• The most important quality clubs look for when placing a gymnast into the team program is passion.  The desire to be in the gym multiple days per week and eagerness to learn new skills is paramount!
• Other important criteria include:
  • above average strength
  • strong competitive spirit
  • good determination and perseverance
  • commitment to attendance of classes
• Flexibility – Is the child’s body flexible enough to handle some of the requirements of gymnastics? Can his/her flexibility be improved over time?
• Motivation – Does the child want to learn and succeed, or is she content right where she is?
• Coachability – Does the child listen to corrections and try to apply them? Is the child willing to take a few steps back to fix old skills before learning new skills?
• Mental Toughness – How sensitive is the child? Does he or she respond well to criticism? Would the child be able to perform in front of a judge and receive a performance-based score with no more than a healthy amount of anxiety?
• Sportsmanship – Would this child fit in with existing team members? Would he or she encourage the other athletes? Would this child accept both success and defeat respectfully and graciously?
• Gymnastics is a year-round sport.  When the competition season is over, clubs prepare their students for the next season by introducing new skills and challenging their strength and flexibility.  Children can be successful on a gymnastics team and teams for other sports at the same time. In many regards, being in multiple sports can help you be more successful at all of them!
• Competition gymnastics is available for children as young as 5 years old!  It is absolutely amazing to watch the dedication and discipline of even the very young gymnasts.  It’s never too early to start teaching focus, goal setting, facing fears, teamwork, respect, responsibility, handling nerves and best of all – how to have fun and be safe doing neat gymnastics skills!
• There are many levels of competition team.  Entry levels start with basic skills including handstands, cartwheels and rolls and stay within 1 hour distance from the gym for most of the competitions.  More advanced levels compete at very high difficulty and travel more out of state.
• When you come to tryouts:  Wear a leotard, have your hair pulled back securely and neatly, bring a water bottle, be ready to listen, try your best and smile!
• It always makes a good impression if you finish all your skills with a lunge or a “stick” and make eye contact with the coach watching you.  Try not to get frustrated if you don’t get something perfect the first time (or even the 10th time). Gymnastics is a tough sport, and it takes many repetitions to get skills perfected.

Gymnastics is an incredibly fun and rewarding sport. Whether you come once a week and just have fun learning new things with your friends or you come 4 days a week and compete all over the US – there is something for everyone!