WAG Texas Dreams vs WOGA and Metroplex

[builtas1]

Hi, does anyone have any experiences of moving from one to the other among the 3 gyms? Can you tell me your 2 cents? We have multiple daughters in the optional level and would love to see them flourish someday. If elite or more is what we aim for, would you recommend one gym over the other and why? Thanks. We are still at the research stage but will consider moving if it is a good fit.

 

[munchkin3]

All I know is Texas Dreams has a LOT of girls competing on the national stage.....
That's my .1 cent.

 

[Seeker]

All I know is Texas Dreams has a LOT of girls competing on the national stage.....
That's my .1 cent.

And they also have a lot of gymnasts that would never get near that Elite training group and would be in their general JO group (only if accepted). Competition to even get onto a team is fierce, let alone being selected for their Dream Team.

 

[munchkin3]

And they also have a lot of gymnasts that would never get near that Elite training group and would be in their general JO group (only if accepted). Competition to even get onto a team is fierce, let alone being selected for their Dream Team.

I'm sure.....that's why I only said .01 cent......they will need all their money to get there.

 

[GymmieC]

Is TD really That selective? I have a friend who recently moved there last year. Her daughter was an okay gymnast here, but my goodness she rocked her last season at TD! Scoring high 38's throughout. The move was so good for her!

 

[bogwoppit]

Is TD really That selective? I have a friend who recently moved there last year. Her daughter was an okay gymnast here, but my goodness she rocked her last season at TD! Scoring high 38's throughout. The move was so good for her!

Very selective. I know people with elite dreams who have gone there, not a chance on the dream team and taken back to basics in tumbling.

WOGA and Chows are the same, very selective. I guess because they can be.

 

[GymmieC]

Very selective. I know people with elite dreams who have gone there, not a chance on the dream team and taken back to basics in tumbling.

WOGA and Chows are the same, very selective. I guess because they can be.

Yes, it seems with their track record they can be. It's my opinion that too many aspire towards elite but may be better suited going the JO route. TD and the other two gyms do quite well in JO too.
My son asked just today "If we had a chance to move to Texas, where would you send DD? WOGA or TD? And would you ever take her to that gym in Iowa?" Okay...I am definitely not looking to move anytime soon especially Not for gymnastics. Although, I would love to transplant DD AND her gym with coaches too to a warmer climate more stable area...so if I could or would I'd chose TD. They just seem to have it all together. And my goodness they have so many great gymnasts training elite. They have a great eye!

 

[refugee]

TD had some "interesting" coaching changes in the last year and a half...from the departure of the long-time coaches of their 2-a-day L10 JO practice group (and the practical demise of that group) to changes in their Dream Team coaching (elite vs JO).

But let's not focus solely on them. This is Texas youth sports, afterall. All of the top performing gyms are working to establish and maintain a reputation. They will not advance (try out for elite, promote for college recruiting) an athlete who makes them look bad.

Don't know how old your kids are, but one thing to seriously focus on is the track record of a gym for developing gymnasts from compulsory to early optional to later optional levels. Are all the L10s home-grown or did they come from somewhere else? And if somewhere else, is there a pattern? When gymnasts at upper levels leave, was it due to injury or did they go to another gym? Find out how the gym manages injuries (IMO, none do a good job).

 

[GymmieC]

TD had some "interesting" coaching changes in the last year and a half...from the departure of the long-time coaches of their 2-a-day L10 JO practice group (and the practical demise of that group) to changes in their Dream Team coaching (elite vs JO).

But let's not focus solely on them. This is Texas youth sports, afterall. All of the top performing gyms are working to establish and maintain a reputation. They will not advance (try out for elite, promote for college recruiting) an athlete who makes them look bad.

Don't know how old your kids are, but one thing to seriously focus on is the track record of a gym for developing gymnasts from compulsory to early optional to later optional levels. Are all the L10s home-grown or did they come from somewhere else? And if somewhere else, is there a pattern? When gymnasts at upper levels leave, was it due to injury or did they go to another gym? Find out how the gym manages injuries (IMO, none do a good job).

So are you saying that these three gyms do not have many home grown gymnasts? See as an outsider I would never know. I agree with all you have said. I just never knew all of that concerning these three great gyms.

