Minnesota Athletics announces gymnastics performance center

At its June 2023 meeting, the University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved for Athletics to proceed with the construction of a new gymnastics performance center.

The new performance center will be built in the Athletes Village footprint, which will allow student-athletes to study, train, eat, and recover all in one location. The facility will be constructed on the south side of the department’s indoor football field where two sand volleyball courts are currently located.

Construction on the $15.5 million project will start in March 2024 and be completed by January 2025. The Gophers will continue to use Maturi Pavilion for home meets during the competition season.

The gymnastics program currently trains at Peik Gymnasium on campus. Peik Gymnasium has been proposed for future demolition by campus leadership.

“A state-of-the-art practice facility has been a goal of our program for the past 20 years and to see it come to fruition is truly an amazing milestone,” said Head Coach Jenny Hansen. “We are so thankful to Mark Coyle and the leadership team here at Minnesota for the investment in our program, as well as the Board of Regents for approving the facility. This new facility is absolutely key for the progress of our program and the development of our student-athletes. I could not be more excited about the positive value it will add to our program.”

The program has achieved tremendous success under Hansen, who is a former Minnesota gymnast and has served as the team’s head coach since 2015. She was the interim head coach in 2014 and was an assistant coach from 2007-14. Hansen guided the Gophers to a Big Ten regular-season title in 2016 and a Big Ten championship title in 2021. Minnesota has competed in the NCAA Championship every year since 1995 (no NCAA Championship in 2020 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic) and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals in 2016, 2021, and 2022. Minnesota set a program record with a sixth-place finish in 2022 after finishing eighth in 2021 and 12th in 2016.

“This is an exciting day for our gymnastics program,” said Director of Athletics Mark Coyle. “It will be ideal for our student-athletes to have everything they need – academics, athletics, nutrition, and athletic medicine – all in one spot at the world-class Athletes Village. I know Coach Hansen and her staff are excited to share this news with the team and with recruits and we look forward to supporting them during the process.”