Golden Bears Gymnastics
Welcome to Golden Bears Gymnastics! Whether your child is 18 months or 18 years, we have a program for you. Gymnastics is a great way to build physical strength and confidence.
Classes and activities offered include:
- Competitive Team - Junior Olympic and Xcel Programs
- Zoom Classes - for children of all ages and skill levels
- Gymnastics Classes - for children of all ages and skill levels
- Parents Night Out & Cub Camp - Tumbling for the kids and a break for the parents! Great single-day activities for kids to enjoy.
- Summer Camps - play games, make new friends and get stronger in your gymnastics skills.
- Birthday Parties - when open.
- Private Lessons - private lessons offer one-on-one instruction with your coach- also offered over Zoom.
Parent Q&A
Parent Reviews
Parents, please Sign in to post a review on this page.We do gymnastics through Golden Bear Youth at Cal and it’s great. It doesn’t tire out my 3.5 year old but it’s fun. We have a Sat AM morning class and after we go to a free art class at the West Berkeley Library branch on University, which is drop in 11-12:30pm. It takes care of the morning!
I'm the parent of two Golden Bear competitive team gymnasts who have been nurtured over the years by supportive coaches. My older daughter started out 9 years ago in the recreational classes, and has been on the Development Program (formerly called JO) team the past 6 years. My younger one started shortly after, and is also with her big sister on the DP team. We have so appreciated the encouraging and caring coaches, and tailoring of practice sessions for the gymnasts’ particular needs and skill sets. During the pandemic, the gym was a lifesaver and gave them a sense of normalcy (there was an immediate switch to online conditioning before the gym carefully transitioned to reopening in-person) when everything in the world was turned upside down. Our girls have learned to persevere, work hard, and have fun with their teammates. Come check it out and go Bears!
UC Berkeley has a really fun gymnastics class that our 3 year old does. They offer multiple classes a week. https://recsports.berkeley.edu/youth-programs/year-round-programs/gymna…
I love UC Berkeley gymnastics classes which are for 14 months and up. They tend to fill up quickly, but you can get on a waitlist and spots do open up.
https://recsports.berkeley.edu/youth-programs/year-round-programs/gymna…
We've been really happy with the UC Berkeley gymnastics classes. Everyone over 2 masks and class size is small. My 3 yr old daughter loves her coach and has a lot of fun. It took us a few months on the waitlist to get a spot but it's worth it.
Hello,
Golden Bears gymnastics in Berkeley is a good option. They are part of UC Berkeley. They currently have Zoom classes available for all and summer camps will be open to everyone. All of the gymnastics camps are 100% full but you can get on the waitlist by going through the registration process. They also have in-person offerings currently available for dependents of UC Berkeley faculty, staff and students. You can email gbgym [at] berkeley.edu for more info. Other local options are Head Over Heels in Emeryville.
My 2yo is loving gymnastics at Head Over Heels in Emeryville. There is also a drop-in open gymnastics play at Cal Bears in Berkeley that we have done once that was fun.
My 4 yo son loves the Golden Bear gymnastics classes through CalRec.
My daughter was on a compulsory team at Golden Bears, and it ended up being too demanding timewise for her and she chose to switch to the Xcel program. If you are not familiar with it, Xcel is a competitive program, but much less demanding and more relaxed than the Junior Olympic compulsory levels. They still compete, but the system is more flexible in terms of what skills you learn when, and the practice time every week is a third of her former team. She is loving it and having a great time- it's a perfect medium for kids who are serious about gymnastics but don't want it to take over their whole lives. Both Head Over Heels and Golden Bears offer Xcel teams. We've been very happy with the program at Golden Bears.
I was in the same boat as you. Music Together on Saturday mornings is great, excellent for a 7 month old. The downtown Berkeley public library often has Saturday a.m. readings and other activities. As your child becomes a toddler, gymnastics at Golden Bear Re on the Cal campus. Have fun!
Our daughter attends UC Berkeley's Gymnastic program Saturday morning. Perhaps you should swing by and take a look. To attend the program, I think you are required to be 18 months. Our daughter absolutely loves it. Outside of gymnastics, we do a lot of family events and look for places where she can explore stepping up and down and exploring spaces/places. I think most of the things that are available start at 3 years of age. We go to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito and Lawrence Hall of Science on a frequent basis -- but they are both remodeling this month. Hope this helps.