I value the gym DD is at because the coaches take such a special interest in all of their gymnasts. The HC owner demands a lot, but in my opinion he is justified. A lot of his girls have been with him since they were tiny. I would like nothing more than to see DD graduate high school with him. I truly see this as an achievement. You make great points refugee!

 

[refugee]

So are you saying that these three gyms do not have many home grown gymnasts?

These gyms have reputations for putting girls on national stages, esp. TD and WOGA. They attract a LOT of athletes trying to up their game, not only from other gyms but also out of state.

Try this exercise: Go to mymeetscores.com. Search for these gyms. Scroll down and look at the list of Gymnasts and click on "Latest Meet" so you can see who's competed in the most recent meet (JO Nationals for L10). Click on individual Gymnast names to see their competition history and the clubs they competed for. Caveat 1: MMS database is erratic. Many gymnasts have multiple entries so you won't see all of their meets in one click (you'll have to search by each gymnast's name). Caveat 2: All 3 of these gyms have L10 gymnasts who did NOT compete at JO Nats for various reasons (injury, moving into elite, etc). You'll need to dig further to find these. Have fun...the results are interesting and I leave interpretation up to you.

 

[GYM0M]

Coming from a Texan, if I were in that area, I'd check out Empire and United Elite. But you also have Kurt Thomas, precision, zenith, and the list continues......btw, UE is in Rockwall, but I would put $ that they are going to be a force to reckon with very soon!

 

[profmom]

I am always impressed by a gym where a large majority of a strong L10 team is home grown and where the attrition seems relatively low from lower levels going up. If I were seriously scouting a couple of gyms, I'd also go back and look at the L4/L5 teams from four to six years ago and see how many of them stuck around and moved forward at a steady pace.

 

[gymbeam]

see, i think it makes sense that you would see a lot of transplants at these gyms. think about- people get into gymnastics at their closest gym not having any idea where it could lead, then their daughter shows serious potential and they find out there's a fabulous gym they could take her to instead. makes sense to me.

 

[profmom]

Oh, I agree that you expect a great gym to draw strong athletes, but I also want to see that they are developing and holding on to their own.

 

[Jabba]

^^ Absolutely. Yes, a great gym will draw in others who started elsewhere, but definitely look at how many of their original athletes stuck with them. Some big gyms are more focused on the numbers/winning, and will quickly cast aside great athletes that have been with them for years for new hot shots that walk in. I've seen the "Flavor of the Week" style coaching first-hand. It sucks and really does a number on the psyche of some great athletes and kids.

 

[twinmomma]

Oh, I agree that you expect a great gym to draw strong athletes, but I also want to see that they are developing and holding on to their own.

Exactly. So the more telling exercise (albeit the more difficult) would be to dig to find kids who USED to compete at these gyms who are now successful at other gyms.

 

[refugee]

^^ Absolutely. Yes, a great gym will draw in others who started elsewhere, but definitely look at how many of their original athletes stuck with them...

Exactly. So the more telling exercise (albeit the more difficult) would be to dig to find kids who USED to compete at these gyms who are now successful at other gyms.

Perhaps another angle to look at...how many athletes were attracted to one of these gyms but then moved on to another gym? Dig beneath the covers...you may be surprised at what you find.

 

[munchkin3]

Correct me if I'm wrong, it seems there is a big difference in attitude of a gym depending on wether they want elite national team members, or lots of well qualified college athletes.
I just don't think a super program that produces lots of good college gymnasts would train a elite athlete the same and vice versa.......and of course the debate about how kids training 30+ hours a week could have them prepared for college comes up. I know too many boys that give it all up for elite and literally barely school.... And of course so few make it to elite what happens to them?
I definitely prefer a happier well rounded program than a cut throat competitive at all cost gym....

 

[Seeker]

We have both at our gym -- Elites as well as the standard JO to L10 then college track. Several of the Elites have decided to drop back to L10 at a certain point. It is so tough to make Elite, stay healthy, keep your skills AND go to school. I also find it interesting that none of the Elites at our gym are homeschooled. All of them go to a regular school at least part-time and then homeschool certain subjects (whatever they miss due to early release). I think that catches up to you at a certain point...chronic exhaustion doesn't allow for your body to recover from a general workout and heal from injuries as well or as quickly as it should. It's a very tough road.

 

[munchkin3]

It will be interesting to see how it plays out at our gym. We have a homeschool group that is in the gym all day.....then we have the regular team that trains in the evening. I am curious too see who has more staying power in the long run.