WAG Need gym recommendations -NC

[Mommyo2az]

Have a friend moving to Charlotte area - looking for gyms that compete USAG.

Thanks!!

 

[Mommyo2az]

Sorry can't edit my initial post. Looking for USAG other than Southeastern - the went to visit that and found the program too intense. Gymnast is currently 11 yr old, level 4 (didn't compete due to injury)

 

[Seeker]

Perfect Balance Training Center is on that same side of town (sort of).

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Do you know what area/suburb of Charlotte?

Everest and First in Flight are both near Charlotte, but quite far from Southeastern. I don't know anything about their training, but I suspect that Everest is similar in intensity to Southeastern. First in Flight.. not sure but they do have some talented girls. There is Zenith, but they only seem to go up to level 4 plus xcel. There is G & J Speedway which I know nothing about. If they don't mind driving a bit, KPAC is in the Statesville/Mooresville area.

Disclaimer: We are in NC, but in the Raleigh area. So we've competed against most of these teams and at many of their gyms/meets, but I don't claim to know anything about what it's like to train at them.

 

[Mommyo2az]

Do you know what area/suburb of Charlotte?

Everest and First in Flight are both near Charlotte, but quite far from Southeastern. I don't know anything about their training, but I suspect that Everest is similar in intensity to Southeastern. First in Flight.. not sure but they do have some talented girls. There is Zenith, but they only seem to go up to level 4 plus xcel. There is G & J Speedway which I know nothing about. If they don't mind driving a bit, KPAC is in the Statesville/Mooresville area.

Disclaimer: We are in NC, but in the Raleigh area. So we've competed against most of these teams and at many of their gyms/meets, but I don't claim to know anything about what it's like to train at them.

Thanks! Parents are open to any part of Charlotte right now- so entertaining all gym options!!

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Everest and Southeastern are both great but also both pretty intense like Southeastern from what I've gathered talking to some of their parents at meets. We have seen G&J Speedway in competition and they are very good but not haven't heard what their training is like.

If she doesn't might crossing over into SC, Thomas is a great gym with a lot of good optional gymnasts and a less intense environment. It's in Rock Hill, so not far from Charlotte at all. We have a several friends there that absolutely love Thomas, it's a very family friendly gym with supportive and talented coaches.

ETA: Also if she decides on Thomas (although they compete in both SC and NC and other states during the season), since they are SC, she will compete at the SC state meet instead of the NC state meet, which is quite a bit less competitive than NC. NC is stacked with amazing talented gymnasts at all levels, trust me we have competed against them at regionals lol!

 

[coachmolly]

No inside info, I'm just familiar with the owner's name/gym career because a family member competed on her husbands NCAA swim team, but Perfect Balance is a new-ish gym (opened in the last 3-4 years or so) with a pretty impressive coaching staff. The HC/owner has produced a few NCAA athletes and one of the team coaches has assisted at several top tier NCAA programs. They aren't a huge team but have several level 9/10s.

 

[gymmutti]

The top 3 gyms (intensity-wise) would likely be Southeastern, Everest and First in Flight. First in Flight is really one county over so I'm not sure how far they want to travel. KPAC is in Mooresville north of Charlotte and has good kids too - again, a bit of a drive unless they lived in that direction (I-77 interstate is the way you would go and it will be under construction for several years which can make traffic a nightmare). Perfect Balance is on the south side (southeast toward Matthews) and is not quite as intense as the first three but produces strong gymnasts through L10. Gym-Fit is also on the south side (southwest in Pineville) - they are in a re-growing period with girls through L7, but have coached through L10. Cabarrus County gymnastics in the north has had good gymnasts in the past - but I know several leave for other gyms around L8 (although they do have a L10). G&J Speedway is north near Concord and has a small team with their highest level right now L9 but the coaches could coach up through L10, I think. I don't know a lot about their facilities. For very laid-back gymnastics - they could try Harris YMCA or Enso Elite in Huntersville, but they are not really competitive. If they will be in southwest Charlotte near the border, then Thomas is an option but with the qualifier that cadybearsmommy notes which is that South Carolina is not nearly as competitive as North Carolina. We have girls who travel to our gym from South Carolina because of the variation in competitiveness (not to say Thomas isn't good - just that there are a lot less gyms to compete against that are at that level).

Some of the gyms in Charlotte have very young gymnasts. At 11 years old and L4, she may be on the older side for some of the gyms. I would definitely have her visit several to get a feel for them. Charlotte has a lot of gyms although many are AAU or Xcel and not JO. Hopefully, I have mentioned all of the main ones on here.

 

[gymdoc]

We are in Charlotte and just switched gyms a few years ago. Just a couple thoughts to add to what was posted above
Fun2Bfit is going through a rebranding (new name is Premier, I think?) and just moved to Concord, they intermingle their JO and Xcel girls but with high hours

Enso Elite in Huntersville is newish too - they bought a laid back gym (White Lightning) 2 years ago so don't go by just their scores right now

Lake Norman Gymnastics is in Denver, NC, more laid back vibe, medium scorers

I think Zenith only goes to L4 and mostly does AAU

Traffic in Charlotte is bad. It may only be 30 miles between Perfect Balance and Kpac but that is a 1+ hour trip at times. Charlotte to Gastonia is easy 45 minutes on a good day and well over an hour on a bad one.

 

[l_gymnast]

I've competed against Everest they are very good and it's where Ashton Locklear went I know a girl who went to Zenith she didn't seem to like it and says they burn you out before L5...

 

[gymmutti]

Zenith is a very good men's gymnastics team. That is their true focus.

 

[blueberrygym]

Agree with all that's been said above about the various gym options. I have a friend with a daughter at Zenith and she really likes it. She said they have strong coaches for the compulsory years. But like others said, they don't train/compete beyond that. Harris YMCA is more laid back and not as competitive. Perfect Balance used to be a part of International Sports Center before branching off to start their own program in 2015. From what I heard from friends which children on their AAU and JO team, they focus a lot on technique and form and their coaches are great. I've seen their optional girls and they look really strong. They do seem quite selective though. I have a friend who said they kicked her daughter off the team at level 3. Southeastern seems pretty hard core. The coaches are primarily Russian and their head coach was a Soviet National Team coach and coach of three time Olympian, Svetlana Boguinskaia (according to their site). I have a friend who tried out there and said her daughter didn't like that they couldn't laugh or talk during practice. I don't know much about Everest's training style but I imagine they are great since they produced an Olympic alternate for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

 

[3rd_time_around]

Not sure how close Sonshine is to Charlotte, but they are very good.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

Not sure how close Sonshine is to Charlotte, but they are very good.

It's in a suburb of Raleigh, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours away from Charlotte.

 

[Francesca]

There is some good info on this thread! I am also in the Charlotte area. I agree that the big question is where the family will decide to live – that will probably be the deciding factor in which gym they pick.

KPAC and Everest are significantly north of Charlotte, Southeastern is in a southern suburb and First in Flight is west. Which one is most convenient really depends on where you are. I don't find the traffic around here difficult (unless you are going north from the city, which is quite congested due to inadequate highways) but most places I have lived are much bigger urban areas!

All four of these have strong Xcel, JO, optionals, elites and D1 scholarship athletes. The other gyms mentioned above are either smaller or have less of a focus on optionals/elites. It really depends what they are looking for. Good luck!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Charlotte is sort of a hot spot for very-high-intensity gyms. Southeastern, Everest, Zenith, G&J Speedway.

If you're looking for something less intense, I don't know what to tell you. Best of luck.