Boarding school recommendations for gymnastics mad girl

[AGP1]

Hello,
I am looking some boarding school recommendations for my daughter who loves gymnastics and currently trains 5 x per week after school. She is not particularly academic, she is about average and currently has learning support. We are already talking to Wrekin College, who support gymnastics, but I was wondering if there are any other schools I should be looking at.
Many thanks,
AGP

Mill Hill's the obvious sporty option, but I wonder if some of the girls boarding schools might have good gymnastics offerings. Downe House says they have a competitive gymnastics team which makes me wonder about St Mary's Ascot, St Mary's Calne, Benenden, Badminton etc.

Do you want her to board, but still be able to leave school 5 days a week to keep going to her current club? Or actually do gymnastics at her boarding school.

The day options known for gymnastics are places like Surbiton and LEH but no boarding. (There may be others, those are just the ones I happen to know of from a friend with a gymnast daughter and they were looking at SHS, LEH and I think maybe Putney High as well, but that may be geography and there are others that are better.)

Thank you for your message...

Most schools don't offer the level of gymnastics she's at, so it will probably need to be a local club, and the school facilitates her training.

We require full boarding as we live abroad. I will look into the options you mentioned.

Thanks again..

I believe Marymount International had a higher-level gymnast recently, but I don't know if she boarded. But it's one to look into - near Tolworth Gym Club among others and a small school that would likely be willing to accomodate an off-campus activity in a schedule.

This is a time where working with a consultant might be a great idea, especially since you're international.

What are you picturing, the school transporting her individually to and from and external gymnastics club most days of the week? I'm not convinced any of the traditional boarding schools would do that.

My friend has a son at boarding school and the school facilitates him getting to a local rugby club, so it can be done

I think the PP means Millfield not Mill Hill. Depending on how old your dd is Port Regis has a gymnastics programme .

Yeah, I wouldn't expect that either. My guess would be that OP will either need to find a local guardian who is willing to do this transportation as part of their services (a guardian will be needed regardless as an international boarder), find a school close to a suitable gym with public transport options, or make other private arrangements with taxis. The school would need to be ok with the transportation plan.

Millfield doesn't offer gymnastics at the level (its the only sport they don't offer). I'd be happy to arrange the transportation there and back.

@AGP1 , I think you need to focus more on gymnastics in the U.K. for your daughter's age group and finding a club that would support her level. At the same time find a boarding school that would suit her academically and then see where the cross over is

I'm not sure I would send a child away abroad to train in gymnastics at a high level. I'd want to keep my eye on the impact of any injuries and the child's relationships with coaches- whether there was any pressure to under-eat etc.

It's difficult providing a child with enough emotional support when they are just away at boarding school, never mind adding a pressure-cooker sport like gym on top.

OP- our DD is likely going to Downe House this year. She is on elite track at kd gymnastics https://www.kdgymnastics.co.uk/classes/artistic-squads

Some of the downe house girls coach at KD Gymnastics. The club is fully equipped and focussed on the elites- they've had some success internationally recently too.

We do know DD isn't good enough to represent country and i suspect she'll drop back to 4-8 hours per week once she starts senior school.

p.s. should have added a coach travels from DH to KD twice a week already- doing extra sessions probably isn't that hard- its only 10mins by car.

I'd have to agree with this. Although British Gymnastics is finally making policies regarding gymnast well-being/ weight etc it's still so early in the transition and I wouldn't let my child do elite gymnastics from afar.

There are athletes in their early 20s like Amy Tinkler and Ellie Downie who talk about the huge impact the coaches had on their mental health and the abuse they suffered. It's just not worth the risk (and that's ignoring teenagers age 18/19 needing surgery due to over training).