Parents Northern Atlanta area high schools and gyms

[reluctant]

According to their Instagram they are the only gym in Georgia to qualify gymnasts to the American Classic (1 Elite & 1 Hopes) this year.

GAA's Instagram showed they had Shawn Johnson in this weekend making YouTube videos with Whitney Bjerken.

#instagramnewsfeed

Maybe that answers the question about how Whitney Bjerken will handle GAA not having elite any more.

 

[duyetanh]

Maybe that answers the question about how Whitney Bjerken will handle GAA not having elite any more.

Color me verdant, but i dont get it....explain, please?

 

[reluctant]

Color me verdant, but i dont get it....explain, please?

I misread the previous post, so that last reply was in error.

 

[2G1B]

I'd heard this awhile back...but it seems since that point, they continued. No idea what future plans actually are, but I'd heard elite is not the gyms goal.

As far as shakeups, several gyms have had coaches leave, some voluntarily, others perhaps not. I don't know all the reasons, but this season there jus seems to be a lot more than years past. Not every gym, but several.

I agree. Before Whitney went to GAA the rumor was that they had said that they weren't doing elite except for Megan. They weren't doing TOPS or HOPES at that point either. But then they started having a new TOPS group and Whitney came. They had several girls do HOPES last year too. It seems like they are doing elite again...

And I agree on the coach shakeup thing. Right off the top of my head I can think of 5 gyms that have pretty big coaching changes happening.

 

[duyetanh]

I agree. Before Whitney went to GAA the rumor was that they had said that they weren't doing elite except for Megan. They weren't doing TOPS or HOPES at that point either. But then they started having a new TOPS group and Whitney came. They had several girls do HOPES last year too. It seems like they are doing elite again...

If girls who were in their elite program are now moving on, i would tend to think differently.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Just saw Whitney posted a video training at Georgia elite. Recognized the coach immediately as he was at a clinic dd was at. Seems she made the move so must be true what they said about GAA.

 

[duyetanh]

Just saw Whitney posted a video training at Georgia elite. Recognized the coach immediately as he was at a clinic dd was at. Seems she made the move so must be true what they said about GAA.

Yep

 

[Seeker]

Seems as if most of the girls in her group have moved, so that is a good indication they're not continuing that program.

 

[gymbeam]

Well there we have it! I read on the YouTube comments that her teammate Sydney went to Texas Dreams and Amber went to Everest.

 

[duyetanh]

I am not surprised whitney stayed in Georgia....their family has 4 kids, and it would be a lot to consider moving out of state...but then again, wth do i know anyway. The only clear thing is the program at Gaa is no longer. Any idea where the coaches went?

 

[HoldThePhone]

Coaches are still there, and as far as I know they're still accepting kids into an accelerated program. What the intentions of it are, I don't know.

 

[munchkin3]

Hmmmm. Interesting.....please pm me if anyone has info. My friend is looking for houses and is hoping to find a good stable gym with a good college program. Besides GAA, & Roswell what else is stable?

 

[reluctant]

Hmmmm. Interesting.....please pm me if anyone has info. My friend is looking for houses and is hoping to find a good stable gym with a good college program. Besides GAA, & Roswell what else is stable?

Please reply to the group. I'm really curious to hear what the consensus is on "good gyms" in Georgia. For those of you outside Georgia, we are a relatively large state (10 million people) but almost everything is centered in metro Atlanta. That means suburban Atlanta to the north and east as many as 40 miles outside city center. However, Georgia Elite at 70 miles outside of downtown Atlanta (Watkinsville) is considerably further. It's very common for families to drive a fair piece because in Atlanta, 10 miles can easily take an hour.

 

[2G1B]

Stable, reasonable drive from the northwest side of Atlanta, and have a track record to show that they can get a kid to college gymnastics I would say are GAA (great facility, not sure if they are getting rid of their elite program or not; but if you are wanting college that won't matter and GAA can definitely get kids to college gymnastics), GA Allstars (they are going through an ownership change; but I have heard great things about the coaches who are taking over ownership, they have been coaching there for years), Northwind, Paulding (only recently started getting kids to college gymnastics; but a great program and they have been placing really high. The owner is a great guy), NorthStars (Whitney's old gym), Cartersville (generally a very solid team for girls and boys), and Roswell (very large team, generally does really well, great facility).

