Gymnastics NOVA?

[Anonymous]

We are moving to the Mclean area (I think) and my daughter wants to continue with gymnastics. She is on what we call the preteam and was hoping to make the team next year. We have done some basic googling and found Dynamic, Fairfax Academy, Capital. Based on where we think we might live, they all seem about the same distance with Capital being a little further. Does anyone have any advice about which one to talk to first or team to join?

[Anonymous]

Capital has the strongest program in NoVA but has a pretty high hours commitment. They're also the most competitive. The training would be worth the drive if that's what you're looking for (and they invite your daughter to join; it's a popular place).

Compared to Capital, Dynamic is what I would call more of a lower stress gym, with relatively fewer hours and a more relaxed atmosphere but the training is pretty good and the coaches and kids are nice and supportive of each other.

I can't speak to Fairfax Academy other than that I tried reaching out to them a few times in the past and never received a call back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Capital has the strongest program in NoVA but has a pretty high hours commitment. They're also the most competitive. The training would be worth the drive if that's what you're looking for (and they invite your daughter to join; it's a popular place).

Compared to Capital, Dynamic is what I would call more of a lower stress gym, with relatively fewer hours and a more relaxed atmosphere but the training is pretty good and the coaches and kids are nice and supportive of each other.

I can't speak to Fairfax Academy other than that I tried reaching out to them a few times in the past and never received a call back.

Thanks so much for your response. This is not my daughter's only activity so I think Dynamic might be a better fit for her. I care most about good coaches and nice kids. I was a little concerned because it looks like Dynamic has a new owner.

[Anonymous]

How old and where are you coming from? (Local or not)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capital has the strongest program in NoVA but has a pretty high hours commitment. They're also the most competitive. The training would be worth the drive if that's what you're looking for (and they invite your daughter to join; it's a popular place).

Compared to Capital, Dynamic is what I would call more of a lower stress gym, with relatively fewer hours and a more relaxed atmosphere but the training is pretty good and the coaches and kids are nice and supportive of each other.

I can't speak to Fairfax Academy other than that I tried reaching out to them a few times in the past and never received a call back.

Thanks so much for your response. This is not my daughter's only activity so I think Dynamic might be a better fit for her. I care most about good coaches and nice kids. I was a little concerned because it looks like Dynamic has a new owner.

Dynamic's new owner is fantastic, as well as their new head coach who the owner promoted recently. Both are youngish and the kids absolutely love them. It's a huge step in the right direction for Dynamic.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure how this works with preteam, but the gym classes around here tend to fill immediately & have months-year long waitlists. I assume for a team kid new to the area they’d evaluate her when you arrive, but don’t be surprised if there’s no room on preteam at one or more gyms.

You might also look into the YMCA (Woodmont Center) in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

How old is your kid?

We were at Dynamic but left there a year ago. Dynamic is nice but very very limited classes and a long waitlist to get in. I think it was 7 months? I have heard longer for others. In the end we left Dynamic because of the lack of options and progression was slow.

We moved to Capital, which was slightly less because they allow make up classes. And we are thrilled that we did. The coaching is head and shoulders above what we had at Dynamic. She is so much happier. The coaches are really nice and motivate the kids.

Capital is just a pain to get to since we are in North Arlington. But my daughter tells me that alot of the kids drive quite a ways to get there. There are kids from Manassas, Great Falls, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your kid?

We were at Dynamic but left there a year ago. Dynamic is nice but very very limited classes and a long waitlist to get in. I think it was 7 months? I have heard longer for others. In the end we left Dynamic because of the lack of options and progression was slow.

We moved to Capital, which was slightly less because they allow make up classes. And we are thrilled that we did. The coaching is head and shoulders above what we had at Dynamic. She is so much happier. The coaches are really nice and motivate the kids.

Capital is just a pain to get to since we are in North Arlington. But my daughter tells me that alot of the kids drive quite a ways to get there. There are kids from Manassas, Great Falls, etc.

