Competitive Gymnasts: Avoid Silver Stars Gym

[Anonymous]

If you are looking for a gym for your child to learn to somersault and eat pizza for a birthday party - maybe. If your child is looking to compete with Xcel or Junior Olympics - AVOID AT ALL COSTS (pun intended, keep reading)! Highly mismanaged from the standpoint of parents and financial obligations, coaches resigning at the rapid rates, an entire Xcel team dissolved over night (disclosed by close friend). We are a family who were at the Bowie location when it dissolved very quickly and absorbed by the silver spring location, none of whom had been informed. We fled quickly, after a few months at the new location, but have kept in close contact with a friend who stayed through the transition. This gym has been reported to the Better Business Bureau for financial mistrust and USAG for promoting gymnasts to higher levels for financial gain, regardless of ability.

Let our (and friend’s) experience be a cautionary tale. Do NOT use this program as they will scam you to the highest degree under the guise of “competitive gymnastics.”

[Anonymous]

Do you have suggestions for better program?

[Anonymous]

DP without knowledge of the financial shenanigans PP alleged but it is not a serious gymnastics school. It is moderately supervised play. If you want your kid to actually learn how to do gymnastics, go elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are looking for a gym for your child to learn to somersault and eat pizza for a birthday party - maybe. If your child is looking to compete with Xcel or Junior Olympics - AVOID AT ALL COSTS (pun intended, keep reading)! Highly mismanaged from the standpoint of parents and financial obligations, coaches resigning at the rapid rates, an entire Xcel team dissolved over night (disclosed by close friend). We are a family who were at the Bowie location when it dissolved very quickly and absorbed by the silver spring location, none of whom had been informed. We fled quickly, after a few months at the new location, but have kept in close contact with a friend who stayed through the transition. This gym has been reported to the Better Business Bureau for financial mistrust and USAG for promoting gymnasts to higher levels for financial gain, regardless of ability.

Let our (and friend’s) experience be a cautionary tale. Do NOT use this program as they will scam you to the highest degree under the guise of “competitive gymnastics.”

Why fool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP without knowledge of the financial shenanigans PP alleged but it is not a serious gymnastics school. It is moderately supervised play. If you want your kid to actually learn how to do gymnastics, go elsewhere.

We are in PG county and the serious, accessible programs are at the pg parks and recs facility. Probably more affordable too than the private gyms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP without knowledge of the financial shenanigans PP alleged but it is not a serious gymnastics school. It is moderately supervised play. If you want your kid to actually learn how to do gymnastics, go elsewhere.

We are in PG county and the serious, accessible programs are at the pg parks and recs facility. Probably more affordable too than the private gyms.

We've also had good experiences at P&R programs. If you are in Arlington the program at Barcroft Rec is really fantastic.

[Anonymous]

So how is my friend's kid at Nationals with their team? Not disputing that there's some uneven teaching and coaching; just confused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So how is my friend's kid at Nationals with their team? Not disputing that there's some uneven teaching and coaching; just confused.

What? Nationals for…what exactly?

Multiple of their Xcel team made regionals which they did not attend because the gym did not want to pay for coaches travel and overnight fees.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know; that’s just what the kid’s parent said. For trampoline, maybe? The kid is 12 or 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So how is my friend's kid at Nationals with their team? Not disputing that there's some uneven teaching and coaching; just confused.

What Nationals? This is not for DP competitive gymnasticss(what OP is calling junior olympics). That was earlier in the year. I know b/c our gym had athletes there. It is not for Xcel, b/c that was in May. YMCA has their own nationals in June, but it's different from the USAG ones. They only compete against Y teams and have nationals for all levels. The USAG nationals are only for the upper-most levels (9 - eastern & western, 10 -whole country) and have higher qualifying scores than Y so you can't compare the two. The only thing left that I can think of is T&T. That's a whole other discipline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how is my friend's kid at Nationals with their team? Not disputing that there's some uneven teaching and coaching; just confused.

What Nationals? This is not for DP competitive gymnasticss(what OP is calling junior olympics). That was earlier in the year. I know b/c our gym had athletes there. It is not for Xcel, b/c that was in May. YMCA has their own nationals in June, but it's different from the USAG ones. They only compete against Y teams and have nationals for all levels. The USAG nationals are only for the upper-most levels (9 - eastern & western, 10 -whole country) and have higher qualifying scores than Y so you can't compare the two. The only thing left that I can think of is T&T. That's a whole other discipline.

I have no dog in this fight, and am not the PP, but I think they mean T&T, which is still gymnastics. Those nationals wrapped up yesterday, I think.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Silver Stars is at USAG Trampoline and Tumbling nationals.

[Anonymous]

This entire gym is having problems. Their rec classes are always over crowded, gym equipment is dirty, and there's high coach turnover. On the team side, a lot of athletes have left because the head coach refuses to communicate and the fees are constantly changing without any real transparency into what you are paying for. Unless they do a complete coaching overhaul, I don't see the team lasting too much longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Silver Stars is at USAG Trampoline and Tumbling nationals.

The Silver Stars Tumbling and Trampoline team is very strong; it is officially a part of USA Gymnastics. Many Silver Stars T&T athletes are competing at Nationals this summer (including my own kid). A local Marylander (albeit from another gym) will be competing for Team USA in trampoline at the Paris Olympics this summer. It’s a real sport. If you are referring to weaknesses in artistic gymnastics at Silver Stars, okay, you have a point.

[Anonymous]

My advice as a gymnastics parent is to find a gym that meets your goals. If you want a gym close to home, focus on that. If you want a gym that consistently produces artistic gymnasts winning college scholarships or making D1 college teams, focus on that. If you think your child might really like Tumbling and Trampoline and you like the idea of a gym with a strong T&T coach with longevity, go to Silver Stars. (As a bonus, T&T athletes have fewer practices than their artistic counterparts and have a smaller competition base - as a parent, for me that’s a plus. I would say that successful T&T athletes have a wider range of body types as well).