Celebrating Gymkana's 75th Anniversary

Gymkana75 Event Timeline

• September 2, 2020 - Gymkana officially began its 75th season in a virtual format. All Fall semester meetings and workouts remained online.
• November 21, 2020 - The Gymkana Troupe hosts its GymkanaThon 2020 event, a virtual event and fundraiser.
• January 27, 2021 - The Gymkana Troupe held its first official meeting of the Spring semester, virtually.
• February 1, 2021 - Gymkana launches the Reload the Truck fundraising campaign on the Launch UMD platform.
• February 1, 2021 - The 75 Years in 75 Days project on social media kicks off with daily posts featured on Facebook and Instagram.
• March 1, 2021 - Gymkana's Reload the Truck campaign concludes as the most successful fundraiser in Gymkana & UMD Launch history at that time!
• March 1, 2021 - Gymkana Troupers attend their first in-gym practice since March 2020, in small groups adhering to UMD physical distancing and mask requirements.
• March 4, 2021 - The #WeAreGymkana social media campaign begins to recognize alumni and trouper talents.
• April 17, 2021 - Gymkana showcased a virtual show to celebrate 75 years! See the replay of the Gymkana 75th Anniversary Virtual Show here.
• November 21, 2021 - Gymkana Flip-A-Thon returns after two years. Visit the 2021 Flip-A-Thon event page here.
• March 4, 2022 - After a challenging rebuild from the pandemic shutdown, Gymkana performs its first roadshow in 2 years at Theodore Davis Middle School.
• April 22 & 23, 2022 - Gymkana hosts its first Home Show since 2019 at the Xfinity Center in College Park, MD. Watch a video replay of the 2022 Gymkana Home Show here!

Tom Cockley Gymkana Program Endowment Fund

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Tom Cockley, a former assistant coach on Gymkana (1977-1981), passed away in June 2020. Tom’s wife shared with us how much Gymkana meant to him and the impact his experience had on him. The coaching mentorship he received, particularly the lesson from Dr. Kramer that there is more to coaching than technical knowledge, forever changed his perspective. Tom carried his experience from Gymkana with him to Kentucky State University. Those of you who went on the Kentucky trip may remember meeting him there when he invited the troupe to perform for his school. Tom was truly dedicated to Gymkana and he will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Tom's family graciously donated a $50,000 endowment fund to support Gymkana in his memory. Lead donors included John W. Dudley, II (brother-in-law), Andee Aaby (sister-in-law), Anne Cockley (wife), and Joseph Dudley (brother-in-law). We are incredibly grateful and honored by the support of Coach Cockley's family!

Contributions to this endowment fund can be made online here.

Donor Recognition

The coronavirus pandemic had forced the shutdown of nearly all of our funding sources, including the 2020 summer camp, Saturday gymnastics classes, and performances. We had money saved in case of an emergency, but we never thought that we would lose a whole year’s worth of our programs. Many of our supporters have generously contributed to Gymkana from 2020-2022 to help provide funds to offset our losses. Thank you to all of our donors!