Ilse Kremer
October 19, 2017 09:06
I am going to try and be as honest as I can in this review, the good, the bad, the ugly. My two daughters were on the competitive team here, off and on, for over 3 years. "The good" is that the owners and their daughters, who also coach, are truly good people and care very much about the gym and even more so about the kids. It is a very "family oriented" place and you can go in and talk about your concerns any time. It is also one of the least expensive programs in the area for competitive gymnastics. "The bad" is that the coaching is very one-sided. When the owner and coaches have put a label on a kid, nothing the kid can do during training will make a difference. They box them in early as "good" or "bad" early on and keep them there, in spite of meet scores or any evidence to the contrary. They put one of my daughters in a lower group and told a newly coming coach "that's the group who has no future in gymnastics, you can do what you want with them", whereas my other daughter was hand picked for a young privileged group in spite of her struggling to keep up just about every day. The coaching is very "harsh", they yell at the kids constantly and berate them a lot when they do not pick up skills quickly (which some kids actually thrive on, just mine don't, that's not our style). Crying after a fall or a bad meet score is not allowed, they are told to "suck it up" or they get pulled off the floor. They have a very, very high turnover ratio of coaches, mostly because the owner is headstrong and slightly on the crazy side (in a very good way) and sometimes difficult to get along with (but so am I so I never held that against her). Their coaches, with the exception of coach TB and the owner's daughers, who do actively participate, are very hands-off and many kids learn incorrect skills by rote memory. "The ugly" is that the facility is downright awful. Scary part of town, and the gym itself is very run down and in bad shape. Floor is a tripping hazard. Rec room is a mess and dingy in the back. Upstairs room has leak damage and moldy smell, no AC but just a giant fan in summer. Trophies are under inches of dust in spite of a bi-yearly cleaning. Unlike what the previous reviewer said (who is also treasurer of the booster club BTW, you do the math), this is not typical of a gym. I don't think this is the owner's fault per se because the building itself is in such bad shape and there is not much the landlord will do, but they ought to consider moving to attract a better clientele. We made the difficulty decision to leave because, in spite of the shortcomings, we felt like it was our "home gym". Going to a different gym was significantly more expensive but it has been a very good decision. That is not to say that we consider Flames a "bad gym" and we will always look fondly upon our years there, all the time and effort the owner and her daughters put into our family and the friendships our girls and our families have made (with the exception of certain competitive team moms, who, because they are neurotic and their husbands participate in the booster club, think they own the place and act like outright nut jobs). If you are considering a family run gym for competitive team, that doesn't have quite the glitz and glam of a more typical high end gym, and a lower cost and a caring environment, this is the place for you. For recreational gymnastics, I would go somewhere else, that is not their forte. Word to the wise: stay far away from their booster club. I have never seen a bigger bunch of crazies in one room at the same time !