European Club Leagues

[MaryClare]

I know very little about them but I’m keen to know more and it came up elsewhere.

Would someone be so kind as to explain what these leagues are? I've heard of a league in Spain as well. I heard them mentioned once in a while. Are there other places that have these leagues?

All I am aware is that several countries have them, but the top 2 in terms of quality are Germany and Italy. With Germany’s league operating September to December and Italy March to May. I guess you could say it sort of works similar to ncaa, dual and tri meets on a weekly basis.

Italy have attracted some big names from a wide range of countries this year. However there is a maximum on how many overseas athletes each club can field. I dont know if there’s a financial incentive to the participants but Listunova’s participation a couple of years ago coincided with the national team being kitted out with top end Italian leather hand guards

 

[Aizheng]

Germany’s system works like this:
Most towns/cities above a specific size have a municipal sports club. Like in football, there’s different leagues (usually, first, second and third +regional leagues). At the end of each season, the bottom team from first league drops down to second league, while the top team from second league move up to first league.

there are currently 8 teams in each league.

Each team does 10/4/4 (for first league, so 10 team members, 4 people on each apparatus, 4 scores count).

If I understand the rules correctly, during the normal season, most meets use the usual scoring format, and people win based on the total numbers, but in finals, it seems to be based on head-to-heads, so you would nominate someone to go against a specific gymnast on a specific apparatus.

I think most gymnasts taking part in Bundesliga matches are not professional/full-time.