Dust covers everything in Walt Dodge’s office.

The room on the third floor of Archbold Gym appears forsaken by the former Syracuse men’s gymnastic coach. Dodge coached for almost 40 years. He served as head coach for nearly 20 years until his program was canceled in 1998.

The trophies have lost their luster in the dimly-lit room. Photos of past varsity gymnastic teams look antique. A layer of grime clouds the frame.

One plaque honoring Dodge has a spider web spread across it. A calendar in the corner of the room reads November 1998.

‘I’m never going to change that damn calendar,’ Dodge said, now 70.

The cramped, dark room looks as if it’s been abandoned since the day the gymnastics program was cut.

Outside the office, though, it’s a different story.

Dodge’s shrill voice can be heard instructing a gymnast on his form. It’s been almost 10 years since SU’s Division I gymnastics program was disbanded. Yet the tradition of men’s gymnastics has not died at Syracuse.

Out of the dust left by behind by the varsity program came the Syracuse’s gymnastics club, created with the help of Dodge and a couple of former gymnasts he coached at SU. As a result, the tradition of men’s gymnastics has sprung (and flipped) back to life at Syracuse.

‘Un. Deux. Trois.’

These three words sound like Mark Austin’s rallying cry. The former SU gymnast uses the expression (‘One. Two. Three’ in French) when he’s spotting a gymnast or training a student in how to perform a move properly.

The catchphrase serves as the simplest of motivational tools, but at the same time, it might as well signify a revolution. Each time Austin shouts the phrase, he’s passing down the knowledge and correct form needed to perform a tuck, roll, handspring or whatever gymnastics stunt a student decides he wants to be taught.

Austin performed as one of the last gymnasts on Syracuse’s varsity squad. The school eliminated the program his freshman year.

Almost a decade later, he’s the assistant coach of the Syracuse gymnastics club. By taking the position and teaching the skills he learned growing up, Austin hopes to keep alive a sport that seems to be on its last legs in the NCAA realm.

‘At first, I thought right after graduation, my time with this thing was done,’ Austin recalled.

Instead, Austin aided in the rebirth of gymnastics on the club level. He played a role in starting the club, and now he’s ensuring the student-run club stays.

The effects of Title IX bears the most blame for the removal of the men’s gymnastics program, Dodge said.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ensured universities provide the same number of men’s and women’s athletic scholarships. As a result, schools were forced to drop non-revenue men’s sports because football – with no female counterpart – eats up 85 scholarships.

In the years leading up the cancellation in 1998, Dodge heard promises from the SU administration that the program would survive. But the financial burden caused by Title IX became too much for the school to handle.

In the late ’90s, wrestling and men’s gymnastics were eliminated at Syracuse. Women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse and softball popped up in their places across campus.

Austin recalled that 32 division one gymnastics teams existed when SU dropped its program. In past decades, more than 100 existed. Fewer than 20 remain now.

During the summer of 1998, most of SU’s team transferred to schools with NCAA programs.

Only two varsity members stayed committed to gymnastics at SU: Scott Hrnak and Austin. Hrnak decided to start a gymnastics club.

Joe Lore, the club sports director at the time and current interim recreation services director, accommodated the club and helped it get off the ground.

‘We provided as many resources as possible in terms of funding in terms of facilities in terms of continuation of what they wanted to those (who decided to stay at Syracuse),’ Lore said.

The semester after its varsity cancellation, the club was up-and-running – with all four members. Austin took over running the club after Hrnak. Lore assisted Austin in transitioning into the role.

Austin liked the camaraderie of the club enough that he still heads to Archbold when he’s done with his day job as a teacher at Nottingham High School.

During one practice, Austin watches from the upper level of the gymnastics room as a student displays a routine on the gym floor. After each subsequent attempt, Austin offers advice.

On his third try, sophomore Tristan Lee Wright pulls off the move he was trying to perform. He wildly celebrates the accomplishment, and Austin soon joins.

‘(Austin’s) a good motivator,’ said Lee Wright. ‘When you do something right, he’ll be real enthusiastic about it.’

SU club captain Rohan Akhouri has attended the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs (NAIGC) national championships in all three of his years at Syracuse.

Each time Akhouri has gone to the meet, he’s noticed a change in the amount of gymnasts participating.

Three years ago, Akhouri said about 130 gymnasts attended the championships in Buffalo, enough to fill a couple of floors in a hotel room.

Last year, the gymnasts did not just crowd Cincinnati hotels – they conquered the city.

‘Basically you’d see gymnasts everywhere,’ Akhouri said. ‘We basically ran the entire place. At night, when we were walking around trying to find a place to eat or anything after the competitions, there were just crowds of gymnasts.’

Back in 2001, Syracuse hosted the national championship and 17 colleges brought teams to the meet. Slightly more than half the schools maintained their own men’s gymnastics club.

In 2007, almost 50 schools have joined the NAIGC, according to the organization’s Web site. Many of those schools have men’s programs.

NAIGC leaders know it’s no coincidence that the clubs have grown while the numbers on the NCAA level have dwindled.

‘We definitely talk about it,’ said NAIGC president Benjamin Johnson. ‘We all sort of understand the reason for our growth because we’re the only opportunity that’s left for people, unless you’re an elite athlete.’

Each year, the numbers at nationals increase. Johnson said more than 500 gymnasts came to each of the last couple of championships.

Joe Wilcox is a freshman at Syracuse. At gymnastics, the 18-year-old is a seasoned veteran. He’s been competing for years.

But Wilcox decided to forgo a likely chance on a Division I gymnastics program.

‘The top 50 guys coming in as freshmen (are) able to go to Division I schools with gym programs,’ Wilcox said. ‘So that’s a really small number throughout the whole U.S. and that kind of eliminated Division I for me.’

Wilcox opted to choose a school based on academics – with one stipulation. The school needed to have a club gymnastics program. Syracuse was the perfect fit. Wilcox said he was surprised to learn on the club level how large the competition has grown nationally.

Still, Wilcox regrets what the club level means for the state of gymnastics in general. No matter how low the numbers fall for Division I gymnastics programs, Dodge doubts it’ll ever reach the quality of a scholarship sport.

‘Club teams are starting to grow,’ Dodge said. ‘And the caliber is starting to get better, but there’s no way club teams would ever be competitive against scholarship teams.’

Although the caliber has changed, Dodge maintains his passion for teaching young athletes.

It doesn’t appear Dodge or Austin plan to retire from coaching. They’d miss it too much, both the sport and the gymnasts.

Austin reminisces about all the students that have come through the program.

He has worked with everybody, from a student who welded together equipment for the club to a successful soap opera actor.

‘I got to brag to everybody that Brady Black on ‘Days of Our Lives’ was a guy I taught a backflip to.’ Austin said. ‘And people would always say, ‘Oh, does he do flips on the show?’ and I’d always say, ‘No, his character is paralyzed.”

Over the years the dynamic of the club has changed for Austin. When he first graduated, Austin came back to the club to work with friends, who were still in school.

Now he’s no longer a peer of the students. Nevertheless, he’s developed strong relationships with the dozen current club members.

Austin and Akhouri recently went together to a performance of Cirque du Soleil – no doubt it was the perfect show for two gymnasts to enjoy together.

Austin acknowledges the future of gymnastics lies in the club. And even if there was a resurgence for Syracuse gymnastics on the NCAA level, Austin know where he’ll be coaching.

‘If (Syracuse returned to the varsity level), I’d keep this club going,’ Austin said.

Published on September 18, 2007 at 12:00 pm