Impact Of A Scholarship: Victoria Gatzendorfer

Victoria Gatzendorfer doesn’t miss an opportunity.

She never did across her three-year gymnastics career at the University of Maryland, doing everything she could to maximize scores and perfect routines. She made her time in College Park matter off the mat, too. 

Gatzendorfer, one of the 2025 M Club Rodman Scholarship recipients, used her three years to take advantage of every opportunity and resource Maryland had to offer, and it set her up for long-term success. 

“When I entered the (transfer) portal, I kind of said ‘There’s only one place I really want to go’,” Gatzendorfer said. “As Brett (Nelligan) says, ‘Turtles always find their way home’, and I’m very very glad that I came home.”

In three short years, she still took advantage of every opportunity, earning herself a WCGA Scholastic All-American award in 2023 and being named the winner of the Bradley Polkowitz Founders Award, presented by the Schanwald Sports Management Program in 2025. 

“Maryland’s just an incredible school academically and has so many resources for student-athletes that I think people that have been there all four years maybe might take for granted,” Gatzendorfer said. “That’s not a given at every school, so I’m very thankful for that.”

She said one of her favorite things she was involved in was the Stephen M. Schanwald Sports Management Program. 

“I knew my passion,” she said. “Right after I transferred, I knew I needed to work in college athletics.”

She was part of the initial cohort of the program, another piece of her legacy that will remain in College Park. 

“It’s been incredible watching that program grow over the past couple of years,” Gatzendorfer said. “I think it’s important to develop yourself outside of athletics to make yourself as well-rounded as possible.”

Growing up in Connecticut, she had plenty of opportunities to find out who she was off the mat. 

“Gymnastics has always been a huge part of my life,” Gatzendorfer said. “It’s something that’s brought me such joy, a lot of trials, a lot of highs and lows, but I’m very thankful for the sport.”

Her parents made sure to instill in her early that her identity was more than just a gymnast or an athlete. 

“Even though gymnastics was such a huge part of my life, from a young age, my parents very much pushed me to be involved with things outside of my sport,” Gatzendorfer said.

Gatzendorfer said that high school clubs like the National Honors Society, the English Honors Society, and the French Club helped make her more well-rounded. She said it became a “no brainer” to take advantage of similar resources and opportunities when she arrived at College Park. 

“Once I got to Maryland, I just kind of dove into everything, both inside and outside of the gym,” she said. “I had an incredible three years here. I wish I had four or five years here.”

College gymnastics offers a unique opportunity: to compete with the best of the best right out of high school. 

“It’s just truly such an honor to represent your school at the highest level,” Gatzendorfer said. “With gymnastics, you’re either a college gymnast or you go to the Olympics. There really is no (professional level). A lot of other sports use college as a stepping stone, whereas this is it for us. It makes it a lot easier to pour everything into the time you have in college.”

Part of that pour went into her excellent academic career. She graduated in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in management, one that she was almost as excited to pursue as gymnastics. 

“I’m somebody known for my passion in everything I do,” Gatzendorfer said. “I think it really exudes in the way I compete and some of my celebrations after I hit a routine. At the end of the day, you just want to do your best for the girls beside you and for your school.”

Part of her joy came from the connections that she built, both with her teammates and with others in the Stephen M. Schanwald Sports Management Program. 

“Having that community outside of gymnastics, I can’t even put into words how important that is,” Gatzendorfer said. “I wish more student athletes got out of that bubble because you grow so much. You learn so much from people that don’t do the same stuff as you every single day.”

Her parents — Bill and Kathy — have been fully supportive, both of her career and Maryland Athletics as a whole. More than just rooting in the stands, they’ve played a big role in helping to secure funds for a new gymnastics practice facility. 

“I keep saying this, but I can’t thank them enough,” Gatzendorfer said of her parents. “They’ve been my rock throughout my whole career. They never missed a single meet.”

She added that her dad would be in the stands, often rocking a Testudo suit jacket and her mom would have a pom pom. They would start cheers in the stands and “foster a little community of parents”.

With that constant passion for Maryland Athletics flowing from the Gatzendorfer family, they now get that support back in the form of the M Club Rodman Scholarship as Gatzendorfer takes her next step in life: graduate school at Boston College. 

“It was such a blessing,” Gatzendorfer said. “I’m very thankful for the M Club and for Maryland Athletics for that scholarship, truly, because I know that with what I want to do in my career, I’m going to be able to give back to student athletes like myself.”

She’s working with the Boston College Athletics Development Department during her time in Boston because she wants to better understand what goes on behind the scenes in an athletic department. The M Club Rodman Scholarship has not only given her financial support, but confirmation in what she wants to do after school. 

“I think the concept of the scholarship to support athletes post graduation is just so generous and such a thoughtful idea,” Gatzendorfer said. “I can’t wait to be in a position where I could be one of the people helping select the next person for the scholarship. My passion for my career comes from wanting to provide the best possible experience for student athletes on whatever side of the athletic department that might be. So, I’m very excited for my future and how I can get back to Maryland Athletics, specifically.”

She’s a few months into what she calls her “retirement” now, but she knows the track her life is on isn’t done intersecting with sports.

“I miss that adrenaline rush,” Gatzendorfer said. “I hear the national anthem now and my hands get sweaty because it’s a response to my body. It thinks I’m going to start competing.”

The competition is over, but the support between Maryland athletes and the school is far from severed. 

“You know, once a Terp, always a Terp,” Gatzendorfer said. “It truly is a family. People say that and it’s super cliche, but it’s actually true and I’m glad to have experienced that and knowing I’ll have the support of my mentors and the financial weight lifted for this semester.”

About The M Club

The M Club was founded in 1923 as a letterwinner organization and is one of the oldest athletic letterwinner organizations in the United States. It has been dedicated for more than 100 years to empowering and uplifting University of Maryland student-athletes and letterwinners and continues to foster a growing community of Athletes Helping Athletes through the generosity of its members. Current support for Maryland Athletics includes awarding post-graduate scholarships, funding team reunions, providing letterjackets to graduates and hosting the bi-annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, among other areas.