Post school gymnastics oppiortunites

[Iwannabemargo]

Reading some posts recently about college gymnastics it got me wondering.

Do we in the UK have any University gymnastics opportunities ?

I know P&F would not be interested for a few years yet, but I remember the sports clubs being great at Uni and so inclusive, I went sailing and skiing and it was great being able to do it already.

Ta

 

[SXS524]

I'm currently at uni and do gymnastics at my university so can tell you what I know! When I was looking at uni's I have to say a lot of unis don't have gymnastics clubs, most have trampolining though. Loughborough and Birmingham have their own gymnastics facilities on campus but most uni gymnastics clubs use local gymnastics clubs and arrange to get buses there etc.

As for competing some of uni's hold "friendly competitions" and invite other universities to come compete. These competitions are fairly relaxed and often followed by a social hosted by one of the unis. I went to one held by Loughborough and it was great fun, we got a free tshirt and got to compete at their facility (which is amazing!)

There's also one big competition a year - The National BUCS (british universities and colleges sport or something like that ) championships. Currently there are two levels which gymnasts can compete in BUCS 1 (elite) and BUCS 2 (novice). However most people compete at novice level and very few at elite level (like 95 novices and 5 elites) so only the very top gymnasts have a shot of medalling. There's people competing twisting somersaults and tsuks in the novice category. There have been complaints though so I believe they are now changing it to have 3 levels to try and increase participation.

As for how inclusive the clubs are it varies from club to club- I believe Loughborough is much more elitist and only their top members are allowed to compete whereas other clubs include anyone from those who have never done a forward roll to those who competed regionally/nationally etc.

How good the clubs are depends on how good the committee are. I'm lucky that at my uni the elected committee work so hard to make sure the club is inclusive. We also have a great coach and sessions are fairly structured

Anyway I feel I've waffled on long enough now! Let me know there's anything else you want to know!

 

[SXS524]

P.S. there's a BUCS championship for most sports, e.g. there's a trampolining BUCS championships (which has 5 levels so allows a big range of abilities)

 

[LucyTRA]

I have found that a lot of universities have trampoline clubs but not a lot have gymnastics clubs. However, mine had neither and I do trampoline so I set one up at my university (East London).

Although we don't have a gym club we do have 'try a sport' gym which is a free session for students in a local gym. I went to it once but it was basically open gym with lots of free runner type lads throwing themselves around which I found a bit intimidating - I haven't done proper gym since I was about seven so I didn't really join in!

Your daughter might well be able to set up a gym club once she gets to Uni if they don't have one already. If they do and she is at a high level she may well be offered spots scholarships and stuff to go there, my other half competes nationally and got given extra £££ because of it.

Beyond Uni comps which tend to be quite chilled and inclusive to everyone there is no reason why she can't carry on competing in BG comps once she leaves school. I only just started competing and I'm about to leave Uni!

 

[Faith]

It really depends what you mean by "opportunities". In the UK, really, once you get to 16+, you're looking at doing gym recreationally, for fun, masters, or elite.

So for example if P+F is 17 and considering her choices;

1) She's elite. She continues training elite and maybe finds a uni she can attend part time around her gym schedule.
2) She wants to keep training regional/grades/challenge, and attend Uni/get a job. She finds a club and continues to train as she has always done, just swapping school for Uni. Problem with this is uni or work hours rarely finish up at 3.30, so it can be tricky scheduling training around "real" life.
3) She knocks it right back, and finds a club to do adult sessions, or sets up/joins a uni club. These are usually inclusive, as you say, with other students coaching, so it will be for fun mainly, possibly a masters or BUSA comp occasionally. But as Lucy says, tramp clubs are far more common, mainly because a couple of tramps is easy to set out and store, gymnastics equipment is expensive and space taking. So few uni's can provide gymnastics facilities, unless they can liaise with a local club for gym time or are one of the lucky ones like L'bro.

I suppose there is one other option, in that she looks at it as a career to earn money from. So coaching, professional jobs as an acrobat or circus etc. It is possible to make a living, even a good one, or work it around uni/temp jobs.

Or just thought of another one :lol:, take all that gymnastics experience and find another sport to excel at- pole vaulting, long/high jump, cycling, rowing…There's a big ad out from british canoeing at the moment- 15+ girls at regional level in any sport, or 18+ competing at a national level. They'd have her arm off :lol:

O/t but Lucy, did you know east london gym have a lot of adult sessions in the day- I suppose to bring in money when there are no kids. I think they used to be "open gym" style, but I'm sure I read recently they're starting more coached sessions…

 

[Iwannabemargo]

I know its a long way off and so much can happen - it just seems that we kind of drop them at 16 ! I strongly suspect that IF she carries on she may well not have enough time at Uni to improve - she is talking about studying medicine, but I just wondered as I know other sports are very well represented and supported at Uni.

 

[Jenny]

The veterans comp is a great meet once a year!