Kids Level Up at Athletic Horizons

When you think of gymnastics, maybe Olympians like Simone Biles, or for those of us from another generation, Cathy Rigby, come to mind – extraordinary young athletes that take gymnastics to the highest level, out of reach of most of us. But young people don’t have to be Olympic stars to reap life-long benefits from participating in gymnastics.

Benefits of a challenging sport

Gymnastics enhances children’s physical skills such as strength, balance, coordination and flexibility. It has positive impacts on self-esteem and social and cognitive development. “Children learn to have faith in themselves as they work through situations that may be hard or scary,” says Cindy Ferranti, founder and owner of Athletic Horizons Gymnastics Center in Chico.

“Athletic Horizon’s guiding philosophy is family, school, gymnastics in that order,” Cindy says. “You have to get your chores done at home, you have to get the kind of grades and get your homework done that your parents require of you; and then comes gymnastics. From gymnastics, children learn discipline, a good work ethic, how to work through things that are hard, things that are scary. These skills will help them throughout their lives. Gymnastics teaches you a lot about life.”

Developing confidence from a young age

From a small gym on 5th street in 1982 to the present extensive facility at 415 Otterson Drive, Cindy and her team of caring and qualified coaches have guided gymnastic students to not only successfully compete on state, regional and national levels, but to develop skills and confidence that will serve them for the rest of their lives. “The two team coachs, Anna and Cindy, are great,” says 16-year-old team member Martha Vitroratos. “They both support us throughout our journeys in gymnastics. Anna is always there for us as a coach and as a person. She is great at motivating us to push ourselves in both skill-learning and conditioning. Cindy is really good at giving corrections that make sense. She can phrase things in a way that makes them click for me.”

Cindy emphasizes that the benefits of gymnastics accrue whether you train to compete or just enjoy learning gymnastic skills. At Athletic Horizons, children as young as three years old are introduced to healthy movement through fun and simple exercises with scarves, lummi sticks or balls that help with eye-hand coordination. “Preschool classes are not gymnastics training,” Cindy says. “We use the gymnastic environment to teach children skills like listening, waiting your turn, motor skills and social development.”

Children level up through gymnastic classes and teams

Benefits abound for the over 600 boys and girls who visit the gym each week. Boys can learn balance, coordination, confidence and social skills in gymnastic classes and learn self-control and increase their strength, agility and flexibility in Ninja classes. Girls can take a variety of classes and choose to join the gymnastics team after completing the requisite levels.

Athletic Horizons participates in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic Program. To qualify for the gymnastic team, girls progress through levels at their own pace. “There are about 80 skills a child needs to master at each level,” Cindy says. “Once they reach the level to qualify for the team, they are invited to join the team.” Girls have the option to join the team or stay in pre-team level or tumbling/trampoline.

State, regional and national level competitions provide opportunities for the team to travel throughout the U.S., hone their competitive skills and develop supportive friendships. “I love the good team environment,” says Martha. “All of us are friends and since there are few of us in each level, competing together allows us to get to know one another. We celebrate one another’s victories and help one another through mental blocks.”

 Many Athletic Horizon gymnasts have received athletic scholarships to continue their careers in college. “Gymnastics is the basis of all sports,” Cindy says. “We’ve had gymnasts that go on to be pole vaulters, run track, compete in swimming, diving and arial skiing and even become dancers. Emily Azevedo has become an Olympian in bobsledding after years on our competitive team.”

Fundraising and community service

To help cover travel expenses and simultaneously teach kids about community service, Athletic Horizons holds a spring and a fall fundraiser. For the spring interclub girls meet, children in their recreation program learn and perform a routine on every event: vault, bars, beam and floor.

Every child in the gym in every age group can participate in the October Olympic Festival held at the gym. A ceremony, torch, flag and Olympic oath make this an exciting and very special event for budding gymnasts.

The public is cordially invited to these two extraordinary fundraising events and admission is a can of food. All food collected is donated to the Chico State Wildcat Food Pantry. A snack bar operated by the parent-run booster club, GRIP, is key to raising funds to ease to cost of traveling to competitions.

Developing good exercise habits for life

But, Cindy says, Olympic training is not the goal or even the main focus of Athletic Horizon coaches. “We are here so children can get a head start on their emotional and physical development. We don’t start kids in an Olympic training program to be national champions. It’s all about just enjoying moving around. Kids can learn to move at a very young age and enjoy it. Then it will be a habit later in their life.”

Another great perk – Athletic Horizons can take out the work and put in the fun for your child’s next birthday. They’ll set up an age-appropriate obstacle course, do all the prep, clean up and party management. Parents bring food and decorations; the Athletic Horizons staff will take care of the rest.

Gymnastics test drive

Are you wondering if your child would be interested in gymnastics? For kids who just want to dip their toe in the gymnastics water, Athletic Horizons has just the ticket. For a small fee, preschoolers and their parents can come to Fantastic Fridays, the first and third Friday of every month, 10am-12pm, to enjoy physical activities like playing with balls, skipping rope, bouncing on the trampoline and climbing. Kids 6 and over can come to Open Gym the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, 10-11am, to get a taste of gymnastics.

Cindy’s love of the sport is inspiring and contagious, and it permeates all she does for children and in mentoring her coaches. “I was a collegiate gymnast and I did gymnastics as a youngster,” she says. “I love gymnastics and love sharing it with children and the coaches that work with our students. It’s a difficult sport, but kids that like gymnastics like that kind of challenge. They say that kids who like gymnastics are always chasing another goal. What can I do now? What’s next, what’s next, what’s next? There is always something else to learn.”

For more information on classes, teams and fundraising events, go to athletichorizons.com.