Owner & Coach

Christy started her gymnastics journey at 5 years old, and by the age of 7 had joined the competitive team. She competed for 10 years and built amazing and lasting relationships with her teammates and coaches. At age 13, she began coaching and has been sharing her passion ever since. In 2011 she threw a dart at a map and ended up in Denver, CO. In 2017, she met Ryan, who has been rooted here in BV with his family for over 30 years. Christy moved to Buena Vista in 2017 and began building new roots. After seeing the need for more youth activities, she decided it was time to turn her passion for coaching and working with kids into her full-time career and opened Ark Valley Athletics in 2021. Christy has Irish Twins who are both in preschool this year and love to come “help mom coach” whenever they get the opportunity.

Coach - Preschool & Rec Gymnastics & Ninja

Jessica grew up as a swimmer for all of her life and still continues to be involved in the swimming community. She began competing at the age of 7 and traveled the world for swim meets. She was then offered a scholarship to swim for the Bears at Missouri State University where she majored in graphic design with an emphasis in Illustration. After college swimming, she spent many years coaching children of all ages and levels and is currently teaching lessons at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. If you don’t see her at the pool, you’ll most likely find her surfing river waves, rafting, hiking 14ers or snowboarding on the mountain. She settled in Buena Vista roughly 6 years ago after traveling the country while living in a camper with her husband and three kids. Their family learned early on that life can be short as her son battled cancer at just 3 years old and her brother was killed while fighting in Afghanistan. Their family motto is to “keep livin’ the dream”. Her favorite color is orange, she loves being outside and traveling is her passion.

Coach - Rec Gymnastics

Amelie is a Colorado native. She began gymnastics at the age of 7 and competed until the age of 17 training as a Level 8. At age 17, she began coaching gymnastics. She attended Colorado State University and received her bachelors in Social Studies Education and Spanish Education in 2012. She coached preschool, rec, and pre-team all throughout college at Mountain Gymnastics in Fort Collins, CO. After graduating, she received her first teaching job at Summit High School in Breckenridge, CO and coached middle school gymnastics while teaching until she moved to Salt Lake City, UT to live in the same city as her now-husband, Jon. In Salt Lake City, she coached full time at Gymnastics Training Center. Amelie, Jon, and their 2 kids decided to make their dream of living in a mountain town a reality and moved to Buena Vista in August of 2022. She is excited to pour her energy, heart, and soul into coaching gymnastics again, which has always remained one of her passions. When she isn't coaching, she is recreating outdoors, contemplating her next house project, and telling her 2 toddlers to stop fighting.

Coach - Aerial Silks

Cassi is from Fort Collins, Colorado. She grew up doing lots of activities, such as dance, soccer, and snowboarding. In college, she was introduced to aerial silks and continues to practice them to this day. After college, she moved to Buena Vista to be a camp counselor and began coaching skiing and snowboarding. She quickly realized her passion for teaching sports and outdoor activities. Over the course of 3 years, she attained snowboard teaching certifications, including Child Specialist 2. Cassi started coaching and performing aerials in 2022. She is excited to work with kids on their aerial and gymnastics skills with AVA!

Coach - Silver and Gold

Logan has been involved in gymnastics since she could barely speak and stuck with it as an athlete all the way to level 8 during her high school years. She coached throughout high school as well, but decided to take a gym hiatus while completing her undergraduate degree in psychology and creative writing. Freshly graduated, she has now moved to BV while she figures out her life, and ended up at Ark Valley Athletics! Outside of gymnastics, she loves theater, both tech and acting, so it might come to no surprise that her favorite event is floor and the artistic performance accompanying it.

Coach - Dance & Preschool

I’m from Austin, TX where I was a student at Ballet Austin for over ten years. I branched out to hip hop, musical theatre, jazz and tap and joined any performing opportunity I could. I’ve danced with two different dance companies and had the opportunity to choreograph fro various shows. I moved to Colorado in 2015 and taught horseback riding at a summer camp in Buena Vista over several summers, as well as taught dance classes to various age groups through the community center. I moved to Denver in 2018 and taught various dance classes for Belliston Dance Academy and Mountain Performing Arts. In 2021 I moved back to Buena Vista with my growing family and I’m very excited to be a part of this community and share my love of movement and art”

Coach - Preschool, Rec Gymnastics & Ninja

Makenna is a lover all board sports. She skateboards, snowboards, surfs and wake surfs. If you don’t see her on a board, she is most likely working with horses or children. Her passion to help children succeed and see them love what they do is shown in everyday life. She enjoys coaching kids of all ages and teaching them new skills. When she’s not at the gym, doing school, or adventuring out and about, she can be found petting someone’s dog. She has a fond love of all animals.

Coach - Preschool & Rec Gymnastics

Myla has been doing gymnastics for the past year and a half with AVA. She absolutely loves learning new skills and encouraging others. Myla is looking forward to sharing her passion with the students and to help grow their love for gymnastics. In her free time, she can be found paddle boarding down the river, skiing, camping with her family or skateboarding. She is also passionate about art and loves to create lots of new pieces. Her favorite color is mint and she loves collecting ducks

Coach - Ninja

Daniel has always had a passion for exercise and teaching. He has an associate degree in physical therapy and a master's degree in sports medicine. He previously worked as a personal trainer and substitute teacher and currently works as a physical therapy assistant at HRRMC. Daniel is passionate about encouraging everyone to engage in physical activity for both mental and physical health, and he is grateful to have Ark Valley Athletics in the community to promote a fun environment for children to participate in physical activity. Daniel and his wife are from Colorado and have lived in Buena Vista for two years. They enjoy all the outdoor recreation this area has to offer with their two children and two dogs.

Coach - Preschool & Rec Gymnastics

Tindra has been attending Aerial Silks classes with AVA for the past couple years. She is a Junior at BVHS and has a passion for art, especially ceramics, creating jewelry miniatures. Tindra has been babysitting since she was 13. She enjoys working with young children and has the gift of patience with kids. She started coaching preschool and Level One gymnastics in May of 2024 and is excited to learn more coaching skills with AVA. In her free time she loves outdoor activities including downhill and skate skiing, whitewater rafting, hiking and biking.