Articles

ALLEN

ASI is proud to present Coach Labiba! After working in sales at ASI for over a year, she has now taken on a few Kidz Gym classes and loves every minute of it! Labiba describes her coaching style as “happy, progressive, attainable” and her favorite event to coach is bars! Labiba’s passion for working with children began through her 4 1/2 years of volunteering at the Allen Public Library and Kids Learning Center, where here mother worked and where her love of working with children grew. Through her volunteer work, she realized that she wanted to influence children by offering them guidance and encouragement. Labiba describes her coaching style as “happy, progressive, attainable.” She also believes that gymnastics has countless benefits for children, such as building self-esteem along with physical endurance and flexibility!

Labiba is a natural in her leadership role as a coach. Her background as a four year Student Council member at Allen High School and Vice President of M. Student Association has helped her to prepare. When asked what she enjoys most about coaching, Labiba had this to say, “I love the kids mixture of innocence and goofiness. They have a very unique and creative mind where they like to imagine such wondrous things! That’s what made me fall in love with coaching.” We are exicited to have Labiba apart of of our sales and coaching staff at ASI Allen as she gets to inspire and motivate children on a daily basis!

 

FIREWHEEL

Coach Jose has been a member of ASI Firewheel for about six months now. He currently coaches Boys Gymnastics and Power Tumbling classes along with all of our fun products. Coach Jose loves coaching at ASI ” I love how every time I go to work, I know that I can put a smile on kid’s face. I also like how everyone at ASI was so welcoming and helpful i teaching me how to coach.”

KELLER

Keller is happy to introduce Coach Ivan. Ivan has been coaching at ASI for only 4 short months, but his coachingexperience spans more than 16 years! In addition to his coaching experience, Ivan spent ten years as a gymnast himself, so he has a great perspective when it comes to connecting with his students. His strong coaching/gymnastics background make Ivan an amazing asset to ASI Keller, where he coaches girls, boys, and power tumbling classes.

In addition to coaching, Ivan has 3 adorable children of his own that help him keep fit. Ivan is well-liked among his co-workers, and has earned the trust and love of his students in a very short time. While he appears quiet off the gym floor, his coaching style is “fun, energetic and positive”. You can tell that he is having as much fun as his gymnasts and it’s a treat to watch him coach, whether it’s a class or fun product. Ivan loves coaching at ASI because of the friendly atmosphere with the other coaches and he loves that ASI makes work fun. We feel so lucky to have a coach with Ivan’s expertise here in Keller!

PLANO WEST

Cristina is one of our new coaches! She has only worked at ASI Plano West for six months. She came to us referred by one of our awesome coaches. She began her ASI Journey as a sales representative and is excelling in that position. She has recently started to help our with our after school program as an assistant but hopes to become a lead soon. She has also worked birthday parties on the weekends as well. She works tons of fun products to match her fun personality.

Cristina graduated from Liberty High School and is currently attending the University of Texas at Arlington. She stays fit by walking around her campus and working out. Cristina has previously played basketball, volleyball, tennis, and soccer. She played soccer with FC Dallas for two years and also joined her high school soccer team. Sports were a requirement in her family!

Cristina’s favorite product to coach is the after school program. We asked her what she loves most about coaching and she said:

“The kids, I love seeing them come off the bus and run to hug me. No better feeling than seeing my kiddos excited to unwind from school and play and simply enjoy the aspect of being a kid.”

Cristina believes gymnastics is beneficial for kids because, “it allows them the opportunity to break certain fears they might have, to open up and push their limits, and to keep striving to improve.” The kids know if they are going to be in coach Cristina’s group that they will have a fun, entertaining, and rewarding day!

ROCKWALL

Coach Jackie has been coaching at ASI Rockwall for a little over a year now. She currently coaches Our Recreational Girls Gymnastics Classes – Bronze level and several Kidz Gym classes. She has also began coaching some Power Tumbling classes. She also works some of our fun products, including Birthday Parties, Camp, Open Gym and Parents Night Out.
Jackie says the thing she loves the absolute most about coaching at ASI is that she has the opportunity to impact every child that enrolls in one of her classes. She hopes they remember her way past their days at ASI.
In her spare time, Jackie enjoys wrestling. She is a member of the womens wrestling team at Rockwall High School and she is ranked 1st in the state right now.
“Patient, Motivating, and fun” This is how Jackie described her coaching style.”Gymnastics is great for kids, because it instills good habbits in these kids and they are learning how to control their bodies and interact with their peers.”
We are very lucky to have such an amazing “team player” not only as a coach here at ASI but as a part of the ASI family.

