When the Rubber Meets the Road

The euphoria of watching your plan come together has lifted and you are facing the harsh reality of logistics. You find yourself standing in the middle of a large warehouse overwhelmed with truckload after truckload of gymnastics equipment, pallets stacked high with boxes you can't lift, everything with major assembly required, and suddenly you realize that you need help from your friends, all the help you can get! But people have busy lives and responsibilities of their own. Who can find the time to help you, to be there when the rubber meets the road, when it really counts? Tracy Lawrence wrote a great country song about it:

"...Somebody's gonna drop everything, Run out and crank up their car, hit the gas, get there fast, never stop to think, 'What's in it for me?' or 'It's way too far!' They just show on up with their big old heart..." Tracy Lawrence, Find Out Who Your Friends Are

In building my own gymnastics school from scratch, I've discovered that people will come through for you. They will help you meet the challenge and ask for nothing in return. The amount of help I have received during the past week and continue to receive daily is a testament to that truth. It reaffirms how I feel about this area and its children. If you want to build a gymnastics facility and have it last, you first have to love your community and want to make it better. When the community sees your true motivation and understands why you are doing it, not for financial gain or to one-up someone else, but to provide something wonderful for children, something of the highest quality because their children are worth it, they will understand, just as your friends already do.  And they will be there too, when the rubber meets the road!

Getting Hooked on Gymnastics!

It happened to me when I was young, and it may happen to your child as well. The first symptom is the enthusiasm that young gymnasts feel towards the sport of gymnastics. You see it in the faces of gymnasts who finally make that new skill they've worked so hard to accomplish. It's what helped me develop from an eager little girl attempting her first back handspring into an accomplished college gymnast and eventually into a successful gymnastics coach. It starts with drills and techniques taught by dedicated coaches who simply love the sport of gymnastics like no other. Young gymnasts begin with "basics" to learn body position and develop muscle memory, and repeat those skills over and over and over with each workout until it practically becomes a lifestyle. Their little muscles learn what to do, when to pull, when to push, how to become flexible and how to get stronger. With each success comes an enthusiasm that makes them want to do more, to get that first kip or round-off back handspring. Suddenly your child is begging for more time in the gym to work on skills and you can feel the excitement and the commitment that starts to bubble up as the child progresses. As they notice more advanced gymnasts working out and perfecting that giant or flyaway, the sparkle in their eyes intensifies and they picture themselves achieving that same degree of perfection one day. It becomes a mission, a devotion, and an incentive to work harder until they eventually find themselves like me, hooked on the sport of gymnastics, always looking towards their next workout, skill or competition and transferring that intensity to everything in their lives. Look out world, another gymnast has arrived!

Learning to Plan with Purpose

As I reflect back on this experience as a whole, I'd like to share what I've learned about planning a gym. Like running a marathon, building a gymnastics school from scratch takes a tremendous amount of strategy and preparation, planning for both the easy stretches when you are full of energy, and the long arduous miles, which make up the bulk of the race. There are two kinds of runners, and for that matter, business owners: those who have a plan and those who plan with purpose. The first type knows what they should be doing (or should have done) but stumble along hoping to finish the race, while the second type takes the proper steps one-by-one to accomplish the plan and win the race. When I first started this endeavor 5 years ago, I knew what I wanted and formulated my plan, but I learned it takes a lot more than that. You can't pursue any plan haphazardly and expect good results. You can't just sprint to the finish line in the fastest way possible. You'll trip, stumble or just run out of gas and others will pass you by. I've learned that a plan with purpose does not take any shortcuts. I could have cut corners, purchased old equipment, saved money upfront and settled for a lot less, but where would I be down the road? Planning without purpose leaves you running a race without a finish line. In short, I've learned that opening a gymnastic school the right way has a steep learning curve, but there is only one way to do it for long term success. It means planning harder, thinking further, and going the extra mile in every step of the process. I've learned that it's not important what is easiest, what someone else has done, or what others think you should be doing. It's essentially choosing to prepare with purpose for what can only be described as a marathon.

