Women Superb JO Gyms

[hearts_and_stars]

I am looking for information on STRONG JO gyms. It doesn’t matter which state, at least not at this point. I’m beyond tired of DD being shafted for wanna-be elites simply because of her age (coaches acknowledge the talent and ability, but immediately follow it up with ‘but she’s too old).

Do gyms who don’t subscribe to the mentality of ‘you’ve got to be level 10/elite by the time you’re X age to be worth our time and effort’ actually exist? And, if so, where? I am open to relocating most anywhere (even outside the US) to get away from this—the psychological damage it has done to DD is heartbreaking.

TIA!

 

[MILgymFAM]

I think your request may be so broad as to be unanswerable.

What do you mean by strong? Sweeping all the podiums by all girls from the gym, despite age/level? In my experience, a gym that will take anyone (and I LOVE these gyms) without regard to age/height/weight/level will not get the kind of across the board great results that (what I call) gymbot gyms will. They can’t, because those gymbot gyms are preselecting for success.

My DDs current gym is tiny, has crap equipment (old, no pit), low hours, no coaches who can spot, and takes anyone- yet they always had people on the podium at every single meet, often a couple on top of it. They aren’t anyone’s idea of the ideal gym though (not even ours)- but they work well for us and meet our needs. I bet there are gyms like that everywhere.

A coach once told my DD that any gym that would take her wouldn’t give her top-notch training, because if they had top-notch training they wouldn’t take her. We have relaxed our ideas about what a gym needs/should have so that we could find what works best for us, as a family, but I would venture that coach wasn’t too far off. The best programs really wouldn’t touch my kid- but then she probably wouldn’t be happy in those environments anyway.

Anyway, long story short? Instead of worrying about finding a superb gym, worry about finding the right gym for your kid.

ETA: my DD started REC at 12.5- I understand the too old problem down to my toes.

 

[Flyaway]

Anyway, long story short? Instead of worrying about finding a superb gym, worry about finding the right gym for your kid.

This advice is gold. If you live in a metro area with lots of gyms, you shouldn't even have to relocate.

 

[hearts_and_stars]

I think your request may be so broad as to be unanswerable.

What do you mean by strong? Sweeping all the podiums by all girls from the gym, despite age/level? In my experience, a gym that will take anyone (and I LOVE these gyms) without regard to age/height/weight/level will not get th kind of across the board great results that (what I call) gymbot gyms will. They can’t, because those gymbot gyms are preselecting for success.

My DDs current gym is tiny, has crap equipment (old, no pit), low hours, no coaches who can spot, and takes anyone- yet they always had people on the podium at every single meet, often a couple on top of it. They aren’t anyone’s idea of the ideal gym though (not even ours)- but they work well for us and meet our needs. I bet there are gyms like that everywhere.

A coach once told my DD that any gym that would take her wouldn’t give her top-notch training, because if they had too-notch training they wouldn’t take her. We have relaxed our ideas about what a gym needs/should have so that we could find what works best for us, as a family, but I would venture that coach wasn’t too far off. The best programs really wouldn’t touch my kid- but then she probably wouldn’t be happy in those environments anyway.

Anyway, long story short? Instead of worrying about finding a superb gym, worry about finding the right gym for your kid.

ETA: my DD started REC at 12.5- I understand the too old problem down to my toes.

By ‘strong’ I mean gyms that perform well at Eastern/Westerns and Nationals, but also are capable of training each kid to reach their potential.

Right now we are at a gym that has a great environment and we love the coaches, but they’re trying to become an elite gym (while maintaining a competitive JO program) with just 2 coaches and a small facility. The result is that the JO kids are getting shafted by coaches because the girls they’ve arbitrarily chosen to test elite are ‘behind’ (I don’t fully understand the use of this word...behind what?) and are this getting mini-privates at every practice while the JO girls do whatever.

DD is training 9/10, but without dedicated coaches, she really isn’t getting what she needs. Sooo...is there a gym that recognizes that elite may be where the glory is, but JO has a lot to offer as well?

 

[GymDadWA]

Maybe something like this will help point you in a direction that helps: http://mymeetscores.com/topteams.pl

 

[MeetDirector]

hearts -

How old is she? What are your dd's goals in the sport?

