Parents Gymnastics after HS

[XcelGymFamily]

My DD is a rising freshman in HS, and is an Xcel Platinum. She knows that is is very unrealistic for her to do gymnastics in college, as there is no way she could get to Lvl 9/10 in 4 years. But she wants to be competing in the sport after high school, what are her options?

 

[Aussie_coach]

It’s going to depend on the gym.

In Australia if gymnasts are still training in 12th Grade, a lot will continue to train and compete with their teams after they graduate. Most people don’t go away to study but live near or at home.

Kids don’t get through the level as young and a good percentage of the high level gymnasts competing for their clubs are adults.

I know this is much less common in the US, but there is no reason why it has to be.

Ask around at clubs and see if they are happy to keep adult gymnasts on their team. There are bound to be some.

The oldest gymnast in my team currently is 24.

 

[gymgal]

There are a lot of colleges with club gymnastics. Many are very welcoming of all abilities while others are more exclusive - L8+. If your dd has an event where she thinks she can achieve a L10 routine or is a really good vaulter, she may be able to market herself to some D3 schools as well. Beyond gymnastics, have her look into cheerleading (I know, this is a no go for many gymnasts) and also acrobatics/tumbling teams. There are not many colleges yet that has these teams but they are growing. When d was in high school, she and many of her teammates were being recruited for these teams. Seems like they look toward roughly L7/8 tumbling skills. Essentially it is group tumbling - sort of like cheerleading but not... Hard to explain but there are youtube videos showing routines

 

[Greatlakesmom]

An Xcel diamond at our gym was recruited to do acro and tumbling in college next year. Club gymnastics is also a great option, as previously mentioned.

 

[txgymfan]

Adults compete for some NAIGC clubs in the US. I‘ve seen videos of women in their 30’s and 40’s doing simple routines up to level 10.

 

[Splat]

Chellsie Memmel has a lot of youtubes about adult gymnastics to look into.

 

[Coach Kate]

There are clubs in our area that have platinums and diamonds, and even level 8s competing into adulthood. It would be more convenient if her college had a club team. Probably cheaper too.

 

[XcelGymFamily]

There are clubs in our area that have platinums and diamonds, and even level 8s competing into adulthood. It would be more convenient if her college had a club team. Probably cheaper too.

Thank you! We will definitely look into college club teams, she's still got a good 3 years though.

 

[MidwesternGymMom]

My DD is a rising freshman in HS, and is an Xcel Platinum. She knows that is is very unrealistic for her to do gymnastics in college, as there is no way she could get to Lvl 9/10 in 4 years. But she wants to be competing in the sport after high school, what are her options?

My DD was an Xcel Diamond in high school and is now going to be a sophomore at a large state university that has a club gymnastics team. She is competing Level 9 on the club team...they have girls that compete from Level 6-Level 10.

 

[Flounder]

Is there a way to find out what college clubs compete the upper optional levels?

 

[XcelGymFamily]

Is there a way to find out what college clubs compete the upper optional levels?

Not sure. College gym insights has a spread sheet that shows which schools have club teams but I'm not sure about specific levels

 

[gymgal]

Is there a way to find out what college clubs compete the upper optional levels?

I haven't seen any info on this. I would think the best option is to try to contact each program that your dd may be interested in attending for their academics.

 

[txgymfan]

I imagine the levels in Club gymnastics would vary somewhat from year to year.

 

[raenndrops]

Is there a way to find out what college clubs compete the upper optional levels?

Here is the list of club teams. https://naigc.org/clubs/
I would suggest contacting any y'all are interested in (remember, academic opportunities should be considered over gymnastics opportunities in deciding on a college ... but having a club team could absolutely be a consideration for any colleges that have the desired major program).
Also, some club teams basically coach themselves and some have a coach (or at least access to a coach) that coaches them.
One of our gymnasts was going to consider club gymnastics, but her college's club team coached themselves, and the gymnasts were "very clique-y" according to the girl.

 

[Flounder]

Here is the list of club teams. https://naigc.org/clubs/
I would suggest contacting any y'all are interested in (remember, academic opportunities should be considered over gymnastics opportunities in deciding on a college ... but having a club team could absolutely be a consideration for any colleges that have the desired major program).
Also, some club teams basically coach themselves and some have a coach (or at least access to a coach) that coaches them.
One of our gymnasts was going to consider club gymnastics, but her college's club team coached themselves, and the gymnasts were "very clique-y" according to the girl.

Yes. Thank you We had used that link and created a list of colleges with clubs to use that as one consideration as we start to look towards the future. Just from some comments that we've seen, the clubs can vary a lot.

Do you think the results from here are a good place to start in terms of finding schools where club athletes are training 9/10 skills? https://naigc.org/nationals-2022-results-2

 

[Carly]

Yes. Thank you We had used that link and created a list of colleges with clubs to use that as one consideration as we start to look towards the future. Just from some comments that we've seen, the clubs can vary a lot.

Do you think the results from here are a good place to start in terms of finding schools where club athletes are training 9/10 skills? https://naigc.org/nationals-2022-results-2

I found some info by looking at some of the college clubs' instagram pages.

 

[Pirouette]

My DD19 did inquire at all the colleges she was considering to see if they offered club gymnastics. Some of the schools on the NAIGC list had a team in the past but weren't currently hosting a team, so make sure to check with each school individually.

Not all teams went to Nationals.

My DD could probable give you an idea of which schools she saw at competitions in the midwest that had higher level competitors. Let me know if you want me to ask her.

 

[Flounder]

My DD19 did inquire at all the colleges she was considering to see if they offered club gymnastics. Some of the schools on the NAIGC list had a team in the past but weren't currently hosting a team, so make sure to check with each school individually.

Not all teams went to Nationals.

My DD could probable give you an idea of which schools she saw at competitions in the midwest that had higher level competitors. Let me know if you want me to ask her.

Yes, please! That would be very helpful.

 

[Pirouette]

She saw high level skills from Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, maybe Grand Valley? Purdue had a good team; their men's team was outstanding.

It truly will vary from year to year, though. My daughter's team was very small this year but they already have people expressing interest for next year and the levels are all over. PM me if you want any additional information.

 

[Flounder]

She saw high level skills from Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, maybe Grand Valley? Purdue had a good team; their men's team was outstanding.

It truly will vary from year to year, though. My daughter's team was very small this year but they already have people expressing interest for next year and the levels are all over. PM me if you want any additional information.

Thank you! My daughter is training 9 right now and has just started thinking about colleges. She used the NAIGC list to give herself somewhere to start, but we didn't realize that it would vary so much from year to year.