Gymnasts tumble in town

STICKING IT:
Judy Killam,10, poses after landing a tumbling routine during her floor exercise.

In a large building off of Highway 273 in Anderson, dozens of athletes balance, tuck and tumble — training to become the best gymnasts they can be.

Athletics Unlimited is home to one of the largest and well-equipped gymnastics facilities in the North State.

“We compete all the way up until level nine, which is two notches below an Olympic level gymnast,“ said Athletics Unlimited owner Phil Ewart.”

“Our competition team is one of the highest ranking teams in North State, including Sacramento. We have a very good rapport,“ he said.

There are 32 girls and 4 boys on the competitive team, and about 250 or more children are involved in gymnastics at the center, depending on the time of year.

Gymnastics is also only one facet of Athletics Unlimited, which is also home to a martial arts center and a preschool.

Although many of the gymnasts at Athletics Unlimited Gymnastics Center are highly-skilled athletes, the center also has a following of children who want to experience what gymnastics is all about.

“We start them out in a level one,” Ewart said. “It’s a program designed to increase flexibility and strength.” “It’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot of games and things to keep the kids interest high, because it takes a long time to get to competition,“ he said.

The gymnastics center has become somewhat of a second home to Anderson resident Misty Gifford. She has three children involved in gymnastics — Morgan, 8, Josalynn, 5, and her son Tristan, 11.

“Every day of the week I’m here,“ Gifford said.

Mom Gifford was also in gymnastics when she younger.

“I never would have thought I’d watch my kids go through gymnastics,“ said. “But I love watching them.”

Athletics Unlimited owner Ewart said the benefits of gymnastics reaches beyond the classes and competitions.

“We find that gymnasts notoriously have better building block skills for life,” Ewart said. “They have a tendency to really set their heights high and see themselves progress to get to where they want to go.”

Gifford said she’s seen gymnastics benefit her children through their health, discipline and through interaction with other gymnasts. “This has been a really good experience for my kids having such a big team, and having the support of their teammates,“ Gifford said. “They almost become family because you are here all the time.“

The mom said her gymnast children aren’t competitive with each other.

“They are very encouraging to each other and they learn from each other,“ she said. “It’s really cool.“

In fact, Gifford’s youngest daughter Keira, 19 months, is already itching to start gymnastics. “She already mimics everything the kids do,” Gifford said.