Flip Factory keeps atmosphere fun, supportive

COEUR d’ALENE – Nine-year-old Anika Yeend might stand about even with the balance beam and need a boost to reach the overhead uneven bars, but underneath her diminutive stature lies an Olympic-sized dream.

“I like being in gymnastics because I actually get to be going to the gym and I can get into the Olympics,” she said, bedecked in the familiar one-piece leotard while taking a break from floor-tumbling exercises at Flip Factory Gymnastics, a gym recently opened on Appleway Avenue in Coeur d’Alene.

That’s a running theme among many of the multicolor-outfitted tumblers bounding around the cavernous open-air room at the gym, while their parents watched the action behind windows in an adjacent area. And encouraging each gymnast, no matter how slight or lofty their hopes, are owners Todd and Tammy McLean, who moved the business to North Idaho after more than nine years in Airway Heights.

“We really wanted to become a big gym, one of the biggest gyms in the Northwest,” said Todd McLean.

“We were looking for a place that was ready to expand and this area definitely is growing.”

After transforming the 8,500-square-foot former church into a USA Gymnastics Association-certified center, which took a team of workers and volunteers a labor-intensive weekend, the McLeans anticipated more of a steady and long-term approach to their business. What they got in the Lake City was unexpected. Within two weeks of rolling back the gym’s garage door entrance, more than 70 members had joined, from kindergarten- to college-age athletes.

Along with two other coaches, Meloney Greer and Tiara Racicot, the four-member staff puts its combined 40 years of coaching experience into gymnastics classes for all ages, including competitive teams and tumbling classes for cheerleaders. A studio will be added in the fall for dance classes.

There are several reasons behind their early prosperity, the owners said.

In the weeks leading up to and during the U.S. gymnastics teams quests for gold under the spotlight of primetime television, Flip Factory Gymnastics saw an increase in kids and parents interested in the sport, just as they do every four years when the Olympics are held, Todd McLean said.

“It’s just exploding,” he said. “We knew it would grow fast, especially in an Olympic year, but we didn’t expect it like it has been.”

Despite that worldwide attention factor, the owners had high hopes the area could support another gymnastics center, especially given North Idaho’s rapidly growing population. And while it hasn’t been a problem to get people inside to try out the acrobatic art of tossing and tumbling – to keep them involved, rather than taking a rigid approach to athletics – the coaches said they won’t take the sport too seriously,

“We really try to focus on a fun atmosphere and fundamentally sound training for the athletes,” Todd McLean offered. “We are competitive but supportive. It’s been our experience through the years that students do just as well in a fun environment as they do in a stricter one.”

Under the watchful eyes of the Flip Factory coaches on a recent afternoon, dozens of athletes practiced a variety of routines throughout the gyms huge padded arena. Nearby, Linden Custer observed his 10-year-old daughter, Sita, perform on the balance beam.

“My daughter has been in gymnastics eight years now,” he said, adding that he and his wife, who adopted the 3-pound newborn from India, decided to place the undersized child in gymnastics at a young age to add weight. “She was very small and very petite, so we got her into it to help build her muscle. She loves it; she’s had lots of ups and downs.”

The family decided to stop by Flip Factory Gymnastics after meeting the owners at regional competitions.

“Their teaching method was what attracted us,” Linden Custer said, as Sita gracefully spiraled across the thin beam. “We’ve been really happy with this. What we like about this gym is that they don’t push them as hard … I really like Todd and Tammy’s approach. They’ve really brought some life back into her.”

On the mats, though, the only thing that mattered to the plucky 10-year-old powerhouse was the capacity to let loose. Her favorite thing about gymnastics, Sita offered before bounding off, are the bars. “I get to flip,” she said.