Parents How to find a new gym

[Mefaw0725]

We are thinking about switching gyms and we have no idea what to look for in a new gym or how to go about it. I’m looking for some tips on what you would ask to ensure it’s a good gym!

My daughter just turned five and is pretty good. They had been asking when she turned five for awhile so they could move her up to their “minis” class. I was under the impression “minis” was pre-team for 5-7 year olds based on the preschool coaches explanation but I guess it’s like a pre-pre-team because they will not even consider them for pre-team until they turn six, which seems to put them at seven to start competing. That seems really late to start and I think that they shouldn’t go by age solely but by their skills too. We have also had issues with their organization. None of the coaches the past few months knew what was going on with my daughter’s plan for classes and what class she should be in. At one point she was in the advanced rec class with 12 year olds because she hadn’t turned five yet, it made no sense.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[JPC13]

USAG maintains a list of affiliated clubs: https://usagym.org/pages/find/gym.html

Start there and then start asking around, visiting places, and looking at meet scores.

 

[rlm's mom]

Do tryouts in any gym options and speak to parents before committing!
Also beginning team competition at age 7 is pretty average!

 

[Coach Kate]

Do tryouts in any gym options and speak to parents before committing!
Also beginning team competition at age 7 is pretty average!

I will also add that it depends what level they start competing at! Some gyms don't start until level 3 or 4, so they do actually need to be slightly older. Growing up, my gym only competed levels 4-10, and my friend's didn't start until level 5.

 

[4theLoveofGymnastics]

We are thinking about switching gyms and we have no idea what to look for in a new gym or how to go about it. I’m looking for some tips on what you would ask to ensure it’s a good gym!

My daughter just turned five and is pretty good. They had been asking when she turned five for awhile so they could move her up to their “minis” class. I was under the impression “minis” was pre-team for 5-7 year olds based on the preschool coaches explanation but I guess it’s like a pre-pre-team because they will not even consider them for pre-team until they turn six, which seems to put them at seven to start competing. That seems really late to start and I think that they shouldn’t go by age solely but by their skills too. We have also had issues with their organization. None of the coaches the past few months knew what was going on with my daughter’s plan for classes and what class she should be in. At one point she was in the advanced rec class with 12 year olds because she hadn’t turned five yet, it made no sense.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[4theLoveofGymnastics]

I can’t give the best advice regarding switching gyms as I haven’t done that yet but I can tell you that my daughter was moved from rec to pre team at 4. Competed level 2 at age 5 and level 3 at 6yrs old. She barely made the cut off with having a summer birthday. Another gym in our area won’t let girls get out of kinder gym and into beginner girls till the age of 6 which is kinda crazy in my opinion.