Parents Best overseas gymnastics

[Tmacs]

Hypothetically speaking... if we wanted to move overseas from the US for a few years with our high level optional gymnast who wants to compete in college, what countries/cities/gyms would you consider? Need good high schools too- she'll start in 2025-26.

 

[AnotherGymDad]

Given language issues aren't you realistically looking at UK/Canada/Aus? There's no shortage of strong clubs all across the UK; most of the Team GB gymnasts come from places like Aylesbury Gymnastics Academy (which Ondine Achampong has just left to compete for UC Berkeley), The Academy in Bristol (home of Amelie Morgan, now of Utah), Clwb Cymru in Cardiff, South Essex in Basildon... There's plenty of places churning out Olympic-level gymnasts, but they're also very popular, very full, very competitive...

 

[NutterButter]

I would look at some D1 rosters and see where the international athletes come from and maybe back into it that way. Some countries may make access to high level gymnastics difficult for someone who didn't come up in their national program.

 

[&bs]

If you were looking at Australia, Melbourne (Waverley Gymnastics) or Brisbane (Delta or Premier) would be your best bet. Plenty of places have Level 10’s but if you want to be D1 standard Level 10 then you really need to be in an elite program in Australia. Australian Level 10 is really more like US Level 9.

 

[USmominHK]

Serial expat here living in country number 8. DD’s home gym is in Hong Kong but she trains in the U.S. and in Germany during summer breaks.

I’ll also assume English is important and start with an overview of options in Asia in case you’re up to a bit more exotic. I’ll leave out the U.K. as it’s already been covered

While Australia would be an option, the difference in levels is important. The poster above mentioned the small number of clubs that would be options. The international school and club circuit in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand (and a handful of clubs in mainland China) use the Australian levels program. The bar skills are nowhere near the level of U.S. bars IMO. Kip to handstand is not even introduced until optionals. For the Asian circuit using the Australia levels program, the number of girls who compete optionals is small and I have not seen truly advanced optionals athletes at the competitions. I’ve never seen an athlete in this circuit do a giant in comp.

In Hong Kong, the only way to access the top level of training is to join the national team and this is only open to HK passport holders. Their new head coach is Russian and many of the other top coaches speak English, so language wouldn’t be an issue but passport would be.

I would generally rule out mainland China for similar reasons to HK and Japan because of language (happy to be told otherwise if this isn’t the case).

Philippines is an interesting option. You can get by using English without an issue. Many coaches come from Philippines to teach h at private clubs in HK. There were also 2 Stanford University athletes who competed for the Philippines in the Olympics this past summer.

Moving westward, the UAE and Dubai in particular are worth mentioning. We briefly toyed with the idea of moving to Dubai last year so I did a lot of research. Many of the gyms follow the US JO DP. The gyms are big, have proper equipment. It looked like many coaches were from Russia/Eastern Europe but I can imagine this will vary from gym to gym.

For some countries in Europe, your fees will be lower because training is done through public clubs as opposed to private clubs. Think your local recreational center. It’s a strange concept coming from the U.S.! This applies to France, Germany, Belgium and I believe the Netherlands as well. Israel follows the same model. For Germany, the websites will be in German, but in our experience many coaches speak English. In Germany they have regional training centres that would be able to coach your daughter. I’ve found that communicating with the club or Verein usually goes a long way. If you are local and pay the fees, you should be ok. The more famous clubs fielding the top athletes at the moment are Stuttgart, Cologne, and Chemnitz. You get a disproportionate number out of Chemnitz but this is because that is the headquarters of the national team. Teenagers move there to train full time. Dusseldorf can also train higher level optionals and trained an athlete from Morocco. I don’t remember if she qualified for the Olympics or not but she did quite well in the Africa circuit.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

 

[Dahlialover]

,

Philippines is an interesting option. You can get by using English without an issue. Many coaches come from Philippines to teach h at private clubs in HK. There were also 2 Stanford University athletes who competed for the Philippines in the Olympics this past summer.

