Serious gymnastics training in Chennai centres on one hall: the gymnastics hall at the SDAT Aquatic Complex (AGB) in Velachery. The state’s 2024-25 sports policy note says the hall has been upgraded and renovated for international events, and SDAT’s gymnastics Centre of Excellence for boys and girls is based there. Velachery also hosted the state Junior and Sub-Junior Artistic Gymnastics Championship on 25 and 26 November 2023.
Gymnastics rewards an early start and punishes a late one, so parents often ask the same questions: which type of gymnastics, how young, and how does a child get from a weekend class to a state meet. This guide answers those using the rules of the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) and the state’s own programmes.
Artistic, rhythmic and the rest
GFI governs several separate sports under one name. Its national championship circular for 2024-25 covers men’s artistic, women’s artistic, rhythmic, trampoline and tumbling, and acrobatic gymnastics, and each gymnast may compete in only one discipline.
- Artistic gymnastics is the Olympic apparatus sport. Women compete on vault, uneven bars, beam and floor; men on six pieces including rings and pommel horse. It needs a fully equipped hall with sprung floors and pits, which is why Velachery matters.
- Rhythmic gymnastics is for women at national level and is performed to music with a hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon or rope. It needs flexibility and dance training more than heavy apparatus, and many school-based classes in Chennai start here.
- Trampoline, tumbling and acrobatic events have their own age groups and are less widely coached in the city.
What age to start
GFI’s age bands show how young the sport runs. At the 2024-25 all-age national championships in Surat, the circular set these birth years:
| Discipline | Sub-Junior | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s artistic | 2010 to 2011 | 2006 to 2009 | 2006 or earlier |
| Women’s artistic | 2011 to 2013 | 2009 to 2010 | 2008 or earlier |
| Rhythmic | 2011 to 2013 | 2009 to 2010 | 2008 or earlier |
Men’s artistic also had an Under-12 group for gymnasts born in 2012 and 2013. In other words, girls were competing nationally at 11, which means years of training before that. State meets go younger still: a nine-year-old boy who won his category at a state championship in 2023 had already been named best upcoming gymnast at an inter-school meet a year earlier, DT Next reported. Most coaches take beginners in the early primary years; ask at the class what the youngest batch is. Talk to your child’s doctor first if there is any heart, joint or spine condition.
From class to competition
- Start in a class. School gymnastics clubs and private academies run beginner batches built around flexibility, strength and basic rolls.
- District and state meets. The Tamil Nadu Gymnastics Association, GFI’s state unit, runs state championships through district associations. GFI lists it as registration No. 29 of 1984, with C. Muthu as president and P. Selvaraj as secretary, and the email tngasecretary@gmail.com.
- Get a GFI licence. National entries go through the state unit, and each gymnast must be registered on the GFI website with a licence. The Surat circular set the licence fee at ₹1,000 per gymnast, renewed every two years, or ₹200 for gymnasts from below-poverty-line families. A self-attested Aadhaar card was compulsory.
- Nationals. The same circular charged a registration fee of ₹4,500 per gymnast, covering board and lodging, and required a female coach to travel with every women’s team.
The CM Trophy 2026 portal also lists gymnastics among its sports, giving school and college gymnasts another state-level platform.
State support beyond Chennai
SDAT’s Centre of Excellence trainees at Velachery get ₹250 a day for food for 320 days, ₹10,000 a year for kit and ₹10,000 for equipment, the policy note says; entry is by selection trials. The state’s other gymnastics base is at Karattupalayam in Erode district, where the government sanctioned ₹1 crore in August 2023 for a sports hostel and a new gymnastics stadium. Check the latest GFI calendar on its website, as the 2026 national dates were not posted when we checked.
Quick answers
Where can my child train gymnastics seriously in Chennai?
SDAT’s gymnastics hall and Centre of Excellence at the AGB Aquatic Complex, Velachery; entry to the Centre is by trials.
What is the difference between artistic and rhythmic gymnastics?
Artistic uses apparatus such as vault, bars and beam; rhythmic is performed to music with hand apparatus like the hoop and ribbon.
Does a gymnast need a GFI licence?
Yes, for national events. The 2024-25 circular set it at ₹1,000 for two years, or ₹200 for BPL families.
Who runs gymnastics in Tamil Nadu?
The Tamil Nadu Gymnastics Association, affiliated to the Gymnastics Federation of India.
Information checked against official sources on 23 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- Policy Note 2024-25, Youth Welfare and Sports Development Department (Government of Tamil Nadu)
- Affiliated units (Gymnastics Federation of India)
- All Age Group All Discipline National Championships 2024-25 circular (Gymnastics Federation of India)
- Gymnastics Federation of India (official site)
- CM Trophy 2026 official portal (SDAT)
- Congenital heart disease no excuse for this State gymnastics champ (DT Next)
