint.
Video, if available — optional. Absence of video does not disqualify. Presence of videos may clarify skill and quality.
Need — whether the $1,000 will actually hold training in place.

Recipient Expectations

The award is a training grant, not a contract for services.

The recipient and gym are asked only for the following:

Remain on the elite WAG pathway and enrolled at the named gym through the award period or promptly tell the Administrator if that changes.
Permit the gym to apply the credit only to the named athlete’s training fees.
Allow Gymnastics University to state, in a short announcement, that the athlete is the 2026 recipient, with gym name and city. No training video, likeness campaign, or testimonial is required.
The nominating coach sends a one-page note at the end of the award period: whether the credit was applied as intended, and whether the athlete remained in elite training.

The award may be withdrawn, and unused funds recovered from the gym, if the application is found to have been materially false, if the athlete moves to NCAA varsity gymnastics during the award period, or if the gym will not apply the credit to training fees.

Decision and notice

The committee selects one recipient and one alternate. The Administrator notifies the successful coach first, then the gym, then the family contact on the form. Unsuccessful coaches receive a brief, courteous notice without scores or rankings. There is no appeals process except to correct a documented administrative error (lost email, mis-added totals). Talent disagreements are final.

Click Here to Download the Scholarship Application Form