From the time I was 10 years old and Nadia Comaneci won the gold medal in the 1976 olympics, I caught the gymnastics bug.  Being the youngest of 4 children, my parents didn't have the money or time to get me lessons, but I was able to take a summer school gymnastics class and fell instantly in love with this awesome sport.  When I entered Jr. High I tried out and made the gymnastics team.  I also spent four years on the gymnastics team at Cupertino High School, competing in all four events - floor, bars, tumbling and vault.

 

Upon graduation from high school, I was invited to return as the junior varsity coach and I also starting working part-time at West Valley Gymnastics as a recreational coach for the beginning and advanced beginning classes.  While working as a coach, I also became interested in judging and took the required classes to get my judging certification.  I used to practice my judging techniques on the team at West Valley, including young Amy Chow who was approximately 6 years old at the time.  She went on to become one of the "Magnificent 7" of the 1996 olympics!

 

In spring of 1987, I married Kurt Kromer and we moved to Sunnyvale which was nice and close to where we both worked together at our full-time jobs, but it was a little too far to commute to Campbell, so I resigned from West Valley Gymnastics, but since I really loved coaching, I started working part-time at Twisters Gymnastics in Mountain View.  At Twisters I began working with the younger children and found I really enjoyed this age group.  I continued to judge competitions on the weekends and also began to work with the pre-team at Twisters.  I absolutely loved this job and continued working until I was six months pregnant with our first child.  I hated to quit coaching, but for the safety of myself and my child, it was a necessity.  I had always planned to go back to coaching, but as life had it, things just didn't work out quite as planned.

 

We moved to the Almaden area in 1989, and in addition to being a new mother, I had to return to my full-time job as an administrative assistant.  There was no time nor energy left for a part-time job coaching with my busy schedule.  Then two years later, child number two was born and then child three and child four followed suit within the next several years.  By this time, I had quit my full-time job and worked from home as a medical transcriptionist.  I was happy because I could be at home with my children and help with the family expenses, but after 8 years of typing, I developed a severe case of tendonitis and had to quit.

 

I ran several home-based businesses for the next couple of years while raising the children and Kurt continued to work as a multi-media design engineer for a major aerospace company where he remains employed today.

 

In the fall of 2004 I met Janice Morreira, the owner of The Little Gym of San Jose, and I knew that it was time to get back into coaching.  Janice was passionate about the philosophy of The Little Gym and I was immediately attracted to the non-competitive, loving, nurturing way of teaching at The Little Gym.  I started working for Janice in 2004 teaching parent-child, preschool and grade school classes.

 

Then in 2005 we decided to open our own The Little Gym, and after looking around the Bay Area, we settled on the community of Morgan Hill.  Since opening The Little Gym of Morgan Hill we have met some wonderful families and I enjoy welcoming each new family that comes through our doors with open arms.  We have hired a dynamic staff of individuals who also love children and have a passion for teaching.  We invite you to come and play and learn in our bright, clean and friendly gym where your child will grow by leaps and bounds in skills and self-confidence.  We invite you to stop by or call us anytime to set up a FREE, no obligation, introductory class and look forward to meeting you and your children!  HAPPY HANDSTANDS!!!