Archived Q&A and Reviews
April 2009
Re: Gymnastics for 4-year-old
I am not sure where you live, but Kids In Motion in Oakland on Piedmont is terrific. What is nice about that facility for beginners is that there is a seating area right in the gym for parents to watch the classes. And Golden Bear Gymnastics has good classes as well. A bigger facility and ultimately, a competetive program for older children. I would encourage you to try one of these over a community center program, as there is more equiptment available to the children in the classes. Trampoline, bars, ropes that may not be offered in a communtiy center room where mats, etc. are brought in by the gym teacher. Mom of a gymnast
March 2007
Re: Gymnastics camp for 6 year old novice
Also Golden Bears Gymnastics offers summer camp. Their schedule is already out on their web site. (http://calbears.berkeley.edu/ -- click on Youth Programs). anonymous
Jan 2007
Re: Gymnastics for toddler in Piedmont or Rockridge
My daughter attended Kids in Motion Gymnastics classes and camp programs from age 3 until she grew out of Kids in Motion and joined the Golden Bears Gymnastics team located on UC Berkeley campus. While I loved Kids in Motion for many reasons, if your child really loves gymnastics and wants to compete you will need to move them to Head over Heels in Emeryville or Golden Bears in Berkeley. If they truly want to compete the sooner you move them to a team the better off they will be. Kids in Motion is a non- competitive gym and is a great, safe, place for your toddler to have fun and learn the basic moves for gymnastics. But if they stay there too long they will not get the skills to compete at the higher levels -- at least that is what we found. Mom of a jumping bean
Sept 2004
I'd be interested to hear anyone's experiences (good or bad) with Golden Bear Gymnastics classes, specifically beginning boys for an 8-year old. We're not looking for anything too intense, just good fun. Thanks. joan
My son who is now five has done Golden Bear for over a year now. He loves it. He tends to get tired of things -- particularly physical activity -- but he's consistently enjoyed this class and asked for more. It is definitely ''fun'' and not hardcore. Fran
1999
We started our daughter, who is now 4, at Golden Bear Gymnastics earlier this year when she was 3 1/2 and she loves going. I believe there are classes for 18 month olds with parent participation.
There are six children per class, and during the week classes are not always full. The instructors are very nice, yet can keep the children focused on the activity. Classes are 45 minutes long and are conducted at various times and days. Golden Bear Gymnastics is up at the Dwight Derby complex at the top of Dwight Way and they can be called for schedules and enrollment forms. Sessions are eight weeks long and continuous during the school year. Denise
We did the Cal Golden Bear program for our son for one session and it wasn't a good fit for him... He started late (for them) at almost five, and all the little boys around his age were in a more advanced program, sort of pre-competition. His class was full of very little girls (around 3-4) all of whom were better at the class than he was. I found the space very loud, so a more introverted child might find it somewhat disconcerting.
Alison
My kids did this camp for several years and loved it. The gymnastics is not too intense and totally fine for a complete beginner. In the younger groups many kids are beginners with no experience. Maybe 9 years old and up I would hesitate to send a kid with zero experience just because so many other kids have experience and they might feel uncomfortable, even though the program for older kids is also not challenging at all. My kids loved the counselors and camp and are sad they are too old! The only drawback is it could be very hot, but they are in a different building this summer so not sure what it will be like in there!
Over the last decade, I've had both of my kids in this summer camp. My youngest one is 11, so my most recent experience is mainly for that age group. But, my daughters classes and camps often share the space with those for younger children. The classes are not super intense. They have appropriate supervision at all times. As with any program and everything in life, there are no absolute guarantees that nothing bad will happen to your child, but it is as good as it gets.
Children are all different, so some get tired faster than others, and the abilities differ within the age group. Say, my daughter is 11, but there are 6-year-olds who mastered skills she isn't even close to doing.
I assume your child has some experience with gymnastics, likely with the Berkeley Youth Gymnastics program. If so, the level of the class your child was in would be very similar to what they would do in the camp. Kids get a lot of breaks, and they also have other activities like drawing, games and dancing in addition to gymnastics. It is still focused on gymnastics, so your kid will get tired. I mean, even doing a handstand a bunch of times would get anyone tired, but if they like gymnastics in general they'll be fine.
I say, try it out. It's not a super long camp,
Have fun!
If you're talking about the 1-2 week Cal camp, "intense" is not a word I would use to describe the 5yo summer program. I've had two kids go through it at 5yo. They're really just learning to move their bodies and maybe keep to time a bit with choreography at the week's show. I didn't even think to be concerned about anything they were doing, and anytime I saw a more experienced kid do something slightly more complicated during the show, there was a spotter. I think they're pretty safety conscious.
Hello! My daughter is in the year round gymnastics program now, but she did the spring break camp when she was a young 5 year old with little experience. They break the kids up into different groups and a lot of the stuff for young kids is somersault, learning to walk on a very low beam, jumping on/off soft blocks, stretches and games. My daughter really liked it. They usually have quite a few instructors so I don't believe you'll need to worry about supervision. I think the summer camp is at a different facility than normal classes this year due to some renovations.