OP is asking about the teams at these gyms, not the recreational classes. Unless something has changed this year, there's no waiting list for level 3 (or Xcel Silver) at Dynamic, which is what OP is asking about. It's a small team and they just expanded the team gym so there's lots of space. People do drive from crazy distances to get to Capital because they have an awesome program and they're the best place to go in NoVA if kids want to try to go elite and/or compete in college but between the commuting and the practice time, that doesn't leave much time for anything else.

[Anonymous]

Waitlists do not apply to team gymnastics.

Dynamic - Smaller, less pressure gym
Arlington Aerials - Run through the county, good coaching, huge facility
YMCA - Wonderful coach, but small facility that isn't comprehensive for upper levels
Capital - Typically a strong team, coaching style is different from Dynamic (if you are comparing the two)
Other good gyms include Cardinal and Chantilly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waitlists do not apply to team gymnastics.

Dynamic - Smaller, less pressure gym
Arlington Aerials - Run through the county, good coaching, huge facility
YMCA - Wonderful coach, but small facility that isn't comprehensive for upper levels
Capital - Typically a strong team, coaching style is different from Dynamic (if you are comparing the two)
Other good gyms include Cardinal and Chantilly

Thanks so much. This is very helpful. Do you know anything about Fairfax Gymnastics Academy? They come up in my searches too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waitlists do not apply to team gymnastics.

Dynamic - Smaller, less pressure gym
Arlington Aerials - Run through the county, good coaching, huge facility
YMCA - Wonderful coach, but small facility that isn't comprehensive for upper levels
Capital - Typically a strong team, coaching style is different from Dynamic (if you are comparing the two)
Other good gyms include Cardinal and Chantilly

Thanks so much. This is very helpful. Do you know anything about Fairfax Gymnastics Academy? They come up in my searches too.

No idea, but from where you are planning on live, it would be easy to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Waitlists do not apply to team gymnastics.

Dynamic - Smaller, less pressure gym
Arlington Aerials - Run through the county, good coaching, huge facility
YMCA - Wonderful coach, but small facility that isn't comprehensive for upper levels
Capital - Typically a strong team, coaching style is different from Dynamic (if you are comparing the two)
Other good gyms include Cardinal and Chantilly

We left the Aerials - they simply were not safe in their coaching and there were incidents. Something bad is going to happen there very soon. We are at Capital now and it costs a lot more but my kid isn't going to end up paralyzed. There have been numerous defections this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waitlists do not apply to team gymnastics.

Dynamic - Smaller, less pressure gym
Arlington Aerials - Run through the county, good coaching, huge facility
YMCA - Wonderful coach, but small facility that isn't comprehensive for upper levels
Capital - Typically a strong team, coaching style is different from Dynamic (if you are comparing the two)
Other good gyms include Cardinal and Chantilly

Thanks so much. This is very helpful. Do you know anything about Fairfax Gymnastics Academy? They come up in my searches too.

I'm sorry. I don't have any experience with Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't hurt to check out different gyms. We've been in the game for a long time and the difference in coaching styles is extreme. When your kid is doing a trial, talk to parents in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waitlists do not apply to team gymnastics.

Dynamic - Smaller, less pressure gym
Arlington Aerials - Run through the county, good coaching, huge facility
YMCA - Wonderful coach, but small facility that isn't comprehensive for upper levels
Capital - Typically a strong team, coaching style is different from Dynamic (if you are comparing the two)
Other good gyms include Cardinal and Chantilly

We left the Aerials - they simply were not safe in their coaching and there were incidents. Something bad is going to happen there very soon. We are at Capital now and it costs a lot more but my kid isn't going to end up paralyzed. There have been numerous defections this year.

I think two of their former coaches are now the new owners of Cardinal.

Capital has a new owner also, right? I was still getting the newsletters until recently and saw them at a meet last year and from the outside it looks like they're trying to be more inclusive than they used to be (everyone can get the Capital practice leotard not just the team, compulsory levels have a slightly broader range of ages, Xcel team featured on social media too, etc).