Parents Brooklyn Teams- Gotham/Chelsea Piers/Prospect Gymnastics

[Fleurlablerg]

Hello! I’m a Brooklyn parent of an aspiring gymnast and am wondering if anyone here has experience with the various DP, Xcel, and USAIGC teams in Brooklyn. We’re looking at Gotham, Chelsea Piers Brooklyn, and Prospect Gymnastics. Any knowledge or experience you could share would be appreciated!

 

[Sebastian12]

I think you posted twice? Gotham, no where else in Brooklyn compares to Gotham if you can get in.

 

[Fleurlablerg]

I think you posted twice? Gotham, no where else in Brooklyn compares to Gotham if you can get in.

Hey, yes I did, but my other post was meant to be more general about USAIGC compared to Xcel since there’s no definitive answer I’ve found. This post was more looking for personal experiences with those particular gyms and their different programs.

I know Gotham DP is the most elite in the area, but curious about personal experiences with both of their teams, and the teams at Chelsea piers bk and prospect— not only in terms of quality of instruction, but also the culture of each gym and their different programs, etc. Of course I want my kid in the best program possible, but ultimately that might look different than what’s strictly the most competitive program once everything is taken into account.

Would you say that Gotham IGC is better than other local gyms’ Xcel teams? Do you know anything about the culture of Gotham’s two team tracks?

 

[Sebastian12]

Usag is the governing body of xcel, which is different from IgC - two systems. IGC still has some popularity in the northeast region but that is about it. There are fewer and fewer girls doing IGC even in ny and there are fewer and fewer comps year after year. IGC has different requirements, judging and comp structure. The transition between IGC and USAG (xcel and DP) is only easy when the gym has both and allows interchange.

 

[NYCMom]

It truly depends on what your daughter and you are looking for. My daughter wanted to be on the most competitive team that would give her the chance to get to college or elite. She is happy training 20+ hours per week including weekends. For her Gotham made sense. That is not everyone’s goals or desires. DP there is hard work and the standards are HIGH. The athletes are high performing. The coaches are lovely and the environment is welcoming and the girls are kind, good people. But, it’s HARD hard.

 

[Fleurlablerg]

It truly depends on what your daughter and you are looking for. My daughter wanted to be on the most competitive team that would give her the chance to get to college or elite. She is happy training 20+ hours per week including weekends. For her Gotham made sense. That is not everyone’s goals or desires. DP there is hard work and the standards are HIGH. The athletes are high performing. The coaches are lovely and the environment is welcoming and the girls are kind, good people. But, it’s HARD hard.

What’s your impression of their IGC team?

 

[NYCMom]

What’s your impression of their IGC team?

I know a few girls who transitioned there from DP, not due to any lack of talent, but more so a desire to not have to make the huge time commitment that DP requires or stick with the same fixed skill progression. Still wonderful coaches and a great atmosphere. And watching them train I am amazed by how skilled they are! It seems like a great option, as long as you understand that the end game is different than DP’s.

 

[Fleurlablerg]

I know a few girls who transitioned there from DP, not due to any lack of talent, but more so a desire to not have to make the huge time commitment that DP requires or stick with the same fixed skill progression. Still wonderful coaches and a great atmosphere. And watching them train I am amazed by how skilled they are! It seems like a great option, as long as you understand that the end game is different than DP’s.

Do you know of any kids on IGC that have transitioned into DP?

 

[NYCMom]

Do you know of any kids on IGC that have transitioned into DP?

No. I think that would be much more difficult.

 

[Sebastian12]

I know a few girls who transitioned there from DP, not due to any lack of talent, but more so a desire to not have to make the huge time commitment that DP requires or stick with the same fixed skill progression. Still wonderful coaches and a great atmosphere. And watching them train I am amazed by how skilled they are! It seems like a great option, as long as you understand that the end game is different than DP’s.

Yep…IGC was pretty comparable to USAG back in the days, not anymore. Every girl’s journey will be different, but in general on the system level, IGC is way less competitive; and the skill progression is way different than DP, which make the transition into DP harder, and harder than from xcel to DP.

Fresh example, both IGc and xcel gold/platinum had states this weekend. Only 6% of the xcel gold girls can get into regionals (placement based), versus the majority of the IgC girls can get into regionals (score based and the score is very achievable). The difference in the standard of “excellence” further translates down to how they train, how they progress and how they select.

With that, Gotham and a handful other other gyms dominate IGC. So if this is something you are interested in pursuing, Gotham is the place to be. But if this is not your end goal, aim for Gotham DP, or go to a program that has a solid xcel program with the possibility of transitioning into DP when ready.

 

[Fleurlablerg]

Yep…IGC was pretty comparable to USAG back in the days, not anymore. Every girl’s journey will be different, but in general on the system level, IGC is way less competitive; and the skill progression is way different than DP, which make the transition into DP harder, and harder than from xcel to DP.

Fresh example, both IGc and xcel gold/platinum had states this weekend. Only 6% of the xcel gold girls can get into regionals (placement based), versus the majority of the IgC girls can get into regionals (score based and the score is very achievable). The difference in the standard of “excellence” further translates down to how they train, how they progress and how they select.

With that, Gotham and a handful other other gyms dominate IGC. So if this is something you are interested in pursuing, Gotham is the place to be. But if this is not your end goal, aim for Gotham DP, or go to a program that has a solid xcel program with the possibility of transitioning into DP when ready.

That’s really interesting. Makes sense why a kid might choose Xcel over IGC given that context. Do you think Gotham chose IGC over Xcel for their gym so they could just maintain dominance all around?

I myself don’t really have an end goal in mind. I just want my daughter to achieve whatever it is she ends up desiring in the sport, while maintaining her love for it. I recognize that she has natural talent, but my worry is that she’s a kid who puts a lot of pressure on herself in everything she does so am hesitant to throw her into a hyper competitive track. It’s the catch 22 of wanting to wade into the waters to see if she ends up craving more intensity after seeing what it truly looks like, even on a less competitive track, but then not putting her straight into DP basically eliminates the possibility of her being able do it at all should she eventually want to (she’s almost 8 so really on the older end to start competitively).

Right now she’s just desperately wanting to be in the gym as many days a week for as many hours as she can, so maybe that’s actually my goal in the here and now at least.

 

[Sebastian12]

No, many gyms in the ny area started off as IGC gyms, or IGC+ UsAG DP, xcel is a newer tracks and gyms are adapting differently - some added, some didn’t, some replaced IGC, some replaced compulsory, etc. IGC was also designed to be college bound so both tracks were almost equally competitive in NY, but it is no longer the case. IGC is also not popular in the south (AAU takes up that space), so opportunities for out of state/tristate comps are rare nowadays.

like the other poster said, IgC is great as long as you know the end game is different and the mobility between is two is more difficult especially at good gyms.

If you just want her to start somewhere, try out other less prestigious gyms.

 

[NYCMom]

Just to give you some context, my daughter was also 8 when she tried out for Gotham’s DP team. She was coming off a bars state championship, had her kip, BWO on beam, ROBHS x 2 - and she’s not the star of the team. Gotham will expect a lot from an 8 year old trying out for DP team.