Seattle Gymnastics Academy

I was fortunate enough to be told about Seattle Gymnastics academy. It has been the perfect place to take my 2 year old when the rains are coming down and I am looking for a place to let her «get some energy out». The staff had always been extremely friendly and I would recommend it to anyone with small children

First off, I am NOT a mother of a dedicated competitive gymnast, but I have been taking my 3 ½ year old daughter here since she outgrew Gymboree at about 2 years old. At 3 she is the height of a 5 year old, so I have more hopes of her learning coordination and body awareness than becoming a professional gymnast. What I appreciate about SGA is that they do teach real gymnastics focused disciplines, even from preschool ages. It seems that a lot of other toddler/​preschool movement activities out there all do the same thing (i.e. Throw the scarves! Let’s pretend we’re butterflies! Dance to the music!), but here your money gets something specific.
My daughter absolutely loves her class and asks to go every day, so I am happy. We’ve moved around coaches from session to session– a couple have been duds, but once you find one or two you like you can just sign up for those classes.
Yes, the metal bleachers are uncomfortable, but there are a few other regular chairs around. No, the gym isn’t shiny and new, but it is sanitary and safe.
The website is horrible, and every time registration comes around there seems to be an issue that I need to call about, but the staff is polite if not mega friendly.
I have heard other moms talk about the SGA in Ballard and how they are clamoring just to get their kids on wait lists there. I am equidistant from both locations, and much prefer the relaxed atmosphere that the Lake City location provides for my 3 year old.

My son did gymnastics here from age 6 – 15. He was on the recently dissolved boy’s team. The coaching he received was great. However, the owner looks at children through the lens of money. And big gymnasts need bigger equipment and cost more. The owner chose to eliminate the boys program after competition season had begun and in a critical year of competition for my son. This after years of denying the boys chalk, telling us that better equipment was coming. And telling us that space for real gymnastics for boys was coming. He will say that he still has a «team». Don’t believe him. We did, and look where it got us. As a place for your young child to run around and get exercise, it’s great. And most of the staff are wonderful. However, if you have a boy and you think that gymnastics is going to be his sport, move him to another gym as quickly as you can.

HORRIBLE Customer Service —
This review is not about the quality of their services, rather the quality of their customer service.
We booked our 5 year old for a 3 day camp/​clinic from 4÷15÷13 — 4÷17÷13. Our son woke up on the first morning and was noticeably very sick. We, obviously, didn’t think it would be a good idea to take him to gymnastics where he’d physically exert himself and possibly get other kids sick. We assumed that, being an establishment that deals with children, and knowing that children often get sick, there would be reasonable policy for this scenario. My wife called and spoke to some one who said they would check w/​the director on a possible credit for the future, and my wife also left a voice mail for director. Later, we were told that nothing can be done. No credit, no refund. Just nothing. We were also told that we «should have called» even though my wife did call AND left the message for the director. This was our first experience with this company. Obviously, also our last. If you have kids, don’t book anything in advance, you won’t get anything from them, even if something reasonable comes up.

I just signed my kids (ages 4 & 2) up for a third session of gymnastics classes at SGA. I have been really impressed with the instructors and the quality of instruction– shout out to Tammara and Riley. My younger daughter has always seemed very strong & athletic, but my older daughter seemed to have two left feet from when she first started walking until recently. Now she runs and jumps and climbs and dances all over the place much more confidently and gracefully, and I do think that gymnastics class has had something to do with that. (I’m sure that some of it was just allowing time to grow into her body.) Now I consider both of my children to be strong and athletic, yay! I may even sign them up for the MAGIC program later on, if they still love gymnastics, but for the moment we’ll stay in the rec classes.
We also had a joint birthday party at SGA recently, and it went very well– we got our regular gymnastics teachers to staff our party, which was really fun for our kids. It was also good for us to interact more with the teachers.
The one thing that really bugs me about SGA is the front desk staff– they are very uneven with their customer service. I have had friendly, helpful interactions, and I have had some very negative interactions with the front desk. One time my au pair brought the kids for indoor playground as a make-​up for a missed class, and the front desk person could not find the kids in the system and was rude to my amazing au pair. Sometimes I have a burning question and it seems like no one is there.
Also the process for transfer-​registration is unnerving. If you’re moving into a new class you have to register during «transfer week» and you aren’t guaranteed a spot. Fair enough, but unless you can go in person early in the week you need to call and talk to someone to get your class, and the phones are constantly busy or you get the answering machine. I called maybe 10 times before I talked to a human being. The human being I spoke with was very friendly and helpful, and I got my kids into the classes I wanted, but it was a little stressful up until that point. I do recognize that it is silly for me to stress over my kids’ preschool gymnastics class, and that this doesn’t bode well for how I deal with Seattle Public School’s kindergarten registration process, but I’m going to justify it by saying that I’m paying through the nose for these classes, they shouldn’t be so hard to sign up for!
Edited to add– one other thing that impresses me about SGA– my kids are fairly sensitive and I wasn’t sure how they would take to gymnastics. My older daughter in particular is shy with strange adults (though very outgoing with other kids). So I was worried that she wouldn’t take to this strange and possibly intimidating environment. But the instructors have been very positive and encouraging, and low-​key enough to keep my kids interested and not intimidated.

