Club vs. HS Gymnastics

[gracefulone]

I thought it was interesting how the article mentioned boys' gymnastics briefly. I know my HS used to have a program-a state championship worthy program-but it ended with title IX; girls had to have as many athletic positions available as boys, and gymnastics got cut.

[ToeTheLine]

I did high school gymnastics for two years, took a year off high school (and part of the year off club), and am considering doing both this season. My club coach was very nice and allowed me to to high school gymnastics, even though because of high school rules I could then only do 3 club meets that year (I know several other clubs near us made our gymnasts choose one or the other, and ended up losing their optional program because enough girls chose high school). I happened to like club better, because the equipment tended to be better (my high school home gym was nice, but many of the gyms we competed at didn't have a spring floor and used equipment that may have been around in the '70s), but also because it was really strange going from coaches I'd had since I was in pre-school to people who had no idea what motivated me, or what my limits are.

Another thing to consider is that high school gymnasts get A LOT of injuries. I thought this was maybe just my region, but I've spoken to other high school gymnasts in other states and they mentioned this too. It's mostly overuse injuries (tendonitis, severly pulled muscles, lots of sprained ankles, back problems), nothing really serious like broken bones, for the most part. I imagine this has something to do with the fact that there are only about four weeks before you have meets (once, we have four meets in one week), but I ended up with shin splints, two sprained ankles, and a mystery back pain over the course of my two years (compared to one severely pulled muscle and a jammed wrist over ten years in club).

For most club gymnasts, it is really easy to earn a varsity letter in gymnastics, though. It also tends to be much more social than club gymnastics. I found this strange, because I was used to just doing my work without much talking (and mostly with people who were either younger or older than me, not my age; in high school, everybody was pretty much the same age). Some people really flourished when they could goof off and chat more than they worked, but I didn't. I felt more like a part of a team, though, in high school than at club (where mostly we just tried to beat our previous scores).

Anyway, to recap, I liked club better.

[xleahcarx]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gymdog However in states where club gymnasts can't do HS (WI comes to mind) the level at the state meet isn't much different, because the best HS teams work out like optional teams (a little less intensely but the skill level is certainly nowhere near beginner).

Where did you hear Wisconsin can't have club girls do highschool. The club close to us lets the girls do high-school and i know of lots of girls that do club but do highschool during there the highschool season. I thought it was the clubs choice.

[gymnasticsbabie]

Well i'm club gymnastics and private schools don't have highschool gymnastics. But a lot of my friends who are sophmores and juniors who didn't really like (club) gymnastics decided they were going to do highschool AND club. and after awhile they got tired of the conflicts so they ended up quitting and going to highschool because it wasn't as serious and you had more fun.

[ihraxhunnie]

i 100% see where ToeTheLine is coming from talking about the injuries. my freshman year i went to a public school with a whole HS team of beginners. My coaches way of solving this problem of having so many beginners was to have practices mon-sat. every day. three hour practices. For the girls working hard to get their cartwheels and back bends, three hour practices weren't extremely strenuous. But me being around a L7 at the time, my coach pushed me all three hours mon-sat, to work on my hardest stuff. every practice ended in tears from shins, ankles and wrist being in so much pain.

sophomore year, i went to a private school where we didnt have a gymnastics team. I was able to go to a nearby public school to do gymnastics to compete as an individual team. I was now part of a small team of entire club optional gymnasts. so we were all practicing about the same skills now mon-thur. it wasn't as bad as freshman year because we had better equipment and more understanding, knowledgeable coaches. but still the 2 hour practices four days in a row killed my shins. and also, i killed myself these two years of HS practices trying to get my stuff done just go to to sectionals and get slaughtered by the L10 girls getting full rides to compete at state colleges next year! it wasn't even worth it!

basically what i'm trying to say is that i also prefer club gym. our optional practices are three days a week with a day off in between. with there not being psycho practices and my coaches knowing me a little better rather than just knowing the team, they're able to work me to my full potential without injuring me from overwork yet still getting progress and results. and then when i go to sectionals, i'm actually able to place and progress there too. it's nice to get rewarded for your hard work and i don't get that in high school gym...

[Gymmonkeymomma]

My oldest is only 11 (5th grade) but she has been looking forward to competing both club and HS since last summer, after she attended camp at the HS and met the coach, who is a wonderful coach & person. If the optional level season here continues to be Jan-May, then we won't have conflicts as far as meets, however, I can forsee missing practices being a problem. The HS team currently has several club gymnasts so I'm sure they have a way of dealing w/this. Two of DD's former teammates from club are on the HS team now (having quit club).

[ihraxhunnie]

there's no doubt that in exception to the injuries, i have a ton more fun in HS.
its just more like hanging out with friends. but it was hard for me because
the only time i saw the girls on my sophomore year team was at practice
because we went to different schools. we had sleepovers and gift exchanges
though which made us much closer than my club girls. i just think everyone
is pushed so hard to gain new skills extremely fast through a like 3 month
period that it's stressful not to mention sometimes painful. there's pro's
and con's like everything =/

[gymgymgymnast08]

I've never done high school gymnastics cuz im in 8th grade and no high schools around here have it but it seems like it would be fun. I don't think they give out individual places but just team? Like doing it just for the team is like awesome. Theres more pressure because you are like if i mess this up my team will be disappointed in me. the last meet we had my team was soo pumped and sooo hyper and we won yay! haha but all the other teams thought we were soo annoying but it was def worth it

[gracefulone]

^^Around here, we do individual; a girl from my school was state champ on vault last year.

[gymgymgymnast08]

Quote:
Originally Posted by gracefulone ^^Around here, we do individual; a girl from my school was state champ on vault last year.

okay yeah im not familiar with hs gym at all