The 3 women who competed for The Philippines in the Olympics were raised and trained in the US and were former members of the US National team. They were able to compete for the Philippines due to their Filipino heritage.

 

[USmominHK]

,



The 3 women who competed for The Philippines in the Olympics were raised and trained in the US and were former members of the US National team. They were able to compete for the Philippines due to their Filipino heritage.

Thanks - I’d edit for accuracy but it doesn’t look like it will let me adjust anymore. We do get coaches and there are a lot of English speaking programs there. Relative strength and pipeline would have to be looked into by OP.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Avoine

Many of the top countries have their athletes train in centralized/ semi centralized national programs.

 

[JessSyd]

. The bar skills are nowhere near the level of U.S. bars IMO. Kip to handstand is not even introduced until optionals. For the Asian circuit using the Australia levels program, the number of girls who compete optionals is small and I have not seen truly advanced optionals athletes at the competitions. I’ve never seen an athlete in this circuit do a giant in comp.

It's true about the Australian levels - they're about one level behind the US levels, which means that when our athletes top out at level 10, they aren't doing what US level 10 bar workers are. This is because our elite program peels off from the national levels into a separate stream from level 9, and we don't have college gymnastics for level 10 girls to aspire to, so there is no pull factor for the big scary bars moves.

But giants are pretty standard fare in optional levels here. You definitely see giants from the first optional level (you don't need them to meet the composition requirements in the first optional level, but girls who have them like to compete them) and they're very common by level 8.

 

[Tmacs]

Serial expat here living in country number 8. DD’s home gym is in Hong Kong but she trains in the U.S. and in Germany during summer breaks.

I’ll also assume English is important and start with an overview of options in Asia in case you’re up to a bit more exotic. I’ll leave out the U.K. as it’s already been covered

While Australia would be an option, the difference in levels is important. The poster above mentioned the small number of clubs that would be options. The international school and club circuit in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand (and a handful of clubs in mainland China) use the Australian levels program. The bar skills are nowhere near the level of U.S. bars IMO. Kip to handstand is not even introduced until optionals. For the Asian circuit using the Australia levels program, the number of girls who compete optionals is small and I have not seen truly advanced optionals athletes at the competitions. I’ve never seen an athlete in this circuit do a giant in comp.

In Hong Kong, the only way to access the top level of training is to join the national team and this is only open to HK passport holders. Their new head coach is Russian and many of the other top coaches speak English, so language wouldn’t be an issue but passport would be.

I would generally rule out mainland China for similar reasons to HK and Japan because of language (happy to be told otherwise if this isn’t the case).

Philippines is an interesting option. You can get by using English without an issue. Many coaches come from Philippines to teach h at private clubs in HK. There were also 2 Stanford University athletes who competed for the Philippines in the Olympics this past summer.

Moving westward, the UAE and Dubai in particular are worth mentioning. We briefly toyed with the idea of moving to Dubai last year so I did a lot of research. Many of the gyms follow the US JO DP. The gyms are big, have proper equipment. It looked like many coaches were from Russia/Eastern Europe but I can imagine this will vary from gym to gym.

For some countries in Europe, your fees will be lower because training is done through public clubs as opposed to private clubs. Think your local recreational center. It’s a strange concept coming from the U.S.! This applies to France, Germany, Belgium and I believe the Netherlands as well. Israel follows the same model. For Germany, the websites will be in German, but in our experience many coaches speak English. In Germany they have regional training centres that would be able to coach your daughter. I’ve found that communicating with the club or Verein usually goes a long way. If you are local and pay the fees, you should be ok. The more famous clubs fielding the top athletes at the moment are Stuttgart, Cologne, and Chemnitz. You get a disproportionate number out of Chemnitz but this is because that is the headquarters of the national team. Teenagers move there to train full time. Dusseldorf can also train higher level optionals and trained an athlete from Morocco. I don’t remember if she qualified for the Olympics or not but she did quite well in the Africa circuit.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

Thanks!! Great info!

