Black Hills Gymnastics — Attraction in Lacey

We were at Black Hills for about a year. I have a 7 year old who has been doing gymnastics for four years and a 5 year old who started and stopped gymnastics at Black Hills.

On the good side, Maddie at the front desk is overworked but a wonderful and hardworking person. Also, it seems clear to me they are fostering incredible talent with young people. The level of skill for the kids who get attention is impressive.

My 7 year old was accepted into Xcel prep team. She made a close friend and really found a passion for bars.

Over summer, Coach Conner said she was lacking in focus. Most of the kids were out for the summer. My daughter was camping and attending art, math and sailing camps. Her world view was broadening.

Also, I was kind of transient at the time and waiting for my apartment to come through. Our routine was disrupted. While she was happy, she maybe fell out of love with gymnastics for the summer.

I thought about my run with soccer as a little girl and I fell in and out of love with it, but was still committed for over a decade. I think that alone is a valuable lesson.

Coach C and I set up a system where I knew if she gave 100% during practice and would get her a treat if she did.

She refocused but I think Black Hills gave up on her before the fall session. She was separated from her close friend and spent four hours a week doing stretches and beams.

She didn't learn new skills and never returned to the bars she loved so much. Coach Conner stayed with a group of more focused children and a wonderful and kind young woman took over with my daughter's new group.

My daughter became bored and restless. Her love of gymnastics dipped further than before. First, my youngest asked to take a break from gymnastics (I just don't think it's her thing). Then my oldest asked to take a break.

I was terrified her love for gymnastics was forever altered. I asked her to talk to her coach. While young people make great coaches, they don't always know how to inspire the way perhaps an older coach might. The coach kinda shrugged her shoulders and told me my daughter wanted to try other sports.

I was hoping maybe my daughter would get more encouragement. Anyway, eventually she asked to try another gym. I think that is the right choice.

We had such a positive experience at the gym in Kirkland, I am sorry to see her love and enthusiasm dip. It is a life lesson though!

The guest wifi doesn't work most of the time which can result in the commiseration of bored parents in the parking lot. My personal hell is the little room with the cubbies when classes transition. There are so many people and no personal space.

I think if your child is ordained by the coaches, it could be an intense but enriching experience. My child, however, doesn't deserve to be left on the sidelines. And not for the same...

Update October 2023: We're once again trying a class here because my daughter only wants to do gymnastics and there are no other options in Lacey. Customer service is still frustrating. Every employee I've worked with has been rude and dismissive. The parking situation is awful.

Customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I talked with them in the phone several times and often felt that they didn't have the answers to my questions, such as "what summer camps will you offer?" or "How much do they cost?" In general, prices were unclear and misleading. Please be upfront. I have a limited budget! I need to know that there will be additional $100 fees for events, registration, etc on top of tuition. Just put a price sheet on your website. Programs seemed alright. My daughter enjoyed the gymnastics class while she was in it. Safety was a concern for me, though. Although she was only in the program for 6 weeks, she did get injured. I guess she hit her head on a bar. How did that happen? Shouldn't someone be spotting? Preschool summer camp. This program seemed ok, except they kicked my 4 year old son out after only 5 days of attendance. I've been debating posting a review for awhile now, because I do recognize that his behavior was problematic. However, I do not feel that we were given much of a chance here. Some kids are more physical that others, my son is one of them (which is why we chose a gymnastics camp!) Instead of working with him on his behavior he was immediately asked to leave. He's 4. He has little impulse control. And it doesn't help him at all to be told he's a bad kid and he's not allowed at camp. To be clear, I was not made aware of any serious incidents involving him at camp until we were being...

I’ll start out by saying this place is better than the last center we went to for gymnastics. However, my daughter is 4 and in the level 1 class with other kids her age. She’s attended gymnastics for a long time but is unfamiliar with some of the names they call the poses on the beam stands. She doesn’t understand what “beam feet” means and they haven’t helped correct her on it either. I did mention this to them the first class and they just replied “oh it’s ok”. While the coaches in the Thursday morning class are better at addressing the kids, I feel like they sometimes are frustrated with my daughter because she did not attend THEIR kinder class, so she’s not on the routine the other girls are. And they won’t spend any individual time with her to help correct what they’re getting frustrated with. She has fun so I am happy for that.

On a side note, the last gym we went to did not smell this bad, and the owners are cheap so if the weather is cool outside, they won’t run the air or a fan AT ALL. I actually have almost fainted a couple of times because of how musty and muggy it gets inside when they leave all the air off. This costs each kid $100 a month, you can afford to rent a carpet extractor and run a fan when it’s over 70 degrees inside. Lady at the desk seemed too busy to hear my feedback so hopefully...