how far do you drive to the gym

[Blackie6]

Well, when we first started gymnastics my DD was about 3 and we went to a nearby gym that a friend of ours went to already. It took us abou 15 minuts t get there and was in the town next door. When a gym re-opened under new owners about 2 minutes up the road (and honestly I had no idea it was even there before I was given an advertisement at the community pool) we took DD there. Our main concern at the time was she had developmental issues so we weren't sure if she was going to go into a special ed type program for motor skills or a regular rec class. She went to the rec class and it was great since dance school was located in the same building. WOOHOO, one stop shopping for this mom of three!

Fast forward 4 years later...our gym moved! UGH! About 3 weeks ago to another town. I went from going about 3 minutes just around the corner to a good 15-20mins depending on traffic. With her practice start times being 5pm now, traffic is a HUGE factor for us. I miss being able to drop her off, run to baseball fields, run to CCD...all were located within 5 minutes rom old gym location.

Not sure what I would comute for gym. I guess it depends how invested into the program daughter was. A team friend recently moved about 45 minuts away and now with our season starting in just 2 weeks the mom doesn't want to change gyms, but the 45 there and back are killing her w/gas prices. She sarted shopping around for a new gym to make the change after states, but it is hard since she has been at our gym since day one.

I picked our gym just for close location. Other people with older girls come to our gym for the higher level programs mostly (we do have a couple compulsary girls too), some from NY even. They comute a good 30+ minutes not to mention most of our meets are all in NJ so that is more travel time.

Can you do a try-out for a week or two just to make sure you love it enough to do the travel time? If it is far, is car pool an option?

[mom2kazkids]

We drive about 15-20 minutes to our gym. It was 20-25 minutes to get to DD old gym. DD best friend is at the gym with her, and live about 1 mile away so we car pool as we can.

Barb

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Old gym - 3 minutes each way.

Current gym - 8 mins w/o traffic, up to 20 during rush hour, up to 40 in bad weather. I make 2 trips/day, 5 days a week. Now that my girls are doing town cheering, I am making up to 3 trips/day depending on who needs to be picked up early or dropped off late to gym practice.

I would consider anything more than 30 mins each way to be too far...considering I also have a son to drive around to soccer 3 practices, 2 games per week.

[midwestgymmom]

35 miles each way 3 times a week here. Takes about 40 minutes on a good day if it is snowy it takes an hr. Of course if it is snowy they dont expect DD to be there anyway.

[greyhoundrescue]

We're lucky, we live 5 minutes from the gym and not much more than that from school and their other activities (swimming for the boys, the park the kids love, etc), plus there is a fair-sized shopping center across the street so I can get errands done during gym or school if need be. DH goes into work early-early (he's usually in the office by 6-6:30am) so that he can take the boys to swim and help with evening errands and such. It's worked out pretty good for us so far.

[DbacksMom75]

The gym we took DD to first was 30 minutes away, after the first commute we decided against it even though they were a very competitive gym. The gym we are at now is small but only 15 minutes away.

Liz

[momof5]

The gym is only 35 min away and it makes me feel better that some of you also travel the same distance. I don't even want to think about how long it would take to drive in the snow. They are terrible about cleaning the snow here. I don't think I would mind the commute so much if I had only dd to worry about but since I have 5 kids and their multiple activities and the amount of car time on my littest ones I am a little worried.

[rbw]

My daughter's gym is less than 4 miles from our home; that's about a ten minute drive.

There are six other gyms (including three well-known clubs that regularly produce collegiate gymnasts and some elites) within 15 to 30 miles, but--considering how happy my kid has been at her gym in recent years--they are all too far away

[Mom2Gymgirls]

We are 5 minutes from the gym, and I really like that part. I think that's kept us there more than some other things.

Personally, I wouldn't drive more than about 30 minutes each way.

[Drowning123gone]

Where I am I coaching right now, its about 25-30 minute drive, which is about 35 miles.

When I competed we drove 1 hour and 10 minutes each way... what won't people will do for gymnastics....