Anon Looking for an Elite gym

[Anonymous (328e)]

My gymnast is 9 years old (almost 10), competing at Level 8 (training at Level 9/10), and on the elite path at her gym. We are considering a gym change to one with an established elite program. We are willing to relocate and are aware that the elite path is hard and requires a commitment from the whole family.

After all the drama with a big elite gym closing, I have to wonder if there are any good elite gyms. I have a long list of gyms that currently produce Hopes/elite gymnasts, but I don’t have inside knowledge of their training culture. Any parents of Hopes/elite gymnasts, do you have advice on which gyms or coaches to consider or stay away from? If this were you, where would your child train and with which coach (since some gyms have different groups and coaches)? Thanks for the help.

 

[Anonymous (b9c6)]

My daughter is at a gym with a relatively large number of elites but she is not on the elite path.

I think you need to consider that people who have inside information about elite gyms and coaches are not incentivized to be honest, either to themselves, to outsiders, or to both. I don’t think there is a program that’s magically 100% good only because of what it takes to get to elite.

And every athletes experience with specific coaches or programs will differ, partly because of the intra-team competitive dynamics that even the most progressive coaches harness to motivate and elevate athlete performance. There are girls at the gym who are elites and happy and successful now who were miserable two years ago, and girls who were on top a while ago but really young girls came in from another gym and replaced them as the new, young favorites so now they’re down on themselves. We’ve had elites or potential elites come through who most people didn’t even know were ever at our gym so no one would think to ask about why they left or what went wrong.

On a practical level: Talk to families who you’ve seen at TOPS or national developmental camps. Schedule a very long tryout period. Try to read between the lines if you are looking at instagram accounts. Sift through the gym parent facebook threads to see if there are hints of honesty about gyms and programs, not just people trying to make themselves feel good about their decisions. There are some people on Reddit who pay close attention to elite gyms and coaches and follow that news so going deep there might help, too.

 

[JBS]

If this were you, where would your child train and with which coach (since some gyms have different groups and coaches)?

Ha... well... I would train with me. The thing is... it's more about the coach than the club. Meaning if your elite coach / coaches leave the club... the club will most likely no longer be elite.

Many coaches that can coach elite (like me)... really don't have any need to do it. It is actually cost prohibitive... so if the club is not setup to run an elite program... then the coach / coaches can't really do it.

If you have an elite coach that will never give up on a specific athlete (until the athlete quits)... then that athlete could progress very nicely assuming that athlete is of the elite mindset and already possesses some good physical abilities. This is seen in smaller clubs that have 1 hot shot or also when a coach with elite abilities coaches their own child.

This is different from most elite clubs that have a group of elites. Typically once an athlete is categorized as "not elite"... they get different coaching... even if they are in the same group with the same coaches.

 

[Anonymous (b9c6)]

Ha... well... I would train with me. The thing is... it's more about the coach than the club. Meaning if your elite coach / coaches leave the club... the club will most likely no longer be elite.

Many coaches that can coach elite (like me)... really don't have any need to do it. It is actually cost prohibitive... so if the club is not setup to run an elite program... then the coach / coaches can't really do it.

If you have an elite coach that will never give up on a specific athlete (until the athlete quits)... then that athlete could progress very nicely assuming that athlete is of the elite mindset and already possesses some good physical abilities. This is seen in smaller clubs that have 1 hot shot or also when a coach with elite abilities coaches their own child.

This is different from most elite clubs that have a group of elites. Typically once an athlete is categorized as "not elite"... they get different coaching... even if they are in the same group with the same coaches.

This is so accurate and it’s validating to hear a coach’s perspective on the situation. My daughter never wanted to do elite but when she was younger she was briefly put in what we later realized was a high performance/hot shot/fast track group. She got great coaching and a ton of attention, but a few girls came in who were even better and shinier and her coach lost interest in her seemingly overnight. When new groups were set for the next season, she was sent off with the regular girls. It hurt her confidence and progress for a long time and I’ll always wonder what would have happened if that coach hadn’t stopped supporting her.

I’ve since seen the same coach do it to promising girls from the baby pre-pre-team group all the way up to national team members, and it’s distressing to see how it’s impacted their trajectory.

So I’ll amend my previous response: a coach who believes in your athlete is the most important feature of a gym. Hard to find but if you do, don’t look back.