When Amelia Knight arrived on campus at the University of Illinois as a freshman in 2020, she had no working cell phone, no debit card, and no bedding. Moving from the UK to the US in the midst of the pandemic meant she had to travel alone and quarantine for two weeks before meeting any of her teammates. It was a tough two weeks – but the community she found at Illinois made it all worth it. “Everyone was so welcoming and super helpful,” she said of the team’s support in that difficult transition period. Moving abroad to join a college gymnastics team presented a new challenge, but also an exciting opportunity.
Knight had watched a few of her club teammates from Bristol, England, make the leap to American college gymnastics. Ruby Harrold, Phoebe Turner, and Abi Solari are familiar names to an NCAA gymnastics fan, but for Amelia, they showed her a possible path for her gymnastics career that she never knew she could follow.
As soon as she realized college gymnastics could be an option for her, Knight got to work preparing for the process: she made a spreadsheet of schools to reach out to, set up Zoom calls with coaches, and traveled to America to attend camps at two different programs. She knew she wanted to be somewhere that had all four seasons, wasn’t located in a big city, and was close to a major airport so her family could visit. After a camp at Illinois, it became clear that that was where she would feel most at home.
The process of being recruited to a college gymnastics team isn’t always easy for an international athlete. There’s a limited amount of publicly available information on the process, and recruitment tends to happen primarily on American soil. Knight was lucky to be able to talk to her club teammates and hear about their experiences – Ondine Achampong, on the other hand, was the first gymnast from her club to ever join the NCAA when she committed to Cal in 2023. “It’s a daunting process,” Achampong said about the early days of her recruitment journey. “We just don’t have a lot of information about how to get over there.”
Achampong’s connection to Cal came through her club coach, who was approached by former Cal co-head coach Justin Howell at a training camp in Ohio. He was interested in recruiting Achampong, and she never considered any other programs.
The opportunity to attend camps in America was key to the recruiting process for both Knight and Achampong. But this is expensive, time-consuming, and inaccessible to many gymnasts in the UK. Danusia Francis is working to change that – after coming to UCLA from England in 2013, she has firsthand experience that she brings to her current role at College Sports America, where she helps international athletes participate in NCAA sports. “If families do not have the budget to send the recruit to camps or campus visits, then this can be a disadvantage,” she said. “In an ideal world, it would be great if college coaches could attend our British Championships, and if there was an event after where potential recruits and coaches could meet.” Similar events take place at some American competitions, where club coaches have the opportunity to network with college staff.
The standard of competition in college gymnastics is rising, and that’s also making it more difficult for British athletes to get noticed. “It is definitely harder now with the NIL rule as you have even more elite gymnasts attending college,” said Francis. “I usually work with gymnasts who are [at the] England squad level, which is probably equivalent to level 10 in the US, however these gymnasts aren’t getting the same exposure to the coaches as level 10s in the US.” While an American level 10 gymnast might have multiple opportunities to be seen at domestic meets by college coaches, it’s more difficult for a British athlete to get noticed if she hasn’t had the opportunity to compete on an international stage.
Once they do arrive in the States, there’s a lot for a British gymnast to adjust to. First, the training regimen: college gymnastics runs on a very different schedule than club or elite, where weekly competitions demand a different kind of pacing. “I was practicing nine hours [a day] at home, but it’s three hours here,” Achampong said. “Every single turn has to be done efficiently.” There’s academics to juggle too, and Achampong has to make time to rehab her knee injury. Fortunately, she isn’t doing it alone: between coaches, physios, and teammates, Achampong has found a strong support system that helped her through her first year at Cal.
After completing a bachelor’s degree and now working on her master’s, Knight has been able to see the differences between the British and American academic systems. In the UK, students specialize early, and there is little leeway to change your major once you arrive at university. It’s completely different in the States, where most schools encourage students to take a variety of classes before deciding on a major. Knight appreciated the opportunity to explore more subjects and get an idea of what she might like to focus on. “I think in England I probably wouldn’t have been quite as successful in terms of navigating what career I wanted to do down the road. I really like the kind of freedom that I could change that around and have the time to figure it out,” she said. It’s the flexibility in her choice of classes that led to her discovering an interest in business, and working towards a master’s degree in Business Management – an opportunity she likely would not have had in her home country, where she was more interested in science going into university.
Moving to another country at a young age is always going to be a big transition – academically, athletically, and socially. It’s an opportunity to grow up and become more mature, but it can be a lot of fun, too. Every day brings a chance to learn about another culture, whether it’s a new food, a differently pronounced word, or a whole different mindset. “I had so much fun competing, partying and living my best life! I gained confidence in myself as a person and a gymnast,” Francis said about her time at UCLA. “Being around people from so many walks of life was eye-opening, it made me appreciative of my own experiences and background.”
Knight agrees on the move abroad and its positive impact on her self-confidence. “I think I’ve just grown so much as a person,” she said. “I’ve become more myself and more content with who I am.”
Despite facing their own unique challenges, there is one thing these athletes agree on – the journey was worth it. For gymnasts in the UK considering college gymnastics, Achampong has advice: “Remember that you’ll be there for four years…is that the family you want to be a part of? Every school is different, every family is different.” She found a family at Cal, and with the right support, other international athletes can find their college gym families, too.
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Article by Sophie Poirier
