When EGHS head boys gymnastics coach Abi Diaz was just a teen, he never expected that he’d graduate high school.

Discovering gymnastics prevented him from going down that path. 

“I was hanging out with the wrong crew,” Diaz said. “Gymnastics kept me in school. It kept me centered.”

Diaz says that he discovered the sport while watching the Olympics. 

“I said to myself, ‘As soon as I have the opportunity to be a part of something like this, I am going to sign up and I’m going to stick to it because I love challenges,'” Diaz said. 

The sport worked wonders for people like Diaz. But the news about gymnastics this summer broke the hearts of coaches and athletes alike. After many years of rumors about cutting the sport, the Illinois High School Association decided in June to discontinue its boys gymnastics state series due to a large decline in participation.

The news may have come as a shock to outsiders, but athletes and coaches were aware of the IHSA’s consideration to drop the sport for a while.

“The news had been spreading for years about IHSA dropping the state series,” Diaz said. “It was devastating not only for me and our program, but for our entire sport within the state of Illinois. We thought we could come back stronger and demonstrate that our sport was growing, that the number of athletes was increasing.”

Although the Elk Grove boys gymnastics team had 45 athletes, the state was still unable to prove growth, resulting in the IHSA’s decision. In order to continue a state series, 7 percent or more of member schools must field a team.

The boys gymnastics team meant the world to its Elk Grove athletes. Senior Adam Chamala and junior Scott Barron said they found out about the news shortly after the IHSA made the decision.

“Diaz sat us down during summer camp and told us it was done,” Chamala says.

Barron echoed Chamala.

“The school always does such a good job promoting more popular sports like football, that no one really sees gymnastics,” Barron said. “I only knew about it and tried out because my friend did it. If he didn’t do it, I wouldn’t even have known we had a team.”

Chamala says he will not be joining any other sports here at Elk Grove.

“There are simply no other sports like it,” he said. “It [gymnastics] was a good community. It was fun, and I always felt safe.” 

Barron and Chamala said that they are going to miss the coaches.

“They did a good job of offering a lot of support,” Barron said. “Anyone could walk into that gym with no experience and get coached and learn how to do something.”

Along with gymnastics changing Diaz as a person, Elk Grove athletes said that Diaz had an immense impact on their lives. 

“I loved my coaches,” senior Erik Kelnar said. “They’ve saved my life many times and supported me throughout my whole gymnastics career.”

Although the IHSA will not be hosting any state series coming soon, gymnasts say the memories the team shared were worth the time and work.

“Once a gymnast always a gymnast,” Kelnar said.