Don't count these gyms out though - Cobb (HC is a great guy, great facility, gym does focus a bit more on the boys' team than most gyms. They are going through some coaching changes that could be good or bad, verdict is out), World of Gymnastics (they were kind of out of the scene for a bit; but have been coming back in the past couple of years and have been doing well), Integra (new gym, only competed for 3 seasons), North Metro (going through some coaching changes, have lost a lot of girls; but still have some great coaches).

Then you have on the other side of Atlanta, NorthEast. There you have Ultimate (generally do really well, have some new coaches), Top Notch (have girls going for elite, not sure if they have any yet), Atlanta School of Gymnastics (generally very solid, you have ASG Lawrenceville and ASG Tucker), Gymnastix (owners big in USAG for GA).

There are a lot of other gyms around that are smaller or I might just be forgetting.

There is also Ga Elite that has been mentioned in the thread; but that is near Athens. I can not imagine driving over there for gymnastics without moving closer (especially closer than the Marietta/Kennesaw/Roswell area - that would be around 90 miles each way! And as someone else already mentioned, it can take 30 minutes or more to go 10 miles).

School wise, generally Cobb and parts of Cherokee are considered great school systems. I'd avoid City of Atlanta schools for the most part. With Cobb and Cherokee you would want to check the specific schools because while in general the schools are great, there are some that have issues. In Cobb you also have City of Marietta schools, much smaller school system with only one high school (Cobb has 16 high schools, of those at least 5 tend to be nationally ranked schools. Many of the high schools have magnet programs. Cherokee has 7 high schools, in general is a smaller school system, which has its plusses). Gwinett also has some good schools. The key to all of these is to research the schools, visit them, be sure before you buy a house in an area. The zoned schools really make a difference in the home value, so it could be easy to get tempted to buy some AWESOME home only to then find out that it was so affordable because the schools aren't very good.

If sticking more to the NorthWest side, traffic can be a real issue. Roswell/Alpharetta have IMO HORRIBLE traffic. You do have easy access to interstates; but there is traffic on those too. East Cobb is maybe a bit better than Roswell/Alpharetta; but not by much. Cherokee is a little better for traffic; but if you work in actual Atlanta the traffic to get to/from work would be horrific. West Cobb has better traffic in general; but isn't right on any interstate and there is a lot of growth there right now, so traffic is probably to get much worse.

 

[2G1B]

Coaches are still there, and as far as I know they're still accepting kids into an accelerated program. What the intentions of it are, I don't know.

From what I have heard, there isn't going to be a coach change and they are still doing TOPS. I'm not sure what is going on with the older elite hopefuls though.

 

[2G1B]

I am not surprised whitney stayed in Georgia....their family has 4 kids, and it would be a lot to consider moving out of state...but then again, wth do i know anyway. The only clear thing is the program at Gaa is no longer. Any idea where the coaches went?

The coaches are still there.

I would imagine that Whitney's family must be thinking about moving. I just can't fathom making that drive daily.

 

[3rd_time_around]

The coaches are still there.

I would imagine that Whitney's family must be thinking about moving. I just can't fathom making that drive daily.

I have to answer, though I may lose my anonymity--there are many girls who make the drive from Atlanta, Marietta, Buford, Greene County, Gainesville, Franklin County, Hart County, Cobb County, Elbert County, Gwinnett County, South Carolina, etc to train at GEG, many of them 5 days a week.

(If you never see my screen name again, its because I changed it)

 

[duyetanh]

The coaches are still there.

I would imagine that Whitney's family must be thinking about moving. I just can't fathom making that drive daily.

But i wouldnt think she would move to another gym temporarily if they were moving....that would make 4 moves in less than two years, and that is just way rough on a kid. Rough on anyone!

 

[2G1B]

But i wouldnt think she would move to another gym temporarily if they were moving....that would make 4 moves in less than two years, and that is just way rough on a kid. Rough on anyone!