 

[gymmum]

My daughter is only 10 and we live in London but this summer I took her to Italy for a week to train in Civitaveccia and then to Barcelona. Both had good programs (Italians are super advanced on bar even at that age). Athletes are coming and going from all around Italy and the world to Civitaveccia. They even have a luggage room. Big, well equipped gym. Barcelona also has some good girls who have fed into the Olympic program in Madrid. I have contact both both coaches if needed. English wasn't a problem in Civitaveccia but it was all Spanish in Barcelona (my daughter speaks Spanish but I can't and needed one of the other mum's to translate). I would agree that the UK is hard to break into unless you have been elite from a young level; it seems over subscribed. I dont know how many times I've physically gone to gyms and left notes because I couldn't get a reply by email or on the phone... still ignored (eg Harrow/ Aylesbury). Heathrow and East London could be good options.

 

[gymmum]

Oh and I also took my daugther to train last year (just once) at a gym in Australia0 Gold Coast Gymnastics. I'm Aussie but live in London. They were welcoming and nice big gym but I expect what others have said about the Australian scene may cause issues. The distance to everywhere else must surely make getting into that higher level competitive scene difficult. I also have a business in Thailand and although there's training here I don't it's the place at all for higher level.

 

[AnotherGymDad]

I dont know how many times I've physically gone to gyms and left notes because I couldn't get a reply by email or on the phone... still ignored (eg Harrow/ Aylesbury). Heathrow and East London could be good options.

Sapphire in Hemel have a solid record if you're in that neck of the woods. Original home of Ondine before she headed up the A41 to Aylesbury. Hallie Copperwheat, now at Pitt. Gabby Jupp who represented GB and was heading for great things before repeated ACL tears got in the way. I think Max Whitlock started out there, too.

 

[Gymgirl84]

My daughter is only 10 and we live in London but this summer I took her to Italy for a week to train in Civitaveccia and then to Barcelona. Both had good programs (Italians are super advanced on bar even at that age). Athletes are coming and going from all around Italy and the world to Civitaveccia. They even have a luggage room. Big, well equipped gym. Barcelona also has some good girls who have fed into the Olympic program in Madrid. I have contact both both coaches if needed. English wasn't a problem in Civitaveccia but it was all Spanish in Barcelona (my daughter speaks Spanish but I can't and needed one of the other mum's to translate). I would agree that the UK is hard to break into unless you have been elite from a young level; it seems over subscribed. I dont know how many times I've physically gone to gyms and left notes because I couldn't get a reply by email or on the phone... still ignored (eg Harrow/ Aylesbury). Heathrow and East London could be good options.

Where in Barcelona were you? Just curious as there are a couple of good gyms there (Hospitalet, Moreres, Salle Gracia) that have fed the national team in recent years.
Interesting about Italy too, I agree they seem super advanced on bars at a young age. I'd love to have a peak on their system for developing bars.

 

[gymmum]

Sapphire in Hemel have a solid record if you're in that neck of the woods. Original home of Ondine before she headed up the A41 to Aylesbury. Hallie Copperwheat, now at Pitt. Gabby Jupp who represented GB and was heading for great things before repeated ACL tears got in the way. I think Max Whitlock started out there, too.

Actually, I went up to Sapphire earlier this year and watched a bit and talked to the coach and she told me they are more focused these days on the regional level. I’ve been in touch with all the gyms in Hertfordshire and have been told by a coach that actually the Hertford competitive scene is better than London. I’m not sure how true or not that is.. unfortunately Hertfordshire is pretty big and there’s a lot of Driving involved. I’m already worn out cycling my daughter on An electric bike an hour each way 5 days per week and then waiting at the gym from 3 to 4 hours because it’s too far to go home and come back.

 

[gymmum]

Where in Barcelona were you? Just curious as there are a couple of good gyms there (Hospitalet, Moreres, Salle Gracia) that have fed the national team in recent years.
Interesting about Italy too, I agree they seem super advanced on bars at a young age. I'd love to have a peak on their system for developing bars.

