After more than fifty years, Iowa State’s women’s gymnastics program has come to an unexpected and sudden end. On March 3, the university announced it would discontinue the team, citing “unresolvable” conflicts between athletes, coaches, and parents as the reason. But not everyone accepts this explanation. More recently, a former Cyclone gymnast and now Oklahoma coach offered a different perspective on what truly led to the program’s collapse.

K.J. Kindler, who became the first individual regional qualifier in Iowa State program history, expressed her disappointment in a statement to the Des Moines Register.

“I am profoundly disappointed in the decision to eliminate Iowa State’s women’s gymnastics program,” Kindler wrote. “This outcome follows a troubling pattern of chronic underinvestment, unsafe and inadequate facilities, and a failure to provide the consistent oversight and care that student-athletes deserve.”

Interestingly, the end of the program was announced just weeks after the season was suspended. Athletics Director Jamie Pollard, in a February 17 letter to the gymnast and alumni, cited “I have never experienced anything like what these athletes have been through….a series of complex internal conflicts” as the reason for the mid-season cancellation, a rationale repeated in the March 3 announcement.

But Kindler rejected that explanation, saying it deflects blame from the real issues and unfairly targets the gymnasts and sport itself. She said, “What is most disturbing is the attempt to place blame on the sport of gymnastics itself. That narrative is not just inaccurate it is unjust. Collegiate gymnastics is thriving nationwide. It is one of the fastest-growing women’s sports in the NCAA, with rising participation, expanding programs, and surging fan engagement across the country.”

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She further added, “Women’s gymnastics student-athletes consistently rank among the highest academic achievers in all of college athletics. They graduate at remarkable rates. They maintain some of the strongest GPAs in the NCAA….They commit themselves fully in the classroom, in the gym, and in their communities…To diminish a sport built on achievement, integrity, and academic distinction is to overlook the extraordinary young women who define it.”

Kindler also stated, “Accountability and experience matter. And when those elements are absent, it is not the athletes who should bear the consequence. These women deserve better. The alumni deserve better. The sport deserves better.”

But at the same time, Iowa State has stated it will replace gymnastics with another women’s sport that “provides equal or additional participation opportunities” for female athletes. Pollard said the school will replace gymnastics with another women’s sport that “provides equal or additional participation opportunities” for female athletes.

While the university portrays the shutdown as a resolution to internal strife, athletes and coaches aren’t staying silent anymore.

Frustration escalates as coaches and gymnasts call out Iowa State leadership

Many have publicly condemned the administration and what they perceive as a mishandling of the situation.

Ryan Snider, who served as associate head coach under the final head coach, publicly blasted Iowa State’s athletic department on social media. He called the shutdown a “sad day for this sport” and directly criticized the leadership for its hiring decisions. Snider wrote, “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?”

He also questioned the logic behind hiring head coach Ashley Miles Greig, adding, “The issue recently with gymnastics? You hired a used car salesman to lead a storied Division I program. In what other sport or profession does hiring someone with zero experience make sense?”

Even athletes themselves shared their heartbreak and frustration! Iowa State redshirt freshman gymnast Samantha Schneider posted on social media: “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.”

She added, “For the last 5 months, we have come forward as a team regarding certain 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.”

Even former Iowa assistant coach Haylee Young expressed her displeasure with the decision as she reposted AD Jamie Pollard’s message on Instagram Stories with her own words: “HEARTBROKEN. This video is BS. Unreconcilable differences? Give me a break. Hold your leadership accountable. Hold YOURSELF accountable. This statement is a JOKE. UNBELIEVABLE.”

Altogether, these statements confirm that numerous program insiders believed that the shutdown was due to leadership issues, not athlete or staff internal discord.