Letter: Making a difference for South Lake Tahoe youth gymnastics

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. ─ If you type “Inversion Gym Tahoe” in your browser, a website will pop up for a program run by Coach Amy Thompson on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. With her husband Tristan Cochrane and two daughters, Coach Amy and her staff host classes and programs serving hundreds of South Shore residents every year. If you visit the gym in person, you will see a lime green sign hanging above the gym door on Eloise Avenue. Inside during program hours, you will feel the hum of activity-focused health, excellence, teamwork, and personal growth. With recreational classes for aerials, trampoline, and other gymnastics forms, the Inversion program also includes competitive teams. These teams provide participants fitness, focus, and fun – as well as a family outside of school.

The 2023 competition season was Inversion’s seventh season since Thompson started the gym almost a decade ago. Last year’s Inversion Gym teams included a total of 72 athletes, ages six to 18 years. They competed across northern Nevada and California in Women’s Xcel, Women’s and Men’s Trampoline & Tumbling, and HUGS, a competitive gymnastics program for individuals with special needs.

In total, the 2023 Inversion Xcel teams participated at five levels of difficulty, Bronze through Diamond. The 54 girls competed in four Invitational meets and State and Regional competitions, bringing home many individual and overall team medals, with personal best all-around scores averaging 36.1 points.

Notably, five of the Inversion Xcel athletes competed in the Regional competition in Long Beach, California, in April: Hailey Turk, Elyse Baer, Myelena Cabral, Cassie Marrion, and Gabby Lancellotti proudly represented South Shore Tahoe. Lancellotti, competing at the Diamond level, came home with a sixth-place finish overall in her division.

The Trampoline and tumbling team also had a very successful year, bringing home 70 medals in three disciplines: Trampoline, Double Mini-trampoline, and Tumbling. At States, the team took home 38 top-five scores, including 23 golds.

The Inversion coaching staff include former competitive gymnasts and tumblers as well as professional dancers and aerialists, all committed to the welfare and growth of the kids. With some competitive programs requiring up 16 hours of practice a week, the coaches become key adults in the children’s lives. The resulting community is a treasure of South Lake Tahoe.

There are countless benefits of having the opportunity to compete at this level in gymnastics, an opportunity few towns our size can boast. Children learn to stay fit and flexible, to develop persistence and grit, and to challenge themselves while supporting their teammates. They learn what patience and hard work can yield, lessons that transfer to their academic and personal lives forever. They learn to take personal responsibility and face victory and defeat gracefully. They learn leadership and citizenship, benefiting our entire community over time.

And it takes the community to make the program possible. In 2023, 80 community members and business sponsors contributed over $17,000 to the Inversion Gym Booster Club, an independent non-profit affiliated with the National Gymnastic Association. Led by Gina Quincy in 2017, a group of parents started the Inversion Gym Booster Club to help alleviate the cost burden on families and to expand opportunities. Since then, the Booster Club has helped cover competition fees, coaches’ fees, and uniform costs, and made it possible for many of our athletes’ families to foot the bill to participate.

The Inversion Gym Booster Club is again seeking sponsors to support the 2024 season. Sponsors’ names are included on the back of a season t-shirt, on a banner hung in the gym, as well as having their names published and thanked in media. Just look on the face of a child receiving a medal to know it’s worth it! To support them with a tax-exempt contribution to the Inversion Gym Booster Club’s 2024 Season Fundraiser, contact inversionbooster@gmail.com.

2023 INVERSION GYM BOOSTER SPONSORS:
Jamie Anderson Foundation
Crivellibrate Events
Mountain Meadow Chiropractic
ReliaPro Painters
Tube Tahoe
Barton Health
Exline and Company
Parker's Grandpa
Tahoe Club 100
Trella Tahoe, Inc.
Uncle Mike
Aloha Ice Cream
Alpine Carpet One
Celebrity Book Club with Chelsea Devantez
Conley Chaos
Cuppa Tahoe
EdMetric, LLC
Emerald Bay Bar and Grill
Ernie's Coffee Shop
Freshies Ohana
Gabby and Giada's Grandma
Holiday Market
Integrity Locksmith
Lake Valley Firefighters Association
Lake Valley Properties
Nicole Gordon, DDS
Parigini Orthodontics
South Tahoe Crossfit
The Getaway Cafe
Wulstein Financial Services
Daddy Aaron McVean
Advanced Dermatology
Barkley-Bowman-Miller Family
Blue Zone Sports
Cat Makes Things
Donna Allard
Doug and Diane Rosner
Earthwise Pet
Gaialicious Boutique
Hot Springs Spa
The Kunibe Family Trust
Matt Jones Construction
PT Revolution
Ron Michelsen Plumbing
Roverud Landscape Design
Sierra at Tahoe
Sierra Drywall
Tahoe Oral Surgery and Implant Center
Thomas Jarrett, DDS
Will and Ivey Childrens Boutique
Annie Davidson Sings
Blue Granite Climbing Gym
Bob Dog Pizza
Blue Dog Pizza
Castro Chiropractic
Charlie and Kristen Lincoln
Chart House
Cynthia Magee
Kim and Matt Valentine
Kristen Cabral
Landing Locals
Matt Lucksinger Real Estate
Max the Dog
Max Smith
Meyers Family Dentistry
Mitchell and Alexis Lincoln
Papa Baker
RC Construction
Sno-Flake Drive In
South Shore Bikes
South Shore Snow
South Tahoe Refuse and Recycling
Tahoe Ketamine Wellness & Infusion Center
Tahoe Mountain Jewelry Shop
Tahoe Zen Massage Studio
The Cork and More
The Turks
TV Donuts
Yvonne Jadrnick
Zephyr Cove Dental Center
Doug and Dierdre