Ignacio kids and teens have a new place to hone their gymnastics and wresting skills at the Education Literacy Health Inspiration Community Center.
Longtime gymnastics coach Elizabeth Herring opened Ignite Gymnastics late this spring in the former school on Ute Drive to serve a wide variety of interests and skills.
Herring has coached gymnastics for decades and she has seen how it can help develop athletes.
“They really blossom in their confidence and their physical abilities,” she said.
Herring started coaching when she was 19 after marrying into a family steeped in gymnastics. Her husband’s parents, Bette and Glenn Herring, ran one of the early gymnastics training centers in Kerrvillle, Texas, in the 1960s. They also founded Santa Fe Gymnastics in New Mexico and Gold Rush Gymnastics in Durango.
Herring coached thousands of children at Gold Rush Gymnastics from 1990 to 2000, she said. She also ran Destiny Gymnastics and later ReMarkable Gymnastics in Bayfield. However, coaching became tough for her after her husband, Mark, died unexpectedly in 2001 and she was left to raise five children.
“It was challenging to say the least,” she said.
Now, she feels ready to get back into coaching full time with help from several of her children who are experienced athletes.
Ignite is starting out with a wide variety of classes, mostly for children younger than 12, including developmental gymnastics, dance and acrobatics, competitive cheerleading and open gym time.
The gym will also offer a class for children with physical or developmental challenges.
Classes will be several sessions over the summer, so children and parents do not need to commit to a full summer of classes, Herring said.
Wrestling classes are expected to start in July, and ninja warrior training is expected to start in the fall.
Herring opened in Ignacio because she believes the community needed a gym and would embrace it.
She expects to move into a larger facility in Ignacio by the fall, as the gym grows and adds equipment, she said.
Ignite Gymnastic’s extensive class schedule can be found at ignitegymnastics.org. More information is available by calling Herring at (970) 403-2636.
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