My pre-team daughter says, "it has a relaxed atmosphere, great coaches who make you work hard and are nice at the same time, and don't do things that will eventually hurt your body."
My daughter was at a local private gym for 8 years before switching to North because the other gym would not work with her on resolving a coaching issue, nor would they communicate with me about training goals, evaluations, etc. It wasn't easy for my daughter to make the switch but once she did her enthusiasm for gymnastics soared. The girls have evaluations at the beginning of every session in "beginning girls" and the girls close to preteam have them at the end of every session. When the girls make preteam they have regular evaluations with feedback on which skills need improvement, and how to make those improvements.
The City redid the North Boulder Rec center a few years ago and apparently the doubled the size of the gymnastics space. It is quite large with adequate tramps, bars, beams, rings, two pits and good floor space. There are windows for observation but they aren't distracting to the gymnasts- a very recent improvement was replacing the metal bleachers with much more comfortable seating.
The team competes USGA and does quite well. Beginning competitors compete in the Rocky Mountain League. The progression to pre-team and team is very clear which wasn't the case at the other gym.
My only objections as a parent are the lack of secure storage space for gymnast's personal items outside of the gym, a lack of weekend open gym time and no opportunity to have a gymnastics birthday party there. We can do open gym at other gyms in Boulder and Broomfield, but I wish there was some system of rotation allowing participants to do open gym at least monthly at their home gym. My daughter is happy with the open gym times allowed her once someone is on preteam or above, but I would appreciate the opportunity for a weekend time.
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