Seattle Gymnastics Academy - Ballard — Local services in Seattle

My son attended SGA Ballard for almost two years. He finished all but a couple of the level 1 skills the first year and then made no progress after that. In the two years at SGA he had many different coaches and often the assigned coach was absent and a substitute was used. Some of the coaches clearly didn't want to teach boys and transitioned to girls gymnastics as soon as they could. My son made very little progress and became discouraged after a year. It was so boring but I made him stick with it because I kept telling him it would get better. We emailed one of his coaches and asked for help. My son lost interest and started just talking with other boys and when I asked the coach why he wasn't progressing they blamed my son for not paying attention. I agreed with them for a while and punished him for talking and I feel so guilty I did that now. In hindsight I'm so furious they blamed him for their failure to coach. Because after he went back to listening clearly and being a good leader for the younger boys, the class was still the same crap with no progress or coaching and of course that coach who blamed him left to go be with the girls. We emailed again and asked for a private lesson to help him progress and no private was ever offered. We kept asking his coaches what he needed to improve on and the answers were vague and not encouraging. We bought a pull up bar at home and worked with him to improve. My son is very tall and we never expected him to become a professional gymnast, but after almost two years of the same crap, no development, and constant switching of coaches I've had enough and I'm so angry we stuck with it as long as we did. I strongly recommend if you have a boy that you look elsewhere. My son learned more in a weeklong parks and recreation gymnastics camp than he did at two years at SGA. If you have a girl, I can say they do a good job with girls. I've watched many, many classes and girls do well here as the coaches really care about the girls. I recognize that boys' gymnastics is difficult because until puberty boys don't have the muscle mass to complete complex skills while girls can twirl and dance. But, that doesn't excuse the lack of care and lack of coaching and the EXCESSIVE amount of coaching changes and substitutes and general disregard for my son's progress. I spent over $3400 on this place and my son couldn't show you barely anything he learned. The boy gymnastics at SGA Ballard is a waste of time and a waste of a...

Some decent coaches (and some we've loved) but this place seems to be poorly run from the top down. Random weeks off (same cost for parents whether classes are in session or not) for summer break, holidays, gym clean up, etc. Rather than prorate the monthly fee, they offer to let families come in during a designated time once a week, to join a mixed-skills class and go through rotations.

I have no idea if coaches are paid for these forced breaks - I certainly hope they are.

Within the "leveling up" system, there are clear guidelines for promotion to next level but those guidelines are not followed by staff. For their "competitive star league" - make sure your child's group will have more than 6 kids as scoring skews in favor of larger groups and literally penalizes smaller teams (lowest scores dropped from larger groups - not so for smaller teams, so averages are elevated when more kids are on a team). I engaged with the leader of the Star League program and was told that they're always searching for ways to improve the system" but my recommendation seems to have been roundly disregarded.

For parents spending hours at SGA, it's a small thing, but the benches for viewing are child-sized (not fit for adults) so they are UNCOMFORTABLE and downright impossible if you have any knee, ankle, or back issues.

I appreciate the skills my kids have developed here--balance, cartwheels, continuing despite repeated failure (see above for scoring system)--but also have been very frustrated by the poor communication, the "always irritated" girls behind the counter (even annoyed when told that kids received an electric shock from a water fountain), and frankly, I'd expect more from a program...

This place is magical. Rest assured that excellent athletics and gymnastics are a given- the attentive and dedicated coaches support the gymnasts at every level (we’ve been here from the tumbling fun of the toddler years old to now in a competitive league). They safely and appropriately protect the kids l from the stereotypical hyper-competitive gymnastics culture while definitely promoting and advancing real athletes, both physically and mentally.

Most unexpected to me, though, are the emotional and life-skills the kids (and parents) acquire here: this place shows us all what working hard towards a goal looks like, how to cultivate patience and persistence with yourself and others, and all the forms of teamwork at every level (from family, between the coach/athlete, between fellow athletes, and the administration itself). While true for every sport to a certain extent, it’s remarkable to watch kids blossom and grow into their strong selves, week over week, at SGA Ballard.

In particular we’ve had extra special experiences with coaches Kara, Katelynn, and Breyden, and Manager Julienna (and every person who has ever answered the phone and patiently explained available classes and schedules to us for the hundredth time). Can’t recommend this place enough for any kid interested in trying out gymnastics, whether just for fun or for more serious...