Parents Best overseas gymnastics

[gymmum]

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.

oh! where in spain. we were actually trying to find somewhere in madrid as my daughter's grandma lives there

 

[AnotherGymDad]

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.

Not sure how that would be the case... In terms of 'big' clubs there's only really Sapphire, Saadi and Marriotts. I think I'm right in saying Berkhamsted killed off their competition squad after Covid. Dolphina are on their third home in six months. Much of what's left is trampoline-focussed.

 

[gymmum]

Not sure how that would be the case... In terms of 'big' clubs there's only really Sapphire, Saadi and Marriotts. I think I'm right in saying Berkhamsted killed off their competition squad after Covid. Dolphina are on their third home in six months. Much of what's left is trampoline-focussed.

yep, been to Sapphire and Saadi... was planning to check out Marriots but never quite made it... yet another club it's hard to get a reply out of. Yes it was a coach actually from Dolphina who told me she thought the Hertfordshire comp scene was superior.

 

[Gymgirl84]

oh! where in spain. we were actually trying to find somewhere in madrid as my daughter's grandma lives there

Mediterranean coast (comunidad valenciana). For Madrid, I'd recommend you to contact CGA Pozuelo, they have a strong team that trains in their own gym (also training the Chad gymnasts). Other strong gym clubs in Madrid are CGA Las rozas, Los Cantos-Alcorcon, Majadahonda (their head coach changed recently, so I'm not sure of their current situation) and San Blas.

 

[Poor Dad]

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.

In London my daughter at the time was considered a level 5-6, we tried desperately to find a club that fit her skill set and competitive ambition. We were constantly told that she was advanced and needed to find a stronger gym, we failed. There was just nothing available within reasonable public transit distances. We tried as hard as we could to find something in East London. In we ended up at Metro---. Do to issues we decided my daughter should train in the States. Immediately we felt the difference in every A$pect. She was dropped down from a level 5-6 Gymnast to a level 3. We could see the difference so we did not complain. My Question is, there a gym in East London That could rival some of these highly focused (over priced) clubs here in my he states?

 

[AnotherGymDad]

My Question is, there a gym in East London That could rival some of these highly focused (over priced) clubs here in my he states?

I don't know East London that well, but South Essex Gymnastics out in Basildon is a top-level one. As I and others have said on this thread, getting your foot in the door at any high-level club can be very tricky as they already have their own well-established squads filled with gymnasts they've worked with since an early age. Trials and transfers do happen, but they're going to be looking at what your gymnast can bring to their squad rather than what they can do for your gymnast.

 

[Lily]

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.

If your thinking Sydney, Australia, ‘d Sydney Academy of Gymnastics’ is good. One of their top gymnasts was one of the Olympic team reserves.

 

[USmominHK]

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.

The only way to get the hours in the gym is if you do the national team. Interesting about the exemption! I’ll keep that in mind. We’ve done the rounds across the different gyms but are currently doing Flipping Kids, Sportscene and working with a private coach who is also a coach of the national team. This brings us to 9 hours a week. I actually like the mix of FK and SS because FK is more about getting the moves and having fun and SS focuses more on the fundamentals and conditioning.