We were at Hospitalet. I wouldn’t hesitate to take my daughter to train there again, the only thing that was difficult for me is that you’re not allowed in the gym at all and because I wanted to see what was going on I had to stand outside on the street, peering through a window like a creep the coach is a lady called Nani and apparently she’s extremely well known in the Spanish scene and coached in Italy for many years . I absolutely would recommend civitaveccia. It’s a great big gym and exciting with lots of people coming and going and quite a nice friendly environment. With that one the only problem is thar the Town itself is not a great place to spend some time. You are welcome to message me for more information. My daughter is at a club in London that is not with British Gymnastics, it’s with this independent Gymnastics Association which of course has its issues! She enjoys it there, I’m just not completely sure about how the progression is going to go oppportunity wise. My daughter is entitled to British, Australian and Spanish passports.

 

[Gymgirl84]

I know Nani, yes. One of our gymnasts spent some days training there on holidays at one point. Thanks for all the info.

 

[gymmum]

I know Nani, yes. One of our gymnasts spent some days training there on holidays at one point. Thanks for all the info.

may i ask where in the states you are and which gyms you have seen that you like? I'd love to bring my daughter over the train in one of the school holidays.

 

[Gymgirl84]

I live in Spain, so I can't really tell you about the US. But I'm sure someone could give you good advice, since there are a lot of users from the US. I think there are a lot of good places in the US, compared to most gyms in Europe, US gyms are awesome.

 

[ri3la]

Serial expat here living in country number 8. DD’s home gym is in Hong Kong but she trains in the U.S. and in Germany during summer breaks.

I’ll also assume English is important and start with an overview of options in Asia in case you’re up to a bit more exotic. I’ll leave out the U.K. as it’s already been covered

While Australia would be an option, the difference in levels is important. The poster above mentioned the small number of clubs that would be options. The international school and club circuit in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand (and a handful of clubs in mainland China) use the Australian levels program. The bar skills are nowhere near the level of U.S. bars IMO. Kip to handstand is not even introduced until optionals. For the Asian circuit using the Australia levels program, the number of girls who compete optionals is small and I have not seen truly advanced optionals athletes at the competitions. I’ve never seen an athlete in this circuit do a giant in comp.

In Hong Kong, the only way to access the top level of training is to join the national team and this is only open to HK passport holders. Their new head coach is Russian and many of the other top coaches speak English, so language wouldn’t be an issue but passport would be.

I would generally rule out mainland China for similar reasons to HK and Japan because of language (happy to be told otherwise if this isn’t the case).

Philippines is an interesting option. You can get by using English without an issue. Many coaches come from Philippines to teach h at private clubs in HK. There were also 2 Stanford University athletes who competed for the Philippines in the Olympics this past summer.

Moving westward, the UAE and Dubai in particular are worth mentioning. We briefly toyed with the idea of moving to Dubai last year so I did a lot of research. Many of the gyms follow the US JO DP. The gyms are big, have proper equipment. It looked like many coaches were from Russia/Eastern Europe but I can imagine this will vary from gym to gym.

For some countries in Europe, your fees will be lower because training is done through public clubs as opposed to private clubs. Think your local recreational center. It’s a strange concept coming from the U.S.! This applies to France, Germany, Belgium and I believe the Netherlands as well. Israel follows the same model. For Germany, the websites will be in German, but in our experience many coaches speak English. In Germany they have regional training centres that would be able to coach your daughter. I’ve found that communicating with the club or Verein usually goes a long way. If you are local and pay the fees, you should be ok. The more famous clubs fielding the top athletes at the moment are Stuttgart, Cologne, and Chemnitz. You get a disproportionate number out of Chemnitz but this is because that is the headquarters of the national team. Teenagers move there to train full time. Dusseldorf can also train higher level optionals and trained an athlete from Morocco. I don’t remember if she qualified for the Olympics or not but she did quite well in the Africa circuit.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

Off topic but do you mind sharing where your DD trains in Hong Kong? I lived and trained there most my life and curious what the scene is like now. Really surpirsed there is a relatively high level gymnast in HK. I know someone without a HK passport that was given an exemption to train with the national team but that must've been like 6 years ago now.