Cascade Elite Gymnastics — Attraction in Mountlake Terrace

Horrible gym/ horrible staff! CEG is a strange place, with half naked self indulging young adult men constantly posing & prancing around in the presence of young adolescent girls. My 6yr old daughter constantly asked me why this was? Good question. CEG is all about increasing revenue and the athletes are not in the gyms best interest. This place is an absolute endless money pit with constant new fees & dues arriving after your contract is signed.

The gym is run by a tyrant who spreads her negative toxic atmosphere throughout CEG. Her stiff upper lip did not form overnight. She has a few coaches in her pocket that are her lieutenants (and they let it be known), the rest of the coaches are treated like dirt as they scratch and claw to find more room in that pocket. Coaches revolve through CEG with regularity. There's one coach that will literally spend an entire 3hr practice session holding her 24.oz latte in one hand with her phone in the other, not once setting either down for the duration. Other coaches are often lost in their phones most practices, or standing around eating their lunch. All things I've come to learn are unique to CEG. After leaving CEG we noticed during our daughters very first practice session at her new gym that her new coaches could and actually did perform the skills they were teaching the kids. Not once in 3yrs did I ever witness this at CEG, not once!

The term "Elite" in the CEG name should stand for "Elitist snobs”. They’re only elite in their pretentious nature, self righteousness and cost. Very belittling staff expecting parents to mind read. Because you have to mind read in regards to their horrendous lines of communications. Don't ever question or inquire about the obvious here either, you may find yourself unknowingly ostracized and shunned from the program. They will not ask anyone to leave the "compulsory" programs. CEG has formulated shady ways of getting rid of those less desirable to make room for select others that have been chosen to fill those spots. Gauge the economy and how long the line is at their door when signing up, especially if a coach tells you they think your kid has potential while they are in the "rec" programs.

I have spent literally hundreds of hours inside this gym over the last few years watching my child, on both the "rec" side & "compulsory". Spectating by the way is not encouraged and frowned upon on the "compulsory" side. I have seen all that goes on at CEG with very clear eyes. Though it is a struggle to see and breath inside this gym through all the microbial dust collecting chalk that constantly waifs through the air. Especially when the boys team practice. Because all they do is stand around chumming it up their entire practice session playing in the chalk bowls, with very little guidance direction or supervision. Almost as if the whole purpose of the boys program is to deter the spectators from "compulsory" side of the gym. By providing them with ample chalk to fill their time with, chalk that constantly drifts into the air right above to where the parents viewing area is on this side of gym.

I could write all day about all I've witnessed at this lousy gym, not enough space to continue. Just know this review is from an actual parent/customer, not by an employee/coach as most other reviews here are. Most reviews on here are not genuine, they’re phony and written by employees. If you're looking for a high end late afternoon daycare run by a cold director and her pretentious lieutenants, where you can just dump your kids off and leave, than perhaps this is the place for you.

There are better professionally run gyms in the region that can provide all (if not more) of what CEG has to offer. And those other gyms are a lot more affordable. Don't buy into their schtick that CEG is an exclusive elite gym set apart from the rest, they're not. Just pretentious gym people that like to voice the term "life lessons" a lot. You will hear the cold director lady regurgitate this term often. Watch for the twinkle in her eye and her self gratifying smile...

​We attended a birthday party at this gym. My son, who is 3.5 yo, was harassed by the male instructor the entire time. I had other parents approach me to let me know how he was speaking to him. He pulled at his shirt and demanded eye contact from him. ​When I approached the male instructor about this he was condescending, rude, aggressive and unprofessional. I was so embarrassing to be spoken to in such a manner and have my kid be so harped on at a birthday party. He provided no solutions. When I couldn't find my son, the same instructor blamed me for not watching him (the parents were told not to come in and I was not aware of how large the facility was). I ended up pulling him out of the gym. When we went back in we had the parent of the birthday kid with us and my son went into the foam pit. The male instructor asked me to pull my son out of the gym again for not listening (note that I pulled him out on my own because of the aggressiveness of the instructor and was not asked to remove him). I reminded him of the solution I provided to watch my son (which he approved) and he started to talk back to me until the birthday parent stepped in and asked that he not speak to his guest in such a manner. The instructor then talked back to him and was incredibly rude when the birthday parent asked to speak to the manager. The male instructor then stood at reception and complained about me where other guest could hear and relayed to me. I am mortified. I have NEVER had such a horrible experience at a kid's bday party. It was clear that there was no training provided to deal with these situations. I didn't want to embarrass my son so I kept my cool and just removed us from the aggressive situation.

We went to a party at The Little Gym the next day and it was like night and day. He had a blast, they let him explore and be a kid. They were fun, happy and knew how to...

We moved to CEG a little over a year ago because our daughter wanted to be on a team with other girls her age and level. She competes at a high level and is in the gym about 25 hours/week. We could not be happier with our decision to move. I agree with the other comments that this is not a "playtime" gym for the team girls.. the coaches work them HARD, but my daughter still love, love LOVES going to gym every day. The coaches are highly trained (I really like their focus on technique and conditioning) and they care deeply about the girls. The other families and girls on the team are lovely and supportive and it's a fantastic community for our entire family. I find the relative drama level low and the stability level high. Competitive gymnastics is a tough sport that requires a mind-boggling amount of dedication and strength from these girls - and I'm so thankful and grateful for the coaches and staff at CEG for the heart and soul they pour into the...