Focus goes beyond the mat at Denali Gymnastics Academy

When Lynn and Sandy Reynolds' children began taking gymnastics classes at Alaska Olympic Gymnastics Academy of Wasilla in 1983, the couple had a hard time keeping up with the costs. Lynn worked on a drilling rig on the North Slope and Sandy was a stay-at-home mom. Though Lynn made a good living, the children's' gymnastics lessons and competition fees put a real strain on the family's budget.

"Between the three kids, there were 25 to 30 meets a season. It was expensive," Lynn said. "We started coaching just to offset the costs."

Neither he nor his wife had ever been in gymnastics.

"I had taken a class in college on coaching and theory, but I never actually planned to use it," Lynn said.

And, he said, he never imagined he and his wife would one day own the facility. But when an accident in 1985 claimed the life of Bruce McGhan, who along with his wife, Debbie, owned AOGAOW, Lynn quit his job on the Slope, and the couple bought the business.

"We took it over so it wouldn't close. We didn't do it for the money; we did it for the kids. It was going to put all the kids out [of gymnastics]," Lynn said.

Some 250 to 300 gymnasts and cheerleaders were enrolled in classes at AOGAOW at the time. But by 1988, that number had dropped to 100.

"We started losing kids when the economy started getting worse in the mid- to late-'80s," Lynn said. "We were losing money -- going backwards."

He began working on the Slope again just to subsidize their income.

"Basically, we were paying to coach other people's kids," Lynn said.

He said they held on for as long as they could. But by 1989 they could no longer afford the loss. They closed the gym that May.

That decision was hard not only on their three children, says the couple, but on the community as well.

"People wouldn't leave us alone. Whenever we'd go into a store or anywhere, they were asking us if we would re-open. They were calling us at home saying 'Weren't you guys doing gymnastics? Where are you doing it now?'" Sandy said.

She said Lynn started looking around again, hoping to find any way to re-open. He thought if they reorganized the business, did all the coaching themselves and hired no employees, they might be able to make it work. But he still worried that they wouldn't get enough students to pay the bills.

In 1990, Lynn decided to place a coupon in the Frontiersman. It read, "If you are interested in seeing a Junior-Olympic gymnastics facility re-open in the Valley, fill out this coupon and return it to us." The couple agreed they wouldn't consider re-opening unless 75 coupons were returned. They received 150 in the first week alone.

"That was about all we could handle at the time because Sandy and I did everything," Lynn said.

They rented a 3,600-square-foot space in the back of Howard's Gym in the old B & J Mall, near Wendy's, and opened Denali Gymnastics Academy in October 1990. Both Lynn and Sandy began coaching six to seven classes a day, six days a week.

Their hard work paid off. The business grew, and by 1993 they had outgrown their space. They moved into a 12,000-square-foot space in the same shopping center near Wendy's.

Their expanded facility allowed them to expand their program. They added additional gymnastics classes, and in 1995 they acquired Paradise Fitness and renamed it Denali Fitness.

In 1999 the couple expanded their program again, with the addition of a preschool program for children ages 3 through 5 and a summer day camp program, Denali Summer Fun Camp, for children ages 5 and up. In addition, they began offering before- and after-school care, as well as transportation to and from the gym from seven local schools.

In 2002, they added a competitive cheerleading program -- Denali All Stars -- to the roster. And this summer they added cheerleading classes for beginning and intermediate level cheerleaders -- Shooting Stars and Rising Stars.

But as the programs expanded and enrollment increased, Denali Gymnastics Academy once again outgrew its space.

"With the growth in the programs from '95 on, the space became smaller and smaller. We had maxed out every square inch," Sandy said.

The couple knew it was time for a move. But this time it wouldn't do to simply expand in their current location as they had done in the past. The gym was cramped not only on the inside, but on the outside as well; the parking lot in the small shopping center that housed the facility couldn't accommodate the 60 or so cars that might have been in the parking lot at the same time on any given day, dropping children off or picking them up.

They hired a construction contractor, Criterion General, and broke ground on a new gym on Wasilla-Fishhook Road this summer. In September, Denali Gymnastics Academy opened the doors of its new 20,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, complete with a fitness facility and separate daycare and preschool areas. And there are 110 parking spaces in all.

"We thought that was a lot," Lynn said. "But since we moved in, I've realized it may not be enough."

The business that began with 150 students and no employees in 1990 has grown to some 800 active students with another 700 on file and 29 employees. Both Lynn and Sandy still work anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a day, six days a week.

"But it's nice to have grown to a point where we don't have to do everything. I can just stand back and watch sometimes. We have an awesome staff," Sandy said.

Much of that staff consists of gymnasts, former gymnasts or the parents of those gymnasts. And two of the Reynolds' children, Leon, 27, and Amy, 22, work for the gym as well. Their oldest daughter, Melissa Chan, 24, worked there too, until moving to Bethel with her husband and children last year.

"It's been a family operation since day one," Lynn said.

He said his children grew up in the gym.

"We'd take them to school in the morning, pick them up and bring them back to the gym after school, go home at the end of the day and start all over again in the morning," Sandy said.

Though the days were often long, both Lynn and Sandy say the time was well spent.

"It kept our kids out of trouble and it helped them learn about business," Lynn said.

Indeed, when the Reynolds' children weren't in gymnastics classes or competing in gymnastics meets, they were helping out around the gym. All three cleaned, moved equipment, did paperwork and eventually began coaching themselves. By the time they were in high school, all three grew tired of gymnastics and switched to cheerleading. But the gym offered tumbling classes for that as well.

"One of the greatest values this gym has ever presented is to our family. We were always together," Lynn said.

Their oldest child, Leon, agrees.

"I've always worked with my mom and dad and my sisters. We're a very strong unit from being together all the time," he said.

He still works with his family, but he now brings his 11-month-old son Mason to work with him. And his wife, Kristan, works at the gym as well.

"[Having my own family here now] makes me appreciate it even more. With a typical job, you are away from your family and your kids. But here we can involve the whole family," Leon said.

"It's a great positive atmosphere to be around, especially raising my kids around it," echoed his sister Melissa.

Though Melissa no longer lives in the Valley, she visits often. And she says her children, Elijah, 5, and Jade, 2, love playing in the gym.

Denali Gymnastics Academy's administrative director Elaine Carley says the Reynoldses aren't the only ones who benefited from the gym's family atmosphere. Carley began helping Lynn and Sandy with bookkeeping when they started the business in 1985. She traded bookkeeping services for her children's gymnastics tuition.

"It was the best thing that could have happened with my kids. It kept them active and it kept them out of trouble," Carley said.

She said her children were in the gym six days a week. When they weren't in classes, they'd ask to come in and work out on their own. And when they were old enough, they started coaching.

"It was a positive place for my kids to grow up in. The discipline and focus that this gives the kids stays with them all through their lives," Carley said.

Lynn says providing children with that discipline and focus in a safe and fun environment is more than just his responsibility as a businessman; it's his responsibility to the community.

"I really do feel like, although we own [the building] on paper, this isn't ours. It belongs to the community," he said. "We're just stewards here. The larger it is, the more the responsibility, the greater the stewardship."