For more than five decades, Iowa State’s women gymnasts competed at the NCAA Division I level and left their mark on the Big 12 Conference. But that era has ended abruptly as the university announced it will discontinue the program. As the decision sparks outrage, former associate head coach Ryan Snider has publicly called out the athletic department.

“Sad day for this sport. Shame on that entire ISU athletic department,” he wrote on his Instagram story.

“All you had to do was take accountability for hiring the wrong person. How many athletes, coaches & parents went to administration & told you about Ashley?” Snider directly criticized head coach Ashley Miles Greig and the athletic department’s leadership decisions.

Snider, who stepped down in April 2025 amid internal challenges within the coaching staff, further added, “The issue recently with gymnastics? You hired a used car salesman to lead a storied Division I program. In what other sport or professional does hiring someone with zero experience make sense?” he added, slamming the university for hiring current coach.

Meanwhile, the 2025-26 Iowa women’s gymnastics season has already been canceled due to internal conflicts among athletes, coaches, and parents. Iowa State explained that these “unreconcilable differences” made it impossible for the team to train or compete safely, leaving the administration with no other option.

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So what about the gymnasts now? And the gymnastics staff?

The athletic department has said current gymnasts will be allowed to keep their scholarships and complete their degrees. Those who wish to transfer to continue competing elsewhere will receive support throughout the process. Iowa State also plans to work with the NCAA to help athletes receive an additional year of eligibility, given that the season was cut short.

Meanwhile, uncertainty looms for gymnastics coaching staff, as Ashley Miles Greig, Jazmyn Estrella, Mary Wise, and Ragan Smith, has been notified that their employment agreements will not be renewed.

Iowa State athletic department says it will “replace [gymnastics] with another sport that provides equal or additional participation opportunities for women.” The school has not determined what sport will replace gymnastics and will take “the next several months” to decide.

But this isn’t the first time Iowa State women’s gymnastics has faced serious challenges.

Iowa State gymnastics’ legacy is undone by years of internal struggles

The Cyclones have an excellent history as they have won four conference championships, with the last one in 2006, but internal disputes have been witnessed in recent years. According to Jamie Pollard, the Athletic Director, and other individuals, issues with the team are not new.

Back in 2018, the program underwent a complete internal review to address issues that had emerged. Then in 2023, the university brought in a Minnesota‑based law firm for an independent evaluation, which led to major changes, including a new coaching staff and structural shifts.

That same year, Ashley Miles Greig was appointed as the program’s eighth head coach. Her competitive experience was impressive as she was a retired American artistic gymnast who competed at a high level, including being part of the U.S. team at the 2001 World Gymnastics Championships and winning multiple NCAA titles during her college years. But leadership questions lingered on.

Her tenure as the head coach also coincided with increasing internal issues in the program as she was assisting the team to improve its ranking early and effectively qualify individual gymnasts to compete in the postseason. Fast forward to the 2025‑26 season, which was canceled partway through.

Pollard acknowledged in a letter to the community that internal issues had been recurring for years and that the existing coaching support and departmental services hadn’t been enough to resolve them. “Comparable challenges have occurred multiple times in our program’s history,” he wrote, noting that the program had struggled with similar conflicts in the past.

Even parent of a student-athlete expressed frustration with leadership decisions. “Hired the head coach who had no experience. Did that set it up to fail? Also, she was allowed to hire assistant coaches without experience. Has that been done with any other program?” the parent asked, pointing to long-standing structural issues.

But now, after canceling the remainder of the 2026 season, the administration ultimately discontinued the program entirely on March 3, 2026. But this decision left the gymnastics world heartbroken!

Redshirt freshman Samantha Schneider shared her feelings on Instagram, writing, “Heart is broken. Forever love these girls and every memory that has been made and tear that has been put into this year. Terrible that this is the result of the lack of support from Iowa State’s Athletic Administration.”

“For the last 5 months, we have come forward as a team regarding curtain situations and environment concerns and nothing has been done to protect us as athletes on this team. The gymnasts should NOT be blamed or be sharing any part of responsibility for this decision being made. Bigger and better things ahead for every girl in this program.”

With everything that happened, it will be a long time before the impact of this decision fades for the athletes who poured their hearts into the program, for the coaches who tried to keep it together, and for the fans who watched a decades-long legacy come to an unexpected end.