Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy — Local services in Norman

This review is just for their birthday party experience, we have never attended for classes

First, I want to talk about communication. The website says you receive birthday party invitations with directions and a waiver on the back. No you don’t, and good luck calling reception for any info. You will sign waivers as soon as you arrive. On the rare occasion they actually answer the phone, if you have a party question, you will be transferred to a separate answering machine for someone else and hope you get a call back. We were told someone will call us the week before the party for a head count. No they won’t, they ask you when you arrive and keep diligent tabs on the number who attend.

The kids seemed to enjoy the first hour with the instructor in the gym and I don’t have any complaints about that.

If you’re not the first party of the day, there will be a compilation of presents in the lobby for the previous birthday child, you will have to make sure your guests do not put your kid’s gifts in this pile (this literally happened to the party previous to ours today, one of their guests accidentally placed their gift in the pile for the wrong kid so was opened by wrong kid and the intended recipient didn’t receive it). This is a very easy mistake since that’s the first thing you see as you enter the lobby, I had to inform each guest to not place my daughter’s gift in that pile and to place in the kitchen or I would take it there myself for them. The receptionist does tell you when you walk in to put your stuff in the kitchen, however due to the busyness and noise, it is easy to not hear that direction and sometimes children like to carry the present in and will set it in the nearest gift pile. Make sure this doesn’t happen!

After exactly one hour in the gym, the kids are ushered to the party room. Make sure you round up your guests who are waiting in the lobby or they may miss out. Ok here’s where my butt is really chapped: YOU ONLY GET 15 MINUTES IN THE PARTY ROOM. Your time begins as soon as they begin trickling in the room. How do you get 13 kids and their adults seated, to sing the birthday song, cut cake, eat food and cake, drink drinks in that narrow of a time frame? By being rushed as soon as you are in and rushed back out the door.

Literally as soon as the first butt hit the first chair, we were badgered to begin the birthday song. The kids were still amped up from having fun in the gym, it took a few shouts to get everyone’s attention so we could sing. We didn’t know we only have 15 minutes for everything as the website says “and the last half hour will be in the party room and lobby for refreshments and gift opening.” (This is a direct copy/paste). This is very vague and needs...

My son was a member for about six years. While there were some highlights—he was in pretty good shape physically and the first few meets helped build confidence—overall, it was a dreadful experience.

Dues are extreme, which is to be expected in any sport, but the kids are treated like cattle. Leadership doesn’t care for the individual. Only the bottom line. Even the head guy is breathtakingly rude, somehow forgetting that you’re paying him and not the other way around.

If $200+/month in dues isn’t enough, you are constantly in a cycle of fundraising for them. Fail to meet their absurdly high goals, and they’ll make you pay out of pocket. On top of that, they require you work the meets as “volunteers”, and even make you pay for the shirt.

The facilities are dreadfully outdated and constantly filthy. You’d swear they just moved out. And good luck getting the attention of the person at the counter.

They constantly operate far above what should be legal capacity for the gym, with a veritable herd of parents crammed into the lobby during pick-up times. Fire hazard anyone?

The few good coaches they had fled, leaving inexperienced kids in their late teens and early twenties to “herd cats.” As such, bullying is rampant among the kids, so much so our son would come home in tears.

Do yourself a favor and drive a little further to Edmond or Bounce, where there’s smaller groups with coaches who won’t treat your children like they’re a burden and you’ll see your kids actually win medals.

One final note: I wrote this a year after my son quit. The more I think about the experience the...

My daughter has attended Bart Conner Gymnastics since she was a toddler ( starting with the Mommy and Me group). The coaches and training here have been a great benefit to her maturing, learning to accept guidance, and learning to cope with difficulty. There have been hard days, weeks, and even months, but those were not caused by the academy. Those difficulties are part of the growth and learning process. I don't know where gymnastics may take my daughter in the future, but I know it has brought her a long way already. If your child and you are considering training in gymnastics, I support the effort and endorse Bart Conner, but be braced for the inevitable days when it is really tough. Frustration, tears, and anger are all to be expected in the process of becoming a great adult, and gymnastics is not...