I am interested in enrolling my daughter in gymnastics. Anyone have opinions on Powersports or ThunderElite? I have heard good and bad things about both. Any info would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

We've done both and for now prefer Thunder Elite. I don't have any real complaints about Power Sports, but I feel like my boys get more attention at Thunder Elite and have learned more. It could just be my session, but it seems like the groups are smaller.

Care to expand on what you know/heard on the "good and bad" for both places? I'd like to know.
(no I'm not trying to start anything, just wondering)

I have heard that Powersports is geared more for after school programs, Mother's Day Out and other babysitting type services than towards gymnastics but that they are a very organized, well run business and the facility is pretty nice. I have heard that ThunderElite is definitely more geared towards gymnastics and the teachers are great, but the front office is not run very well and the facilities are not that great. I have only seen the outside of both, so I don't know what one considers a "nice" gym.

I don't expect my 5 year old daughter to be in the Olympics, but I would like to take her to a place that is really set up for teaching gymnastics skills as their #1 priority.

Are there any other gyms here besides these two?

Thanks for the replies so far!

Brazos Valley Gymnastics on Longmire is better.

My daughther is 6 and attends Thunder Elite. I will admit that their facilities need a facelift, but keep in mind they are working on building a brand new gym and hope to have it built and open very soon. The progress my daugther has made in the past year and a half at Thunder are very impressive. I am a big fan of the staff/coaches there as well.

I have considerable experience wiht both. My daughter was in the Cheer program at Thunder Elite when it was part of Power Sports. Thunder ELite has smaller classes becasue not many peole take gymnastics there. Thunder Elite is geared more towards Cheerleading and tumbling rather than competitive gymnastics. Power Sports is geared more towards gymnastics in that they have actul competitive teams.I wouldn't say either one is purely focued on gymnastics but Power Sports is more so. I have never been to the Brazos Valley gymnastics that was mentioned about but I have heard very good things about them. I would defeinitely check them out as well.

[This message has been edited by Bearkat06 (edited 12/1/2009 5:17p).]

I will give my thumbs up for Powersports. My 6 yr old daughter goes there and loves it. Her coaches are great and the classes are a 4,5:1 ratio (not sure why the other poster said class sizes were too big). I love the rotation they do. And like I said, the coaches are wonderful. My daughter has Ms. Barb and loves her to death. Plus, the facilities are great and the price is awesome as well ($45 a month for once a week)

I've been to Brazos Valley Gymnastics. it's where A&M's cheerleading squad goes for tumbling classes/practice.

Thank you all for the info. It is really difficult to know how a gym actually operates by walking in for 10 minutes to "tour the facilities" - although I do plan to go in to check them out in person. All of your input is very helpful and greatly appreciated!

I've seen the ThunderElite cheer teams compete against my daughters cheer team and they look pretty good during competition. Their coaches seem really fun & positive. That is something I really want for my daughter.

My 5 year old son took the 5 year old classes for a few months at PowerSports. He really liked it at first, but then began complaining that all they did was sit. They did do a lot of sitting, especially compared to the older kids classes where all the kids were moving at the same time. In one 45 minute class, I counted that he had 6 turns. He was pretty good compared to some of the others in his class, so his turns were over pretty quickly.

I like the facility and the coaches and we LOVE the Friday night kids night out. We'll probably try again next year when they have an opening in a boy's class at a time that works for our family.

My son has been at Power Sports for over a yr.and we love it. I am amazed at how much they have the children do and unlike PP I don't think they sit much at all. I really like the instruction and the way the instructors interact with the kids. The facility is large and classes small and well managed.

I know nothing about Thunder Elite but I went to BV Gymnastics for a party and thought the facility paled greatly in comparison to Power Sports. In fact some of the equipment seemed a bit old and veering towards unsafe (just my opinion and I'm not a gymnast).

Firefly,
I'm curious. Is your kiddo in one of the preschoolers classes or the school-age kid classes?