A while back I wrote about the fact that the UC Berkley Gymnastics program had been cut from the list of supported programs next year (UC Berkley loses gymnastics program). I am happy to report that the UC Berkley program has been reinstated; however, it appears that the Rhode Island Gymnastics program is now at risk. Take a couple of minutes, read the article and then sign the petition to keep it around (Rhode Island Gymnastics Petition). On a side note, I have coached gymnastics for over 20 years. Gymnasts as a group are driven, successful individuals that push themselves to succeed academically and in the sport of their choice. In spite of long workouts, most of my gymnasts were honor roll students who were a real asset to their schools. It is a shame to cut these performers and instead keep other programs where the athletes are not nearly as exceptional but bring more revenue to the school.
Also wanted to take a minute and just provide a brief update on Bridget Sloan’s college choice. For those of you that have been following this at all, she has decided to attend (verbally at least) the University of Florida this fall. We wish her the best of luck in the pursuit of her education.
Buy This Leo Now
Now for some gymnastics leotard discussion. I have written about Motionwear Leotards before and spoken about their versatility. So, naturally I was interested in several comments I recently came across while out reading through some threads at the Chalk Bucket (which is a gymnastics discussion board). As I have stated before, Motionwear has your standard assortment of blue leotards, red leotards, green and purple leotards and the rest of the spectrum as well. They also have very nice color combinations and designs like flame leotards and flower leotards.
What I did find interesting while sifting through the discussion on their leotards is that apparently the polka dot leotards and the foil leotards are very difficult to care for, so keep that in mind if you are considering purchasing one of those. The other item of interest is that their sizing runs a little different. My understanding is that the Motionwear Leotards typically fit a little loose (depending on the shape of the gymnast). By and large, most of the readers liked the tight fit of GK leotards better, but still felt that the Motiowear leotards were a good buy. By and large, most folks were also very pleased with the durability of the products.
Next article, I am going to write a product review about a brand new line I stumbled across call Eel Skin Leotards (like the animal I believe). Should be fun…see you next time.
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I’ve been writing this blog for a little over two years, and during that time I’ve written multiple articles about a whole host of different gymnastics leotards vendors. Those of you that have read my “About Me” page know that I have over 20 years experience as a competitive coach in the sport of gymnastics. Furthermore, I have several children who participate in the sport… so it stands to reason that outfitting children for gymnastics is something I know about. I thought I would take some time on this post to kind of go back and summarize the various leotard manufacturers that I’ve written about — there are a bunch of them. If you are new to the site this post will provide you a broad overview of some of the topics I’ve covered over the past two years and give you a decent starting point for your research regarding which gymnastics leotard is best for your young superstar.
I anticipate this post will be rather long so for the purposes of organization I decided to break it into three basic categories: personal favorites, established vendors, and new sites. In the personal favorites section I will spend time talking about the gymnastics leotards manufacturers that I’m partial towards. There are multiple reasons for my partiality towards the specific brands, and I will spell them out as I’m discussing these different gymnastics leotards. In the established vendor site I will focus on those girls gymnastics leotards makers that have been around for a while and have an established reputation. Most of these vendors I’ve only used infrequently, but their good standing in the gymnastics community certainly warrants a discussion of their products on this site. Finally, the new sites section will spend some time reviewing several of the new gymnastics leotards manufacturers that I have come across (primarily by surfing on the Internet and reviewing the ads in the latest copies of USA Gymnastics magazine). While most of these sites are still proving themselves in the gymnastics community I feel it’s only fair to give them a mention on this blog and provide you, the consumer, with an opportunity to try their products. Hopefully if you try their products and have something to report you’ll come back here and share your experiences with us. So now…onto the review.
Personal Favorites….GK Leotards and Danskin Leotards
If you spend any time at all looking at the pages of this blog you’ll notice that I write a lot about GK leotards and Danskin leotards. It should come as no surprise that these are two of my preferred brands. I don’t work for either of the companies, they don’t advertise on the site, and I don’t get a kickback for saying that. As a competitive gymnastics coach I have worked with young ladies for 20 years and seen my share of leotards that last and leotards that wear out quickly. Personal experience has taught me the GK leotards and Danskin leotards seem to perform and last considerably longer than some of the other brands. That’s just from my personal experience. As I have said in the pages of this blog, if you want a GK leotard or Danskin leotard, and intend to buy it new… you’re going to pay for it. They are not inexpensive leotards, but if you look at it like any other investment amortizing its depreciation over the usable life of the product, in the end you will certainly realize your return on this investment.
Established Vendors
The next group of gymnastics leotards manufacturers/vendors I wanted to talk about are those companies that have been in the gymnastics community for quite some time and that have a good reputation for producing high-quality products. Brands such as MotionWear, Addidas, and Alpha Factor (Aerials) have established themselves in the gymnastics leotard niche, and I believe they will continue to be major players for quite some time. The reason for their success, again as with my personal favorites, is that they continue to make high-quality products. While I have had many girls throughout my gymnastics career that have used these types of leotards, I personally don’t have any first-hand experience with them. These companies are widely known for having a widely varied product selection, with some type of leo to fit almost any gymnast’s taste. Additionally, in regards to Adidas, if I remember correctly, they produced the ladies leotards for the 2008 USA women’s gymnastics team. Again, if you’re looking to purchase one of these leotards new you can expect to pay a higher price, but you can have a high degree of confidence that the quality of these products will not disappoint you.
Newer sites
One of the other topics I’m fond of writing about in this blog is new and upcoming girls gymnastics leotards distributors/manufacturers. I am a huge value guy and I like to get the most bang for my buck, so should come as no surprise that I take great joy in finding a new gymnastics leotard maker that is producing high-quality leotards with super reasonable prices. I simply love writing about these types of vendors. Over the past two years as I’ve been writing this blog I have come across several of these: – Jillybeans Leotards, Satara Leotards, Snow Leotards, Leotard City, and Rebecca’s Mom’s Leotards. Now I use the phrase newer when describing these sites not necessarily because these are sites that have cropped up within the last six months… that is not the case. However, these companies are not as established as some of the industry leaders that I mentioned previously. I have purchased leotards from several of these newer leotard companies, and to date I have been very happy with the merchandise I received. As a matter of fact, some of these companies even send complimentary scrunchies along the leotard you order. Customer service-I love it.
The nine or so companies that are profiled in this post are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gymnastics leotards manufacturers. There are many different leotard vendors out there, and I think most of them are selling decent products. I would encourage you to try and purchase from vendors that you’re familiar with or that friends of yours have used, but if you absolutely have to purchase from a brand-new source make sure your initial purchase is modest in size so that you have an opportunity to evaluate the quality of not only the product, but of the customer service the vendor will provide as well.
Now get out there and stick it!