Oh, I was thinking more that they must be at least thinking to moving at least to the east side of Atlanta, not to a different state and other gym.

I have to answer, though I may lose my anonymity--there are many girls who make the drive from Atlanta, Marietta, Buford, Greene County, Gainesville, Franklin County, Hart County, Cobb County, Elbert County, Gwinnett County, South Carolina, etc to train at GEG, many of them 5 days a week.

(If you never see my screen name again, its because I changed it)

Haha, as I typed my response I worried that I too was giving up too much info to stay at all anonymous. I seriously can not imagine driving from anywhere Cobb County on over. I love my kids; but I just couldn't do that. We would have to move closer or make due with one of the many gyms that are a hour or less away. I guess that all of these kids homeschool; but even with that, I don't see how they have the time.

I guess that Whitney will have to change schools to do this. Maybe 100% homeschool instead of a hybrid... What about her little sister, is she also likely going to Ga Elite?

 

[reluctant]

Stable, reasonable drive from the northwest side of Atlanta, and have a track record to show that they can get a kid to college gymnastics I would say are GAA (great facility, not sure if they are getting rid of their elite program or not; but if you are wanting college that won't matter and GAA can definitely get kids to college gymnastics), GA Allstars (they are going through an ownership change; but I have heard great things about the coaches who are taking over ownership, they have been coaching there for years), Northwind, Paulding (only recently started getting kids to college gymnastics; but a great program and they have been placing really high. The owner is a great guy), NorthStars (Whitney's old gym), Cartersville (generally a very solid team for girls and boys), and Roswell (very large team, generally does really well, great facility).

Don't count these gyms out though - Cobb (HC is a great guy, great facility, gym does focus a bit more on the boys' team than most gyms. They are going through some coaching changes that could be good or bad, verdict is out), World of Gymnastics (they were kind of out of the scene for a bit; but have been coming back in the past couple of years and have been doing well), Integra (new gym, only competed for 3 seasons), North Metro (going through some coaching changes, have lost a lot of girls; but still have some great coaches).

Then you have on the other side of Atlanta, NorthEast. There you have Ultimate (generally do really well, have some new coaches), Top Notch (have girls going for elite, not sure if they have any yet), Atlanta School of Gymnastics (generally very solid, you have ASG Lawrenceville and ASG Tucker), Gymnastix (owners big in USAG for GA).

There are a lot of other gyms around that are smaller or I might just be forgetting.

There is also Ga Elite that has been mentioned in the thread; but that is near Athens. I can not imagine driving over there for gymnastics without moving closer (especially closer than the Marietta/Kennesaw/Roswell area - that would be around 90 miles each way! And as someone else already mentioned, it can take 30 minutes or more to go 10 miles).

School wise, generally Cobb and parts of Cherokee are considered great school systems. I'd avoid City of Atlanta schools for the most part. With Cobb and Cherokee you would want to check the specific schools because while in general the schools are great, there are some that have issues. In Cobb you also have City of Marietta schools, much smaller school system with only one high school (Cobb has 16 high schools, of those at least 5 tend to be nationally ranked schools. Many of the high schools have magnet programs. Cherokee has 7 high schools, in general is a smaller school system, which has its plusses). Gwinett also has some good schools. The key to all of these is to research the schools, visit them, be sure before you buy a house in an area. The zoned schools really make a difference in the home value, so it could be easy to get tempted to buy some AWESOME home only to then find out that it was so affordable because the schools aren't very good.

If sticking more to the NorthWest side, traffic can be a real issue. Roswell/Alpharetta have IMO HORRIBLE traffic. You do have easy access to interstates; but there is traffic on those too. East Cobb is maybe a bit better than Roswell/Alpharetta; but not by much. Cherokee is a little better for traffic; but if you work in actual Atlanta the traffic to get to/from work would be horrific. West Cobb has better traffic in general; but isn't right on any interstate and there is a lot of growth there right now, so traffic is probably to get much worse.

ASG only has one location. You may be conflating ASG and GGA. ASG has been around for a long time and had its ups and downs but I've heard that they have a new HC from Paulding who is really turning their program around. Boys team looks like it's been consistently solid.