Written by Sarah Stewart

By Sarah Stewart • October 2, 2017 •

Allen

ASI Allen is proud to present Coach Leslie! After coaching three years at Eagle Wings Athletics, Leslie has been a very cheerful and an enthusiastic coach here at ASI for the past three months. She started coaching Girls Gymnastics classes along with our Open Gyms and Parent’s Night Outs! Her favorite event to coach is beam where she can be really be creative with teaching the skills through progressions! Being a former gymnast and going through our intensive training has really helped her become one of our breakout coaches that parents requests on a daily basis. Leslie was first introduced to the sport by her mom, who was also a gymnast. When Leslie became gymnast of the month, she realized that gymnastics was her passion and this is the same passion that she brings everyday when coaching her classes!

Her experience with working with children extends from just coaching gymnastics. Coach Leslie has worked in childcare development at Heights Baptist Church, and shortly after coaching at Eagle Wings, she nanny-ed and assisted Goddard School in Allen. She decided to return to coaching gymnastics after a three year break because missed seeing the smile on a child’s face when they master a skill that they have been working very hard to achieve. Leslie describes her coaching style as “creative, fun, and structured.” She understands that the foundation that a child gains in gymnastics is one that they can take in implement in their lives and other sports on a daily basis. Coach Leslie is already making a difference in every child that she’s coaching and we can’t wait to see where this journey of coaching takes her!

Firewheel

Coach Hannah has been a member of ASI Firewheel for about a year. She currently coaches a variety of classes along with all fun products. Coach Hannah loves coaching at ASI ” I love getting to see kids conquer their fears and improve more than they thought possible. Gymnastics can be a scary sport sometimes and kids can have a preconceived fear of doing certain events or skills and getting to see them overcome their fears and perform the skills is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. It’s so nice to be a part of building a kids confidence up!”

Keller

Lake Highlands

ASI Lake Highlands is proud to give this month’s coaches corner to Coach Anna! A little random fact about her is that her favorite superhero is the Hulk. She has been here for about two years now and says working here is, “the experience of a lifetime.” Coach Anna works parties on the weekends as well as other fun products and coaches kidz gym classes. She also does an amazingly wonderful job working with the gymmie kids program and making sure each kids feels special and taken care of. One of her favorite things is to teach bars and says her coaching style is fun, energetic and encouraging. Anna believes that gymnastics helps give kids good social skills and skill memory for future use. She also says that, “the best part of her job is the look on a child’s face when they finally master a skill they have been working so hard on.”Since her start here Coach Anna has come a long way and grown so much in her coaching abilities!  ​

Mesquite

Although Coach Britney just began with ASI Mesquite in April, she has been able to make an impact within her classes in such little time! Coach Britney is currently teaching girls gymnastics classes and it is obvious that she is natural, as she has a gymnastics background herself! She began the sport when she just 3 years old and later switched over to cheerleading. She cheered for a total of 11 years and it became something that she absolutely fell in love with!  Unfortunately, she injured her back so she had to quit cheerleading but she knew coaching would be a way to allow her to teach something that she is truly passionate about.

Britney has expressed that she loves coaching at ASI because she has the ability to make a positive impact on many lives. “When I was in gymnastics as a little girl I always wanted to be someone who could inspire kids to become better and fall in love with something I loved when I was their age.” She has described her coaching style as fun, productive and challenging! In her words, gymnastics is great for kids because “it can make a child’s mind explore his/her abilities and physical potential. Gymnastics can help a child with muscle strength and even their confidence, to believe in themselves and what they can accomplish.” We are so fortunate to have Coach Britney be a part of our ASI family!

Rockwall

Lauren has been part of the the ASI family for nine years now. Five of these years were seasonal and these past four have been Full Time. She started at ASI Mesquite while in high school as a part time coach and also worked camps over the Summer at our Lake Highlands gym through her college years.

Coach Lauren has been our Gym Manager at ASI Rockwall since 2013 and she coaches a little bit of every program here in the gym. This includes boys classes, girls classes, Tiny Tots and Kidz Gym.

Lauren went to Poteet High School and she Graduated College from Texas A&M. She was a gymnast with ASI Mesquite from age 6-12. She also enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee and she does some indoor rock climbing. To stay fit, Lauren says she goes Hiking as often as she can.

She began volunteering in her church’s children’s programs and babysitting throughout middle school and high school. Through college, Lauren earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Sciences with an emphasis in Youth Development and a Business Minor.

Her favorite event to coach would be Floor and she described her coaching style as “Detailed, Fun, and Encouraging.” We asked Lauren what she thought made gymnastics so great for kids, “Gymnastics is a great way for kids to grow, not only in their physical abilities, but also in their social, behavioral, and emotional skills.”

“I love working with kids in all capacities and am glad that gymnastics is a way that I get to impact their lives. I love helping kids achieve new skills, overcome fears, and gain confidence in themselves.”

We are so lucky to have such an amazing, kid loving, inspirational, and athletic coach as a part of our ASI family.

Written by Sarah Stewart

By Sarah Stewart • September 1, 2017 •