Okay so this question isn't really for me but for my friend. She does gymnastics and I do ballet. (We're in high school.)

So basically she's VERY talented, and she's thinking of joining the Olympics during the future. She trains very hard each day 3 hrs minimum 5 hrs maximum. She stretches, strengthens and practices.

Her questions are:

1. What is the process of getting private tutors so she can continue her education and get a high school diploma? (While doing gymnastics?) How much will the tutors cost? How and where can she get private tutors?

2. Where can she get sponsors and where to find them? We have a limited amount of money in our budget, (for competitions and gymnastics classes) so we're thinking of asking gymnast clothes companys for scholarships. Is this a good idea? What would you recommend for money?

3. What's the estimate of money for joining competitions?

4. Any other tips for gymnastics?

thx!

Becoming an Olympic gymnast is no easy feat. Those girls can train anywhere up to 40+ hours a week/ 6 days a week, and it's not cheap (think at least in the thousands).

Joining a gym (if you already aren't with one) is the first step. In order to be even considered being on the Olympic team, you have to make the national team. Before that, you need to be competing at elite levels. And even before that, you have to prove that you have what it takes and the potential to do more.

Most gymnasts are on some sort of homeschooling/distant education program so they can continue to get their high school diploma. In some cases, they attend a public school for half a day, taking the academic classes only.

Its not a simple thing to answer. becoming an Olympic gymnast is an incredible feat. It will require outstanding talents, combined with incredible drive, combined with the top coaches in the country, combined with an incredibly dedicated family.

Most gymnasts home school in order to still get their diploma. Private tutors are expensive but so is training and competing at the elite level. Most will either home school or do online school.

Sponsers are difficult to get unless she has already won a major competition like national championships. You would be better off to find a supportive family member to help out with training costs.

You havent said how old she is but if she is in High school and only training 3-5 hours a day its not likely she will make the olympics. Elite level gymnasts generally train 6-7 hours a day 6 days a week.

Not many coaches or gyms are capable of taking a kid to olympic level. So most need to move to another state to train with a coach of this caliber.

I'm assuming you are American, this is how it works in the USA:

In order to make the Olympic Team, your friend must succesfully go through levels 1-10. Levels 1-4 usually take a year all together and on top of that it's often about a year a level. Competitions start at level 4 and are on the state level. All of these competitions and training will have to be self funded. It can cost a ton. At least a few thousand dollars a year for training, competiion fees, hotels, uniforms etc.

Once she reaches level 10, her coach should contact National Team Coordinator Martha Karolyi and probably send a video to her as well. If Martha is impressed with the video and your friends accomplished she will be invited to the ranch to a monthly camp like work out. Upon increased impression with Martha she will be invited to compete in various American cup and sometimes international competitions. If your friend competes successfully at these competitions she would then be invited to compete at the Visa National Championships in the summer. Depending on her performance at this competition she could be invited to be on the National Team.

As a member of the National Team, your friend would be required to attend monthly camps at the Karolyi ranch in Texas. Based on her performance at these camps which include work outs and in house competitions, she will get assignments to international competitions. In order to keep her spot on the National Team she will have to attend all of the camps, at least one American cup competition and the Visa championships every year. She will be reinvited to the team each year depending on how successful is.

Now for the Olympics:

At the Visa Championships in the Olympic year (as she is in high school it will be 2012), your friend will have to compete extremely successfully in order to be invited to the Olympic Trials. Now this process changes often so I will tell you how it worked in 2008. At the trials, the top two all around gymnasts will automatically make the team, barring any injury that happens prior to the games. 12 more gymnasts will be invited to an Olympic Selection Camp at the ranch. These gymnasts will be all around gymnasts as well as even specialists (gymnasts who do not compete all 4 events but concentrate and are extremely successful on particular events). At the end of the selection THREE additional gymnasts will be chosen for the team (yes 3, the 2012 Olympics will only have five gymnasts per team). In addition up to three alternates will be chosen in the event a member of the team is injured.

So thats how the Olympic team is narrowed down to just five members. Chances of making the team are very slim. As others have said, it doesn't take just natural talent, but awesome coaches who are willing to go through the process with you, mental toughness, strength, flexibility, injury avoidance, the right training equipment, and in all honesty, alot of money. Shawn Johnson's parents took out multiple mortgages on their house to pay for gymnastics.

Now this process that I just told you about, often starts as early as age 10. There is a junior national team and a senior national team. The senior national team starts at age 15/16 depending on the birthday of the gymnast. Most members of the senior national team were on the junior national team first. Members of the junior national team can't compete in the Olympics or World Championships. However, there are junior divisions at American cup competitions and many international competitions invite teams that are mixed of junior and senior members. So by the time they make the senior national team, most gymnasts have already a lot of elite competition experience. There are exceptions, but they are very rare.

The reason I am telling you this, is because if your friend has not already reached at least level 10 and is older then 14 her chances of ever making the national team much less the Olympic team are very slim. The Olympic team is generally made of girls from age 16-20. It is very rare for gymnasts to continue at this level as they get older, the body just doesn't hold up.

However, she can still have a very succesfull gymnastics career without being an Olympian. She could obtain a gymnastics scholarship for college. This could be worth a lot of money, and worth even more, an education. If by chance your friend does make it through the process I described above, she could potentially make the national team and compete and do well at other international and domestic competitions that happen on a yearly basis as opposed to once every four years. She shouldn't just do gymnastics with the Olympics in mind. It's a long, tough road, and in the end only five girls make it. Desire and dedication isn't enough. Sometimes sucky things happen. In 2007, Shayla Worley was on the gold medal World Champion team. She made it all the way through the Olympic Trials process to the selection camp, where she broke her leg. She is not an Olympian but she had a very successful elite career and is now on a college team. (UGA).

Sponsors won't come until she has success. People want to buy leotards worn by Nastia Luikin, not random girl who wants to go the Olympics some day. I know it really does stink. She either will have to find a coach who will work with her for free/discounted in the hopes that her success will bring business to the gym. Once she makes the national team and receives assignments, I believe all traveling is paid for by USA Gymnastics, for the gymnast only and maybe the coach, not the parents.

I think I've answered all your questions. If you have any more questions feel free to pm me. I am a fromer competitive gymnast, and while I never made it near the elite level I do follow gymnastics closely and know a lot about the process.

I just thought I'd add a couple of links to websites that might be enlightening to you and your friend about gymnastics and the lives of elite level gymnasts

Insidegymnstics.com

usa-gymnastics.org

internationalgymnast.com

You can also follow many elite and national team gymnasts on twitter which is very interesting to read. These gymnasts include
Brdiget Sloan
Ivana Hong
Kayla Williams
Nastia Luikin
Samantha Pezyck
Shayla Worley
Shawn Johnson
Chelsea Davis
Chellsie Memmel
Corrie Wothrob
as well as former gymnats such as Carly Patterson, Shannon Miller, Dominque Moceanu, Nadia Comenici, Kim Zmeskal etc.