Recruiting season is officially upon us, which means that college gymnastics fans start paying closer attention to club gyms and asking questions like, “Which clubs produce athletes that see the most lineup time?” and “Which club trains the most consistent competitors?” For this analysis, data from the 2023 season was used to track freshmen performance throughout the season. Only true freshmen were included—meaning no red shirt athletes—and the gymnasts’ most recent known club affiliation was used.
Last season’s freshmen class of 484 athletes came from 295 unique clubs. Of those 295 clubs, 186 sent one athlete to college, 60 sent two, 30 sent three, and 10 sent four. Apex, BIO, Bull City, Gold Medal, Legacy Elite, Stallone, and WOGA sent an impressive five athletes to college last season while Georgia Elite and World Champions Centre sent six athletes apiece.
Simply having athletes on a college team, however, isn’t enough to bolster a club’s profile. For a club to draw the attention of college coaches, the athletes they train not only have to make lineups, but they also have to compete well. To put this into perspective, of that original group of 295 clubs,165 clubs had one athlete compete at least one collegiate routine, 41 had two, and 20…