I am not sure I would be willing to move anywhere for dd's gymnastics, but if you aren't tied to one specific location for the rest of your life's needs, then maybe. My dd's gym (she was a L10, now retired and coaching at the same gym) was a fabulous place with an optional team that did well. We are in a very competitive region, so going up against the powerhouse Texas gyms was a challenge, but 3 ot of the 4 Lvl 10's this year all made it to JO nationals this year.

By the by, I would not use mymeetscores as suggested above; it is not complete, nor accurate.

PM me if you want more info.

 

[GymDadWA]

By the by, I would not use mymeetscores as suggested above; it is not complete, nor accurate.

Would any of those teams listed not qualify as a "top gym"? Don't dispute that the list is perfect, but as far as a starting point for her to find some top gyms to contact would any of those gyms not fit the bill, especially if you filter by meet and use the state championships?

 

[John]

I know of one gym on that list I have heard horrible things about. I think finding a gym that fits your gymnast is the perfect advice.

 

[MeetDirector]

Would any of those teams listed not qualify as a "top gym"? Don't dispute that the list is perfect, but as far as a starting point for her to find some top gyms to contact would any of those gyms not fit the bill, especially if you filter by meet and use the state championships?

I wouldn't trust that list of "top gyms" as far as I could throw it. The underlying database is severely flawed so I say it is not a good starting point. And besides, scores do not necessarily define a "superb" JO gym.

 

[sce]

I am looking for information on STRONG JO gyms. It doesn’t matter which state, at least not at this point. I’m beyond tired of DD being shafted for wanna-be elites simply because of her age (coaches acknowledge the talent and ability, but immediately follow it up with ‘but she’s too old).

Do gyms who don’t subscribe to the mentality of ‘you’ve got to be level 10/elite by the time you’re X age to be worth our time and effort’ actually exist? And, if so, where? I am open to relocating most anywhere (even outside the US) to get away from this—the psychological damage it has done to DD is heartbreaking.

TIA!

A lot of gyms like that exist. Sorry you've had such a hard time finding one. There are a lot of gyms near me, some with the more stringent age philosophy others that allow anyone who wants to a chance to compete, and a lot in-between

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

I love our gym, we have a good group of elite girls but an even more amazing group of JO girls of all ages and levels. We aren't the #1 gym in our area (though I would say we are a close 2nd or 3rd) and we aren't huge but we aren't tiny. Our coaches are amazing and truly care about each and every girl on the team, from compulsory through optional. We've had quite a few girls get D1 scholarships. I feel like the coaches do a great job of spreading their time amongst all the girls (our head coaches only coach the level 9s and 10s and elite girls) and we have 2 other amazing coaches that coach the levels 6-8. The head coaches will step in and help coach the other levels when/if they can. The elite girls come in for elite level training an hour before the JO girls arrive, so the coaches aren't taking any time away from the JO girls.

 

[AmandaLynn]

I know of one gym on that list I have heard horrible things about.

You have piqued my curiosity...

 

[bookworm]

You have piqued my curiosity...

I'm guessing it's Gedderts , due to the behaviors of the now "retired" John Geddert...

 

[hearts_and_stars]

I love our gym, we have a good group of elite girls but an even more amazing group of JO girls of all ages and levels. We aren't the #1 gym in our area (though I would say we are a close 2nd or 3rd) and we aren't huge but we aren't tiny. Our coaches are amazing and truly care about each and every girl on the team, from compulsory through optional. We've had quite a few girls get D1 scholarships. I feel like the coaches do a great job of spreading their time amongst all the girls (our head coaches only coach the level 9s and 10s and elite girls) and we have 2 other amazing coaches that coach the levels 6-8. The head coaches will step in and help coach the other levels when/if they can. The elite girls come in for elite level training an hour before the JO girls arrive, so the coaches aren't taking any time away from the JO girls.

This is great! I know it can be done because a couple of the bigger gyms here in Texas do it quite successfully. But they have more than 2 coaches...

