Gail O’Brien is one of the most important figures the European hoop community has. From a village near Belfast in Northern Ireland, she has spent nearly two decades building, teaching, performing, and quietly making sure that hoopers across the UK and Europe have access to the materials and knowledge they need. She is the founder and sole force behind HoopSpin — hoop maker, teacher, colour selector, social media manager, head hoop geek, and everything in between.

She is also a two-time award-winning instructor, a trained physiotherapist whose movement science background sets her teaching apart, and the official Hoopologie distribution partner for the UK and EU — meaning that the Hoopologie tubing reaching hoopmakers and teachers across Europe arrives through Gail’s hands.

Gail’s hoop story begins about as far from Belfast as it is possible to get. A friend introduced her to hooping in Bolivia — and by her own account, she was terrible at it. The shoulder hoop eluded her for three full years.

“I started hooping for fun after being introduced to it by a friend in Bolivia. I was terrible and couldn’t shoulder hoop standing still for about 3 years!”

That admission is worth sitting with for a moment. One of Europe’s most respected hoop teachers and award-winning instructors couldn’t shoulder hoop for three years. She kept going anyway. The stubbornness that it takes to persist through that — to find enough joy in the process itself to stay despite the difficulty — is exactly what defines her approach to teaching. She knows from the inside what it is to struggle, to be a beginner for a long time, and to break through.

When she returned to Northern Ireland, the hoop came with her. What began as a personal practice became classes, then a business, then a two-decade community-building mission that now stretches across the entire European continent.

Hoopologie is proud to be officially partnered with HoopSpin as our UK and EU distribution partner for Hoopologie coloured polypro tubing. When a hoopmaker in France, a teacher in Germany, or a flow artist in Portugal orders Hoopologie tubing without the cost and delay of transatlantic shipping, that is Gail making it happen.

The partnership is a natural one: two businesses built by people who genuinely love the craft, committed to giving hoopers everywhere access to the best materials available. Gail stocks the full Hoopologie polypro colour range — the same tubing that powers hoops from Boulder to Belfast — and ships it to EU and UK customers quickly, affordably, and with the personal hoop advice that is the HoopSpin hallmark.

“Hoopologie is proud to be partnered with HoopSpin in the UK for our colored polypro tubing. HoopSpin is home of quality hula hoops, world class hoop instruction and stunning hoop performances.”
— Hoopologie

If you are in the UK or EU and building your own hoops with Hoopologie tubing, Gail is your closest, fastest, and most knowledgeable source.

Ships to across Europe

What sets Gail apart as a teacher isn’t just longevity — it’s the lens she brings. Her background in physiotherapy means she understands how bodies move, where movement patterns break down, and how to communicate correction in a way that actually lands. She trained at Greentop Circus School and Belfast Circus School, and has continued her education with top-level professional teachers from around the world throughout her career.

She has taught workshops internationally and performed at some of the most prestigious events in the European flow and circus calendar. Highlights include:

• —EJC Gala Show — European Juggling Convention, 2014
• —Italian Hoop Connection — Venice, 2013; teaching appearances, 2017
• —International festivals, corporate events, and cabarets across Europe
• —Ongoing hoop classes in Belfast at Vault Artist Studios

The Hoopnotica blog once wrote of a post-Italian Hoop Connection video: “Hold on tight — these hoop moves will blow you away. Her amazing energy, flow and the ease of her movements are simply incredible.” The video was filmed by Tommy Sheridan in Venice following the 2013 convention and quickly became one of those videos that gets shared again and again as a touchstone of what European hoop flow looked like in that era.

“Watching the hoop community and our amazing ambassadors innovate, teach, perform and spread the joy of hooping using HoopSpin hoops is the most amazing feeling.”

Gail’s contribution to the hoop community is not measured in performances or medals — though there are plenty. It is measured in the thousands of people across the UK and Europe who found their first hoop through HoopSpin, who learned to make their own hoops using Hoopologie tubing that arrived via Gail, who took their first class in Belfast and discovered a practice that changed their life.

She built the infrastructure for European hooping. Before HoopSpin, buying quality polypro tubing in the UK or EU meant navigating expensive transatlantic shipping, long waits, and import fees. Gail solved that problem — first for herself, then for everyone around her, and eventually for the entire continent. The hoop teachers, the studio owners, the flow artists, the self-taught beginners watching YouTube videos late at night — all of them are better served because of what she built.

The hoop taught her that playing is still the most fun, even as a grown-up. Nearly two decades later, she is still proving it every day.

• A village near Belfast
• Bolivia — where it began
• Physiotherapy & movement science
• Nearly 20 years of craft
• The European hoop community
• Italian Hoop Connection, Venice
• EJC Gala Show, 2014
• Hoops without borders
• Greentop & Belfast Circus School
• Teaching — always teaching