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Our Coaches
Head Coach / Co-Owner: Jack Leonard Jack brings over 32 years of experience teaching physical education and coaching gymnastics to Kauai. He’s a past 9-time National Champion who graduated with a degree in education from Ohio State where he was also a Cheerleader. He has coached all levels from 3-year old beginners to Olympians, earning two National High School Coach of the Year Awards (once for men; once for women). He was assistant coach of 3-time Olympian Dominique Dawes. He also ran a success after-school gymnastics program called Jack Leonard Gymnastics (JLG). At its peak, JLG taught gymnastics and fitness to over 300 kids a week. To view a longer history/bio about Jack, click here. Jack’s philosophy is to break down a trick into many, many parts so it can be more easily understood and executed. He’s an expert at being able to assess where a trick is going wrong and convey it to the gymnast so they can fix it.
Coach / Co-Owner / Head Administrator: Kay Leonard
Kay's path to gymnastics was a little different than Jack's. Before Jack
and Kay were married, Jack was the gymnastics coach of Kay's son, who was in
Junior High (now called Middle School) at the time. Two of her daughters
were also in gymnastics -- one took classes with Marge and Greg Weiss (the
parents of Michael Weiss,
the skater) and the other was on a team coached by Jack (Rockville H.S. Varsity). Jack and Kay were married in 1983. Her four
children were teenagers. Jack had just started Jack Leonard Gymnastics, so
Kay became the "behind-the-scenes" administrator while she worked full
time as V.P./General
Manager of a medium-sized video production/multimedia company based in Virginia. After
19 years with that company, Kay "retired" to work from home as a satellite
communications, a/v coordinator, and marketing consultant under the moniker of
"Lagniappe Services" (it means "a little extra").
She also started coaching with Jack at JLG and continues to do so at Kauai
Gymnastics, teaching Tots through Advanced Beginners and assisting with the Tumbling & Back
Handsprings for Cheerleader classes. Her many years of ballet as a child
come in mighty handy! Believe it or not, she also was in a Hula Troupe (in
MD) when she was 10! Besides coaching, Kay is the "Paperwork Queen" at
KGA. Kay and Jack have 8 grandchildren, 2 of whom live on Kauai and
take classes at
KGA.
Coach: Daphne Therese Daphne is
well-known in the Kapaa area. Not only does she teach Hawaiian Culture to the lucky
3rd graders at Kapaa Elementary School, but she is also a midwife AND she dances
at Cafe Coco every chance she gets. Last but not least, she
teaches hula to adults and creates custom dances for brides to perform at their
weddings! Her background in dance and gymnastics makes her uniquely
qualified as our assistant coach of our teams.
(This picture shows her "in action!") She loves teaching and she exudes the epitome of ALOHA! We are very lucky to have her as part of
our Ohana.
Coach: Nikki Munroe Nikki was raised in Ohio, and graduated from The Ohio State University "Go Buckeyes!" She and her husband have been on island for over 5 years and are proud to call it home. Nikki was active in gymnastics for most of her life and has a passion for teaching little kids. In her off time from the gym, Nikki is a Make a Wish Foundation Volunteer, and works full time for a private business owner. Nikki doesn't currently teach a regular class at KGA, but you may see her as a sub in the Tots and Beginners classes.
Coach: Stacy Mallory Stacy is originally from Oregon where she was in gymnastics for about 10 years. She was also a Cheerleader for a year. She attended Mt. Hood College (Oregon) and coached at American Elite Gymnastics for 2 years before she moved to Oahu. She coached for a year at Rainbow Gymnastics. She's been on Kauai for about 4 years and has a 3 year old daughter. She finally moved close enough to Puhi to join our staff! Stacy currently works with Tots and Cheerleaders.
“Steff” is from a small town in Minnesota, where she began taking gymnastics when she was around 8 years old. She competed in it up to level 8 under USGF (USA Gymnastics) until she was in high school. She dropped club competition and competed at the high school level through senior year. During the non-gymnastics seasons, she was a spring board diver and competed in track – specifically high, long, and triple jump. After high school she was on the track team at the University of MN – Duluth. She made All-Conference every season and was co-captain her senior year. She graduated UMD with a degree in exercise science and started working as a personal trainer in south Texas. She worked as a fitness specialist and helped coach the H.S. team at her old school, while attending massage school and then started her own massage practice. She moved to Kauai in Feb 05. Her “daytime job” is at the Grand Hyatt as a massage therapist and we are lucky to have her at KGA during her off-schedule! Steff says, “I am happy to have discovered the Kauai Gymnastics Academy! I love gymnastics and it will forever be in my blood. I am happy to still be able to have fun in the gym and love helping others learn and enjoy it as well!”
Coach: Lucia Kerr Lucia comes to KGA via Madison, WI, although she lived on Kauai first when she was small. In 2006, after 12 years of living in Madison (her mom's home town), her family traded in cold blasts for warm breezes and moved back to Kauai. Lucia has a long background in gymnastics and dance. She took gymnastics for six years at Madtown Twisters in Madison, then continued at the High School level. She also took two years of Tap and Ballet at Kehls' Dance School. Her hobbies are running, surfing, guitar, gymnastics and reading. Lucia works with Tots, Beginners and Beginner Plus gymnasts at KGA.
Coach: Erika Rheaume Erika is spending a year on our beautiful Garden Isle before going to Nursing School on Oahu. In the meantime, we are happy to take advantage of her gymnastics skills! She was a Level 8 competitive gymnast in her hometown of Racine, WI (are we becoming a Wisconsin mecca?). She also took many dance classes (the mark of a true gymnast!). Although you could confuse her with many of our team kids, she attended University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in their nursing program. So naturally she's first aid certified! She's working with Hoku and Kula to help them perfect their skills and to design floor routines. Aloha Erika!
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Gymnastics Academy -- Where It's FUN
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