How kingdom gymnastics started

My cell phone rang as soon as I pulled into my garage one night in December 2007. It was my co worker, trapeze coach and dear friend, Vladimir. “Let’s open our own gym” I heard him say. And so it began. It took three years of searching, meeting with business owners, town select board, and bankers. We took a detour with Vladimir leaving to coach in Las Vegas for a year, and the two of us traveling to CT for a year and a half to coach gymnastics at our friend’s gym.  I visited the gym in Vegas, gathered brochures and materials from there as well as other gyms in CT and NH. We weren’t giving up on our dream.

I shared my concerns with my daughter, Amy about my lack of business knowledge. “Don’t worry, Mom” she said. “I am a business major. I can help you.” It was Amy’s suggestion that we look at the Green Mountain Mall which we did in August of 2010.

From that point on our dream that seemed to go nowhere for the past 30 months was fast forwarded. A new business plan was written, a lease was signed, financing obtained, and construction began. We put an ad in the paper saying we were beginning gymnastics classes in October. The response from the community was overwhelming; my phone was ringing constantly from parents inquiring about classes.

We opened our doors to our first students on Thursday, October 14, 2010. For the first four years we continued to add more classes, more students, more equipment and more staff. Actually we passed our third year projections outlined in our business plan by Christmas 2010, about eight weeks after we opened.

We look forward to continuing to strive for excellence in our recreational gymnastics program, as well as expanding our competitive program for both boys and girls. Whether a gymnast is competing or using gymnastics as a sport or recreational activity, our motto remains, “Gymnastics is the tool we use to teach students about life.”

-Donna Reed