We did our daughters bday party here and it was a great experience. The staff was very helpful and they’re really nice, what I also like is that we could bring our own food and cake and we don’t have to have some cardboard pizza like most gymnastics or jumping places. A lot of the parents gave us positive feedback about the place and all the kids had a good time we will definitely be bringing our daughter back here open play days. thanks a lot to the staff

My daughter has been coming here for 3 years now and we love it. Yes, the place smells like old feet. Yes, a few pieces of equipment needs to be replaced. Yes, the metal bleachers are the most uncomfortable things to sit on in the universe. Yes, a few of the instructors are arrogant and one girl at the front desk is beyond rude (talkin’ ’bout you, Blondie). Yes, it is one of the most expensive extra-​curricular activities in Seattle.
But my daughter has learned some amazing skills! Aside from the cool gymnastic moves, she has learned discipline, patience, persistence, and how to take instruction/​constructive criticism. She has become extremely toned: when she is just in her leotard she looks like a miniature body-​builder. The strength she has built up here has really helped her in her other sports.
If your kid doesn’t get along well with one instructor, have her/​him moved to another class until you find a good fit. We found an instructor (Tamara) who just «clicks» with my daughter and she has improved immensely since.
*Edit* I’ve upped my rating to 5-​stars because I’ve noticed that the foot-​like smell is, in fact, not as noticeable anymore. Thanks guys! The bleachers, though… still uncomfortable. ;-)

I just wanted to respond to the manager. Touching as in spotting and keeping kids safe is one thing, and is a good thing. Gripping my son’s arms as you are lecturing him is NOT spotting and is NOT for safety. It was a violation of his personal space. He was not in an unsafe situation, she just PERCEIVED that he was not going to follow the rules (and note that I said «not going to» because he had actually not violated any rule he’d been told at that point). If this is the owner’s response, I can see why they don’t think anything is wrong. I should have been contacted by the owner, I should have been offered an apology. My kid was really upset by what happened and it was NOT about safety at all — it was overstepping of boundaries by an employee.
The parents are your bread and butter. In the least you say, «yeah, that mom was out of line but go apologize because she’s our customer.» But to defend a staff member gripping my child by the arms and lecturing him is unconscionable. He was not in an unsafe situation, he had not made another child unsafe. He had SIMPLY not been aware of the rules, been made aware of the rules then the manager had thought he was about to violate them. He never did break any of the rules before she grabbed him. If he had been breaking the rules or unsafe I would have had little problem with staff talking to him, and probably would have talked to him myself.
Now when he goes there he goes full-​blast down the tumble track at top speed, arrives at the stopping point and skids to a halt, the exact SAME thing he was doing when he was grabbed by the staff member EXCEPT she didn’t even wait to see if he was going to stop before jumping. He’s traumatized by what happened and is very aware of making sure not to break the rules. We’ve never discussed this with him, never brought it up, so this is ALL from that horrid interaction where he was shamed and scared by a staff member.
There are many people in the SGA reviews who mention arrogance. This response from the owner encapsulates that arrogance. No apology, no «we’ve taken steps to fix things», not even an «I’m sorry that happened.» No asking if my son is okay. Not even a basic apology on Unilocal stating he’s sorry about our negative experience, even if he’s going to stand by his staff. Just justifying grabbing my kid in a inappropriate manner under the guise of safety.
I’m lowering my stars to ONE.

I was not pleased with this place at all. My child and I went for open play and the other moms/​caregivers seemed very unfriendly and arrogant. Also, one staff member told me the rules for the foam pit. I thought I was following them correctly until another staff member reprimanded me for doing what I thought was correct. Needless to say I will not return and will not recommend SGA.

Great place to let your little monkeys ‘hang about’. Lots of fun equipment to play on. REALLY wears your kid out. The not-​so-​great things– its very expensive– more than $ 200 for 12-​week session, ouch! Also, my son has taken numerous classes there in the past, all instructors were FANTASTIC except for John– he was pretty harsh and would roll his eyes at what the kids were doing at times. What is that about? Overall I like this facility and look forward to checking out the parents night out gig they offer.

The customer service and absolute arrogance I’ve experienced at Seattle Gymnastics Academy has been astounding.
In addition, the place is in need of some new carpet (smells moldy) and an excellent cleaning.
That said, we do love the indoor playground and some of the gymnastics coaches.

I went to an adult class here once to check out the class (first trial is free). There were only a handful of us unfortunately. I always find that more is merrier and fewer is just awkward.
The instructor was an older fellow in his early 50s who used to be a gymnast and was still as agile as anything and really fun and friendly. The recreational gym has all the basic equipment but the 40×40 floor has really lost its spring. I went ahead anyways for a quick tumble and thought my 31-​year old wrists and ankles were going to crumble at the end of it. They do have a tumbltrak though (long narrow trampoline basically) which is fun but not something I’ve adjusted to yet, but will have to if I still endeavor to be a geriatric gymnast. The foam pit in this gym is a bit smaller too.
The instructor mentioned that one of the two adult classes (there are two per week) gets students from Seattle University who are part of a gymnastics club so they often move the class to the team gym 3 blocks away where there is more equipment for big kids and a much better floor.
I really want to come back but the drop in rate is quite hefty and I can’t quite commit to getting a several hundred dollar punch card that makes the classes cheaper (in the long run if you stick with it). I wish they would let us drop in on a cash basis for a less ridiculous rate (it worked out to about double per class I think). It would also be nice if more people knew about the class so that more folks would come.

My daughter lives at this gym. You might say it’s our home as far away as possible within city limits from home. She clocks more hours working out (at their other location — the team gym) than I did when I had a job. So I guess I love this place. I love the coaches, and I love the other team parents. Or most of them. One or two give me a severe pain in my ass, but for the most part this gym is my extended family.
I’m pathetic. I’m also co-​president of the booster club. See? Pathetic.
Oh, and they have a nice selection of GK leotards, if you need one — which I don’t. Trust me.

Wow! this place is great! Every day from 11:30am to 12:45pm they have their Indoor Playground for kids 1 to 5 and the kids have a blast running around, jumping, swinging, climbing, and going crazy. They’ll burn off lots of energy for a guaranteed nap!