Yadkin Valley Gymnastics Academy

★Taylor Church

Firstly, you have to sign up online since no one answers the phone. When you show up to the class, no one greets you. You don’t know where to go and have to ask other patrons since staff are holed up in the office. The space itself is run down and smells musty. Our toddler couldn’t pay attention and became too overstimulated since all the older kids were sprinting and jumping. The toddler class is held in the middle of a room, while at least 3 other classes with much older kids are going on at the same time. I do not recommend this for young children.

★★★Danielle Pierce

We’ve attended a few classes now. There is almost never anywhere to sit while waiting for the class to finish. You can only see the students through a small window so you are unable to hear the coaches, which strikes me as odd. The actual gym is quite small and smells stale in comparison to our old gym. Unsure if we will continue classes or search for another place for lessons.

★ruth.evelie

Oh boy here we go. I was on the competitive team for a few years. the coaches were extremely mentally and emotionally abusive. constantly commenting on elementary-age children’s weight, body image, and eating habits. in 2020 I broke and dislocated my elbow and was back up on the high beam doing routines 3 days after surgery. All my coach said about the unsafe situation was “don’t fall down”. Her favorite threat to give us was “i’m going to rip your leg off and beat you with it.” that comment was usually followed by a joke that her alexa was listening in on her and going to call CPS. We were yelled at, at such volumes that parents in the lobbies and parking lot would ask about the screaming after practice. the facility is disgusting. they only clean the pit, mats, and equipment once a year; typically making gymnasts clean for them at the annual team Christmas party. We’d find dead mice, snake skins, an ungodly amount of hair , and enough dust to suffocate yourself. She was consistently threatening, guilt tripping, manipulating, and lying to young gymnasts. she didn’t take injuries seriously in the least, my teammate once broke her ankle at practice and was told to continue with the conditioning session and told she was “lying and dramatic” when she complained of ankle pain. Xrays confirmed it was a break after practice. Another gymnast dislocated her elbow during a vault rotation and she had her teammates vaulting seconds after she left for the ER. 0 regard for whatever mental blocks they would be experiencing after witnessing that. There were plenty other negative experiences that aren’t mentioned. My hopes in sharing this is to keep other young girls from possibly being hurt by this gym. I’m relieved to hear my coaches have all since retired.

★Dragon Person

Me and my best friend went here when we were in elementary to middle school. We were given insulting nicknames such as heifer because they said my best friend was too big. This led to them having an eating disorder and almost killed them. Not only did they constantly comment on my friends weight even though they were healthy and muscular, they also commented and bullied me about my lack of body fat and bony body. This gave me body dysmorphia and I only wore hoodies till I was 15 to cover my “bony arms”. My friend who was at a higher level than me had much worse experience than I did on the less experienced side. The old teacher, Larkann, I don’t believe she works there anymore hopefully (and I can’t speak for the current coaches) was extremely emotionally abusive and would work the team to the bone and would insult them until they cried. I didn’t work with her as much in my time there but when I did I was terrified of her and every time I messed up I was scared she would yell at me. In short I don’t know if the environment has changed since my time there but I hope it has because they severely damaged our mental states.

★★★★★Lily Taylor

I love going to class at Yadkinville Valley Gymnastics because they are so nice and the instructors help you so much if you don’t understand something that your class is going over. They will work with you until you get it and they will wait until your body is ready to go through with an advance skill!!! I would totally recommend this gym to anyone because it is such a great and friendly place to take gymnastics ☺️