The Gymnast Phenomenon

It's a fact that children who become gymnasts do better in school. Studies have shown that gymnasts as a whole, get better grades than other athletic groups from elementary to high school and throughout college. A college gymnast is three times more likely to win an NCAA academic award or post-graduate scholarship than an athlete from any other sport. In fact, the NCAA awards more post-graduate scholarships to gymnasts than to any other female sport (source: http://www.mit.edu/~fog/stats.htm). But why? What makes gymnasts so special? How can a competitive student gymnast spend 15-20 hours a week, year-round in a gym and still excel academically, get homework done and make the honor roll? The answer lies in what they learn from gymnastics: self-discipline, dedication, and commitment to the sport. It translates into success in the classroom and beyond. If you've met a few gymnasts, you already know they are some of the brightest, sweetest, most gifted children on the planet. However, it didn't happen overnight or by accident. Their parents first persuaded them to try it, and then they learned from their coaches and teammates. What motivates them? They want to grow and get better with each practice. Every day they strive to become a little bit better than they were the day before. With that attitude it's no wonder that children who become gymnasts do better in school. Now imagine spending your time as a parent, coach or teacher with that wonderful group of hard workers, helping them learn, watching them grow into the best that our world has to offer. It makes you want to be better as well, and do everything you can to help them. It might even inspire you to build your own gymnastics school from scratch!

Selling A Dream

Selling a dream to someone else isn't easy, especially when you are asking for a large financial commitment and the prospect of years before you see a return on your investment. Starting a gymnastics school from scratch requires help from a lot of different people including your spouse. My husband is a shrewd investor by nature, who takes his time with any decision that involves money. From the start, he insisted that I go very slowly, research the market, learn the area, take business courses and develop a business plan that looks at least 5 years ahead. I would also have to start small in whatever suitable space I could afford to rent. While it's disappointing not to break ground on a new building (we all want instant gratification), I also understand my husband's points about trade-offs, cost-to-benefit, and time to profitability. His motto is, "You can have whatever you want once you've earned it." It's hard to wait when you are so committed to bringing something so badly needed in this area right now. However, you have to sell it, even to those closest to you. You can't forget that. It's not enough to have a passion for something you want without a detailed plan. You have to bring others on board, even if it means bringing yourself down to earth, starting where you can, and waiting for that dream groundbreaking one day -- after you've earned it.

When 'Good Enough' Really Isn't Good Enough

One of the decisions I've had to make in building a gymnastics school from scratch is how far to go in equipping the gym in the best and safest way possible. Some might think that carpet-bonded foam or mats placed over the floor to cushion a vault runway is 'good enough' to keep athletes safe, but is it? When a gymnast sprints down that 78-foot runway to complete a vault, there are no cushioned shoes to absorb the impact. The body, especially the knee and ankle joints, absorbs it all. Constant repetitions on the runway mats, even on very good mats can cause knee joint problems and shin splints, especially in those last driving steps as the gymnast approaches the spring board. Take the case of Annia Hatch and several other gymnasts who were injured during the 2002 World Championships. Hatch was practicing the vault, her best event, when she tore her left ACL the day prior to the competition. Then, Courtney Kupets, the U.S. all-around champion, tore her achilles before the team finals. What was the culprit? Runway mats placed over a hard floor looked 'good enough' but in reality it wasn't good enough to prevent injuries. The solution is to install a raised, flexible vault runway system that will help absorb the shock of constant repetitions. It will also be one of the first things in the new gym! If it saves an injury to just one child, it is more than 'good enough!'

Disappointments, Perseverance, Never Give Up!

You think you've found the ideal building until the phone rings. The call begins with a pause, and then the slow, pained words "Unfortunately due to the building being in an industrial area the business you are starting wouldn’t fit the code criteria, it would only fit under commercial." Then some words of encouragement to keep looking. The dream has had many highs and lows, along with some "what if's." You second-guess yourself. Maybe one of those less-than-ideal buildings I passed up could have worked for awhile? Time to focus on other things. Time for some ice cream. But... I know a lot about gym locations and I know that many gymnastic schools are allowed in industrial areas. Why not in Eau Claire? So what if I fail? Why not try to make a case for it here?  So that is what I did. I contacted the City and found out what to do, how to apply and make a case for an amendment to change the rules. My husband and I researched the Industrial statutes of every medium to large city in Wisconsin and found some surprising facts. More often than not, cities such as Janesville, Madison, Beloit, Green Bay, Wausau, etc., DO allow some types of indoor recreational use in industrial areas. It wasn't a lost cause, the city agreed, and we won!