I was just asked this question through our Ask American Gymnast section. I think this would be a good question to solicit feedback from others in the gymnastics community.
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Question:
i have a 6 year old daughter that appears to have a lot of potential and love for gymnastics. We have her in a local ymca program and are generally happy with it. We have been considering moving her to a USAG gym with a very good reputation. I have 2 questions 1) is it really worth it to be able to compete in USAG gyms? and 2) Do you think that her opportunities within gymnastics will be much greater in a good usag club as opposed to local YMCA?
Again, we are generally happy with the YMCA just looking out for the best for our daughter…
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I am a bit biased on this since I grew up solely through USAG club programs. I do not know of many elite level gymnasts that came up through the Y programs, but I would say the decision should be based primarily upon the coaching and training situations at that particular YMCA versus the local club. I would ask the following questions:
- What kind of success has each program had (State, Regionals, Nationals)?
- Does the facility have pits for training?
- What are the sizes of each of the competitive teams?
- How many elite-level girls does each program have?
The answers to those questions should give you a pretty clear indication on which of the 2 programs offers more potential.
What is everyone else’s thought on this?
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