WAG Moving to Europe

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GymMom88

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My husband's job is relocating our family to Europe for a 2-3 year period. We have two daughters in gymnastics (an 11 years old training Level 7 & an 8 years old training Level 5). They both train roughly 16-20 hours/week. We want to keep the girls in competitive gymnastics while abroad, so they can easily transition back to their US gym when we get back. We have the choice to live anywhere in Europe, but have narrowed it down to major cities in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, or Switzerland. We need to be close to trains/airports so my husband can travel for work.

Does anyone have any insight into how competitive gymnastics works in Europe.... are the 'levels' the same as the US? Do they train as many hours? Any stand out gyms we should be looking at? Really any insight or advice anyone has to help us with our gym search would be appreciated!!
 
This was a very long time ago, but my best friend from college had a similar situation when she was a teen. Her family lived in Germany for a year or two and her and her younger sister were both optional level gymnasts back in the US. I'm not totally sure how it worked, but they did gymnastics in Germany and she at least felt she could compete to her strengths better than she could in the US, as the levels and skills/requirements were different. Her sister went on to qualify to western states after they moved back. Overall, she says it was a great experience and she ended up going back to Germany as an au paire after college, and several more times to visit.

The levels will definitely be different. I hope someone can help you out with finding specific gyms.
 
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Does anyone have any insight into how competitive gymnastics works in Europe.... are the 'levels' the same as the US? Do they train as many hours?
Europe has more than 40 countries that are home to more than 40 different gymnastics governing bodies with more than 40 different ways of doing things. The only certain thing is that wherever you end up there will be a level that matches the level your girls are at now, skill-wise. What it will be called is another matter! My advice would be to contact the governing bodies in each of the countries you're looking at and ask them how the sport is structured there.

Culture-wise, I think it's fair to say that at lower levels and with younger children, fewer people do the kind of hours that seem common in the US. I think I'm right in saying that British Gymnastics, for example, officially frowns upon kids training more than 10 hours a week while they're at primary school (that's up until age 11).

Bear in mind that stand-out gyms will already have their own roster of high-performing gymnasts, many of whom will have been training there since they were tiny and won't be expecting to leave the country in a couple of years.
 

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