It makes sense that the 9/10/elite train together--that I'm not opposed to (we do the same at our gym), but we have only 2 kids who've been chosen to go elite and they are both very far from getting the qualifying scores. They frequently get pulled for a mini-private while the others are left with one coach for 8-10 (sometimes this can be upward of 10 kids, depending on how they break the girls up.

My motivation in the post was primarily because I've been looking to leave Texas for a while, and the whole country is pretty much open to me. This irritation with kids who have been chosen to test elite for what are really nothing more than arbitrary reasons may be what pushes us the rest of the way out.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

It's definitely a hard question to answer, but I think Southeastern in NC is definitely a very strong JO only gym. They do not train elite (or so I've been told). Their gymnasts do very well at Easterns and Nationals. They produce many D1 scholarship athletes. I have heard that they are intense. I have no personal experience with them (and therefore no idea how they treat their athletes), but I do think they are a very strong JO gym.

 

[chalkbowl]

It's definitely a hard question to answer, but I think Southeastern in NC is definitely a very strong JO only gym. They do not train elite (or so I've been told). Their gymnasts do very well at Easterns and Nationals. They produce many D1 scholarship athletes. I have heard that they are intense. I have no personal experience with them (and therefore no idea how they treat their athletes), but I do think they are a very strong JO gym.

Southestern has had elites in the past (Sarah Persinger comes to mind. Lily Hardin was also a pre-elite while there), however, perhaps they no longer test athletes in the elite world. My understanding is that even the Southestern JO team is VERY intense and is definitely not the best fit for every athlete. However, their results at every level are incredible!

 

[coachmolly]

I have seen before where gyms get 1 or 2 very talented little ones and get stars in their eyes that these kids are going to be their big break into the elite world and they go all in with them. Sometimes that means the other kids in the gym get lost in the background. It's obviously not a great way to run a program, but it definitely happens. And I think it is more of a problem at smaller gyms with fewer resources.
It sounds like your daughter is at an age and level where she knows what she wants from gymnastics and in a coach, so I would include her in the decision. There are plenty of great gyms in Texas for you to explore, but if you have been planning to relocate anyway, that does open many more doors. I would probably start thinking about places where you would like to live and work regardless of gymnastics and once you get that narrowed down a little bit you can add gyms into the equation. Because looking for great gyms across the entire country would probably drive you crazy. It would be much better to have at least a general region in mind.
There are tons of great gyms in the US- gyms that get kids to elite, gyms that get lots of kids college scholarships, gyms that keep kids in the sport through high school- but that doesn't mean that each of those gyms is great for every kid. Sometimes you can ask 2 people who attended the same gym and worked with the same coaches about their experiences and receive radically different answers.

 

[CuriousCate]

It's definitely a hard question to answer, but I think Southeastern in NC is definitely a very strong JO only gym. They do not train elite (or so I've been told). Their gymnasts do very well at Easterns and Nationals. They produce many D1 scholarship athletes. I have heard that they are intense. I have no personal experience with them (and therefore no idea how they treat their athletes), but I do think they are a very strong JO gym.

Funny, I was going to say the same thing based on many recent positive things I've heard about them. I've heard they are intense but very nice and respectful of gymnasts and their families.

 

[tomtnt]

I think the vast majority of gyms (if they have any business sense) will focus on rec, xcel, and JO gymnasts (in that order). Elite may bring the name recognition IF the gymnast makes it to worlds or Olympics but otherwise it is such a huge time and money sink for most gyms.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I am looking for information on STRONG JO gyms. It doesn’t matter which state, at least not at this point. I’m beyond tired of DD being shafted for wanna-be elites simply because of her age (coaches acknowledge the talent and ability, but immediately follow it up with ‘but she’s too old).

Do gyms who don’t subscribe to the mentality of ‘you’ve got to be level 10/elite by the time you’re X age to be worth our time and effort’ actually exist? And, if so, where? I am open to relocating most anywhere (even outside the US) to get away from this—the psychological damage it has done to DD is heartbreaking.

TIA!

who are you to call kids on YOUR TEAM, WANNA BE ELITES ???? And why are people actually responding to you after that comment. Psychological damage ? wow.... I really hope that any gym you attempt to join reads this, because I would not accept a parent like this on my team.