Gym rats

WASILLA — Amy Moore was born and raised in the hills of New Hampshire with a dream to be on the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.

For eight solid years she rigorously trained. Away from her family and home, Moore lived with a host family and trained hours on end to accomplish her dream. There was no time to play, no time for lollygagging. This was for real.

“I didn’t really have a life with my family growing up,” Moore said. “The training was very intense. But in the end, I never got to the Olympics.”

Moore’s diligence and dedication in gymnastics wasn’t enough to get her on the Olympic floor on the sport’s biggest stage. She suffered several injuries during training, rendering her without a sternum and lifelong complications in her wrists. The damage was done.

But the reality of never wearing a gold medal around her neck didn’t stop Moore from somersaulting into gymnastics on a different level — as a coach and trainer.

Moore is the owner and lead coach at MPT Gym in Wasilla. MPT (More Power Trainer) is Moore’s 12th privately owned facility, having started up facilities in Eagle River and on Ft. Richardson in Anchorage. She’s also taken advantage of being married to a former U.S. Army serviceman who was stationed in Germany by opening a temporary facility on base overseas.

After Moore’s long road to the Olympics was cut short, she decided to drive forward in business and start coaching recreational gymnastics, a less tenacious form of gymnastics. She also wanted to dabble in cheerleading.

Moore earned a degree in business from Dartmouth College and recruited help from Keith Van Winkle, a nationally renowned gymnastics trainer, to help her start up her own gymnastics program.

“There was a point when I was 12 when I knew I couldn’t train anymore. I was tired,” Moore said. “I had seen these routines my sister was doing, where the gymnasts were actually having fun, wearing their own colors and dancing to their own music, and I knew that was my calling.”

MPT opened it’s doors in Wasilla in August to a great response.

With more than 60 families signed up for her age- and experience-level gymnastics and cheerleading classes, MPT doubles as a training facility, recreational center and a family fun and fitness venue.

“I wanted to show people that gymnastics can be fun, that you didn’t have to compete,” she said.

Moore established gym classes that range from Tot Time (a child and parent interactive class combining basic skill development with gross motor skills) to Power Tumbling (a class focusing on tumbling leading up to round -offs and back handsprings).

She’s also constructed a variety of cheerleading classes, including Pee Wee Cheer for 4- to 7-year-olds.

Inside the Quonset hut off of Melanie Avenue in Wasilla, Moore’s facility holds enough room for her gymnastics equipment, gym apparatus and an upstairs level that she hopes will soon house an arts and crafts department.

“I like to incorporate dance, gym, cheering, a healthy lifestyle and safety in all my classes,” Moore said.

An area of concentration Moore would like to invest more time in is with special needs children. She is designing a physical education class for students with disabilities, focusing on body awareness, balance and coordination.

“Nobody in the [Mat-Su] Valley is doing it,” Moore said. “I have ADHD and was always challenged growing up. Now that I have gyms and being in the military, I see kids who aren’t challenged physically and kids who need to move around more.”

Moore went as far as to build a balance beam with special needs students in mind. The beam is designed to allow students walking the skinny plank to feel rivets and crevices on the surface, instructing them where the beam starts and ends. Moore said. Equipment and trainers who are certified to work with special needs children makes all the difference for those in the Valley looking to broaden and expand their children’s physical abilities.

“I’d like to see more special needs children sign up for classes so that we can create our own Special Olympics,” Moore said.

Her gym is roomy, full of work-out options for adults and children.

“When people come in and check us out, they’ll see we have a lot to offer,” she said.

Debbie Barnes is a mother with a mission — healthy living. All four of Barnes’ children are enrolled in gymnastics courses at MPT, with their day starting at 10:30 a.m. and ending at 2:30 p.m.

Barnes has two children in the kindergarten to second-grade class, one in the preschooler class and her oldest in the third- to fifth-grade class.

“It’s great exercise and they really enjoy it,” Barnes said. “I’m starting my routine next month, so then it will be all of us doing a great workout.”

Moore bought MPT from Lena Edwards, owner of the former gym, Tumblelena’s Gold Star Gymnastics. Together, Moore and Edwards ensure fitness will live on in for families in the Mat-Su Valley.

Moore said she could not have accomplished anything if it wasn’t for the help of her employees and trainers, including Erin Zabel, who supplied countless hours in promoting MPT’s early growth.

“She’s my miracle worker,” Moore said.

For more information about all of MPT Gym’s classes and schedule of times, call 357-8673.

Contact J.J. Harrier at 352-2269 or valleylife@frontiersman.com.