COLUMBINE GYMNASTICS ACADEMY - Key Persons
Cameron is a husband, father, Jiu Jitsu blue belt, experienced youth snowboard instructor and jack of all trades. Cameron has a calming presence, loves to teach and is really enjoying his as a mountain ninja coach.
Mother of two kids, a daughter with a passion for gymnastics and an active son who enjoys the dynamics of the ninja warrior sport. Garfield County will benefit from having youth activities like gymnastics and mountain ninja obstacle sports and my family is thankful for the opportunity to bring CGA to the area.
I started Columbine Gymnastics as a gymnast parent of several years and as an adult with an appreciation for what an impact sports can have on the mental, physical and emotional growth of a child. The permanent closure of our local gymnastics facility in the spring of 2020 left me little options for my dedicated gymnast and we soon were making the weekly commute to Grand Junction to attend gymnastics there. This was much more taxing than just the time commitment, my daughter was still getting less than half the time in the gym that she would've if we had a gym locally still, she was falling behind quickly, she felt she had no friends at the Grand Junction gym as opposed to attending a gym in our community where she went to school with and would run into her teammates whenever she was out and about in the community and what once was her safe haven and retreat from a stint of stressful years for her to include her father's cancer diagnosis and our divorce was now bringing her very little happiness. During our time in Grand Junction for gymnastics I needed to find an activity for my busy son who was instantly excited when hearing about the opportunity to try his hand at the Ninja Challenge program offered at yet another gym in Grand Junction. He thoroughly enjoyed the classes, especially all the swinging ropes and monkey bar obstacles, he attended his first Ninja Challenge competition there and did very well. I was amazed at how much boys and girls of all ages loved the sport, the classes had waiting lists constantly and that I really appreciated the spirit of the sport which was all inclusive. Everyone cheers for everyone, there is no confrontation like many traditional sports have and sports that my son had shied away from in the past.
I spent the better part of a year researching what it would take to open a gymnastics facility in Garfield County again and in the fall of 2020 while taking part in an online auction to purchase gymnastics equipment, I stumbled across the ninja DS1 system. A 12 foot heavy duty warped wall with a rock climbing wall on the backside that was connected to steel monkey bars which had a salmon ladder on the end. The set came with all the basic apparatus and had never been moved since its initial installation. I saw such sets online, brand new and was aware of how extremely expensive they were. I didn't even have a location secured for a gym yet, I had no idea how to break the set down or where I would store it. All I knew was that it was a great buy and I wanted it for ninja warrior obstacle programs in my future gym.
It was clear to me that these programs would be a great benefit to the youth in Garfield County and in early 2021 I felt I had all the elements to make this happen. CGA opened officially for classes on June 1st 2021. My family, Coaches and I truly hope you and your children will enjoy taking classes, attending an open gym or having a birthday party at CGA!
Coach Jessie is a mother of two and her life long passion to be a gymnastics coach, she has over 6 years of youth gymnastics, dance and cheer coaching experience. She is patiently waiting for CGA to offer Aerial classes where she can expand her coaching with lyra hoops and Aerial silks. Jessie has had the pleasure of traveling to Tennessee to attend a gymnastics coach retreat where she was able to learn new tricks of the trade and network with experienced coaches from across the nation. If your kiddo attended gymnastics or parkour classes in Rifle previously, it's likely they remember Coach Jessie.
Coach Logan is a mother of 2 who loves children, has a passion for fitness and aspires to be a personal trainer. Coach Logan is really enjoying her time as a preschool, recreation gymnastics and mountain ninja coach at CGA.
Lyndee's passionate about gymnastics, was a gymnast for many years as a kid and has been a very successful competition coach for several years to include coaching with Synergy gymnastics and recently coaching tumbling classes. Lyndee recently graduated college with a degree in radiology technician and as such is starting her career in the field during the day.
Coach Sheridan spent much of her youth committed to gymnastics and began coaching after recovering from a serious injury that took place while she was part of an Elite Gymnastics Team. Coach Sheridan is great with children and brings a unique training perspective to any gymnastics class that she coaches.
Coach Talena loves children and has a huge passion for gymnastics. She comes to us with 3 years of coaching experience most recently at Colorado West Gymnastics in Grand Junction. She also brings with her the experience she gained as a gymnast herself and her recent experience working with children as a PARA at GME.