Parents Trying to understand college club teams

[Flounder]

My DD is training 9 as a HS freshman. She had two great years as an 8 making it to regionals both times, but injuries slowed her down. She doesn't want to quit gymnastics after she graduates HS, but D1 seems out of reach. She may look at D3 schools, but those aren't in locations where she thinks she wants to go for college (as of right now). So, that leaves club gymnastics.

How does club work? I saw one school that has 1 practice a week and another where the top level is 8. Can you maintain/develop level9/10 skills with such little practice time? Are there some clubs that are more intense than others? It seems like there is a big jump between club and D3, so I'm trying to get a better understanding of what college club gym really means (all while realizing a lot could change in the next 3 years).

Thanks!

 

[Carly]

One of my family members did college club gymnastics and we went to watch a meet several years ago. There was a huge variation in skills that the girls were doing. We saw some level 3 like routines on bars with mill circles and front hip circles. We also saw cast to handstand and giants on bars. Some were doing cartwheels on beam and others did back handsprings.
She trained at a gym that was local to the college. I don't know how many hours but I'm guessing that it will vary from college to college.

 

[JPC13]

One of my students is on the university club team (Top 25 University with a solid varsity team) and I talked to her about it a bit. IIRC she was a USAG L6 before she went to college. As Carly suggests above, there is a variety of skills/interests on the club team and they train out of a local gym. I got the sense that the hours trained were minimal (maybe one night a week) and most people did it for fun and to stay fit.

On the other hand, where I did my undergrad the club team seemed more serious. They used varsity facilities in off times and there were some gymnasts who could have definitely competed D3 but chose to do club at an elite university instead for the better life opportunities outside of gymnastics.