Roach Gymnastics and Cheer

Let me preface this review by saying that my daughter attended a gymnastics course for 4 – 5 y/​o through the City of Renton that was taught by Coach Kristy of Roach Gymnastics, and that course is what I am reviewing. She never attended the actual Roach gym. Also, I made sure to ask beforehand and was told that my daughter (4) did not need any experience to join this course. I assumed, silly me, that this meant it was a course for beginners (that’s what «no experience» means, isn’t it?).
The beginning of the class was fine, there were about 15 kids or so and they were warming up and doing stretches. Immediately after stretching, they went into a sort of obstacle course involving the uneven bars, a low beam and some tumbling (I think, it was never made clear). Aside from being at the first station (bars), Coach Kristy (who never even introduced herself to the class, I had to look back in my city pamphlet) never gave ANY direction aside from telling kids to go to the next station. My daughter has never taken gymnastics, she doesn’t know any gymnastics terms. She had zero idea what to do and ended up wandering around and playing on the mats for 20 minutes while other kids cycled through.
It was very clear that the majority of the kids had taken a gymnastics course before. They knew what they needed to do and did it. If they didn’t know, their parents did and stepped in to help. I never took gymnastics, neither did my husband. Therefore, we didn’t feel comfortable or that it was our place to jump in. I even saw the coach tell some of the girls she clearly already knew that she would work specifically with them on some more advanced skills at the next class! There was definitely an air of favoritism through the whole class.
We only attended the one class, and thankfully I was able to submit a request for a refund through the city. We will NOT be returning to this class and would advise parents of other preschoolers to avoid it unless their kids have gymnastics experience. We will be looking for another gymnastics option.

If you asked me a year ago how I felt about this gym I would have said it is the best gym because they focus on school and family first. I would tell all of the parents taking their kids to gymnastics how great the place was and they should check it out.
The decline stated in the summer of 2014 they said fear was starting to kick in and it was holding her back. My daughter was complaining of back pain. She was «afraid» of the pain not the skill. At practice they told her it did not hurt that bad, just push through it and stop being lazy. If she was doing something wrong the coaches told her to do better or try harder, but not how to fix it.
Needless to say, last season her scores kept going down, instead of getting better. All of her confidence was gone. I always thought that you either had the ability or you didn’t when it came to gymnastics, and it did not matter what gym you went to.
A series of events made the logistics of getting to Roach impossible this year, and it forced us to find another gym. I took her to try it and let me tell you I was wrong, The gym you choose does matter. During the 4 day trial the coach saw a significant improvement in her skills. The first thing the coach said was, «You have been doing this for 4 years? With your strength and flexibility you should be at a much higher level, what are they doing down there what were they teaching you at Roach?»
Remember the back pain since summer of 2014? Well that is because she was landing wrong and no one noticed or corrected her. Would there be permanent damage to her back? I feel like I wasted a lot of money and time in Sumner. I regret just staying there because it was comfortable.
So now if you asked me about Roach I would tell you to think twice. Do not make the same mistake I did. The rates at this gym are equivalent to others in the area. Look around for quality training and make sure your gymnast is getting what they deserve.

I love Roach Gymnastics, my daughter started in gymnastics 8 years ago in the Rec program and is now a Level 7 on the Competition team, I love the coaches and the program. My daughter is in all AP classes in school and maintains a 3.6 grade point and practices 5 days a week. At Roach school and family are first before gymnastics, but if you want gymnastics to be first they can accomodate that. There may be a poor review from someone, but not every gym is a great fit for everyone. We love Roach, we love the gym, we love the coaches! My daughter will be finishing out through her Senior year there. The Rec. program is a GREAT start in gymnastics, prices are comparable to the area. Don’t let any negative reviews keep you from trying out the gym, it’s a great place and they care about your kids I PROMISE!

this is the worse gym ever, my daughter was competing xcel gold for roach the meet at roach wasn’t sanctioned we found out later that it didn’t count next they didn’t register for the third meet on time so we had to find a replacement meet, way further then seattle where the meet originally was, the final straw was my daughter had been training herself cassie was always too buisy talking to other staff, my daughter injured her neck and at the meet on saturday she was warming up for the floor and cassie refused to spot her when she asked for one, so my daughter was left crying, then they went over to the vault the same thing cassie refused to spot my daughter so when she flew over the vault she face planted it, cassie didn’t even ask her if she was ok. anyways they dont give you any of your unused assesment fees back and cancel your credit card or they will keep charging it after you quit

Roach gymastics has an amazing program. My daughter does gymastics here and loves the program. If your looking for talented coaches you will find them here. Roach is all about supporting there gymnast.
Linda B

This gym is OVERCROWDED! They simply do not have enough square footage for the number of girls and programs. They seem to have a decent cheer program and I don’t have any personal experience with that, but their competitive gymnastics program is mediocre to poor and gets worse as levels increase. They are more interested in making money off many poorly structured programs than having a good gymnastics program.

Roach Gymnastics is an awesome gym! Whether it’s recreational gymnastics, competitive cheer or competitive gymnastics, they offer it all. The employees are great and personable, and the atmosphere is comfortable. The front desk area has a nice amount of merchandise, and snacks for sale and are always great with the kids. Another thing I love, is that the coaches for the most part are former/​current gymnasts. So if they kids are questioning how to do a skill, the coach can perform it for them and that really helps the kids with the visual to learn. Overall, great place!

Roach Gymnastics and Cheer offers a variety of classes and services! The facility is immaculate and the coaches are excited and well trained! :D I found all my competitive cheerleading and gymnastics needs were met in one place! Great company!!!

Beautiful facility. Very impressive first impression. Early level coaching (level 1 and 2) OK but if you think your child has abilities or the inclination to progress it might be better to start at a place with better long term prospects to develop advanced skills.
Level 3 and up, «TEAM «is where there are some challenges. There is a fundamental lack of leadership as it pertains to what constitutes «coaching“and what most would likely define as «berating, belittling, humiliating».
Be aware also that like most programs there is a significant price increase when one moves to «TEAM» and like most gyms they can be offset by «fundraising» through the booster club.
Roach requires you to join their booster club upon entering level 3 team. However there is a lack of transparency that must be accepted and discrepancies are to be expected with remedies if any being untimely if at all. Payment for services is required in advance of receiving them and therefore is virtually impossible to recover negotiate when service is not provided or is substandard.

If you have a toddler, try this place out.
Roach’s Gymnastics has several programs for those under the age of 3 – 4. We take our son and he loves the Gym and activities. All activities are lead by a teacher and at least for the toddler class it is not very crowded.
A Much better option imho than Little Gym