Meet Our Staff

Mimi became involved in the sport of gymnastics at the age of 5 years old in 1972 as a gymnast, then started competitive gymnastics at the age of 8 until the age of 22. She competed up to the Class 1 Level, then through college (earning 10 All-American Awards). Mimi started her coaching career at Clovis Academy while she trained there around the age of 16 in the summer time. She coached mostly in the boys program until she moved to go to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo in 1986. While coaching at various local clubs, she began her dream of opening an amazing gymnastic training facility that would connect Southern and Northern California gymnastic communities. In 1991, Mimi opened a very small gymnastics program (1,000 sq. feet) with about 10 students in the beginning and built it to what has now grown upwards of 800+ students in the building her and her husband Andy bought in 2004. Along with the most amazing staff, they have created a fantastic gymnastics sports training center of 16,000 sq. feet fitness & fun in San Luis Obispo, California. It has been a wonderful journey, one I wouldn’t change one second of. Mimi is currently directing the Preschool Program with Assistant Preschool Director Casey Hoover. We are both enjoying our passion and expressing our creativity working with the Preschool Program!

Mimi and her wonderful husband Andy, have been happily married since June 22, 1996, and they have a beautiful daughter, Maddie who was born in April 2006! Come on down to CCG, we would love to meet you. My favorite colors are blue & green. I love to eat fresh fish, grow my own veggies, and share them with everyone. I absolutely love to garden, fish, and scuba dive. Collect treasures from the beach and be in the gym every second I can. I love our beautiful area, the air and warm sun. I am definitely very fortunate to live and breath on the Central Coast…………with my wonderful family at home and at CCG!

Hello, I’m Shannon Merritt and I am the Payroll Specialist here at Central Coast Gymnastics Sports Center. My love for gymnastics started when I saw Nadia Comaneci win the All Around Gold Medal in the 1976 Olympics. I was 10 years old then and began taking gymnastics classes. I competed for my Jr. High and High School in Clovis, CA. At age 16 I began coaching at Clovis and I began judging at age 18. I attended Cal Poly and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education with a concentration in teaching. I worked as the head coach of Atascadero Gymnastics for six years while I attended college. I had my first two children here in SLO and then my husband joined the Air Force after college. We moved to New Mexico where I worked as a head coach for a local gym. I obtained my Masters Degree in Public Administration and I became a level 10 judge. Our family was transferred to the island of Guam where I opened my own recreational gymnastics program, continued to judge gymnastics, and got a great tan! Our next adventure was a 3-year stay in England. I worked as a coach and a choreographer for an optional team there and passed my International Gymnastics Judging Exam. I had the wonderful opportunity to judge at the international level. Our military adventure ended in 2003 and we came back to the beautiful SLO. I started working at CCG in July of 2003 as the gym manager and girl’s optional coach. After more than 20 years of coaching and seeing many different gymnastics programs, I am thrilled to be working in the positive and fun environment at CCG. My hope for each of our gymnasts is that they will gain self confidence and responsibility, learn to work hard and enjoy physical activity, and take pride in themselves for their effort and achievement in the challenging sport of gymnastics, acrobatic gymnastics, cheer, dance, and all the other programs CCG offers. I really enjoy the payroll aspect and taking care of the many wonderful employee’s at CCG!

Hi! I’m Sophie and I’m the Office Manager & HR Director here at CCG! I started here in February of 2014 and absolutely love it! I enjoy working with the fun, upbeat, and outgoing crew here at CCG and couldn’t ask for a better team! I was originally born in Oregon, then my family moved to Austin, Texas, but came back and I was mainly raised here in California up in Modesto. I moved to SLO to attend Cal Poly, eventually graduating in 2005 with my Bachelor of Science in Food & Nutrition, with a concentration in Nutrition Science. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, BBQing & cooking, trying and learning about new foods, and teaching my cat tricks! Some fun facts about me are that I speak Laotian fluently, I was the first in my immediate family to be born in the U.S., and I have trained my cat to walk on a leash, sit, kiss, shake, stay, and use the human toilet.

I am Coach Aly, the director of CCE. I have been coaching at CCG since 2006 and have been coaching Cheer and gymnastics since 2003. I graduated from Cal Poly with my teaching credential in 2009.

Currently, I do not directly use my teaching credential but feel as though I use it every day teaching our athletes in this awesome environment. I love working with children and sharing my passion for cheer with them. This sport has given me so much over the years and I am so grateful that I am still involved in it. Every day I learn and grow from this amazing sport and all our athletes. My goal is to help every athlete in our program be a better athlete, cheerleader, and person once they step out our door.

Hi, I’m Coach Rion!

I moved to SLO from Lancaster, CA after graduating High School.

I have been coaching here at CCG since 2012.

Since starting here at CCG, I have coached many classes and events but now can be found coaching the Acro team or working in the office. I became the Head Coach and Director of our Acrobatics Team in 2015 and used to compete here at CCG as an Elite Mixed Pair Acrobat!

Random Facts:

• I’ve had my turtle, Tina, for 17 years!
• I have two screws in my left leg from an ACL surgery
• Sign Language is my first language!
• I have run 7 Half marathons and 1 full marathon

My name is Renato, I am 26 years old, born and raised in Lima, Peru. I started doing gymnastics when I was 6, and fell in love with the sport right away. Lots of years of hard training gave me the opportunity to represent my country in several international competitions(in between 2007 and 2014), in junior and senior categories, and allowed me to bring back to my country the first South American championship medals in a very long time at a very young age.

I knew my passion for this sport was not going to end with my athlete career, so I decided to start coaching at age 18. Even though I went to school and got a bachelor’s degree on Audio Visual Production, I knew gymnastics was going to be my main gig for good.

Later on I decided to move to the US pursuing my dream of being an elite coach. Pushing kids in a way that affects not only their competitive performance but also helping them grow as humans, the same way my coaches and the sport helped me growing up.

I could have not found a better opportunity to pursue my dream and accomplish my goals, than taking this opportunity that CCG has offered me. I am sure will try my best to lead this program, with the support of all the families and coworkers, to make this team their best version possible.

Hi my name is Nick and I am the T&T Head Coach at CCG.

I have been involved in the sport of gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling for over 15 years! I started a recreational tumbling class at the age of 9 and competed in mens gymnastics all the way through high school reaching level 10. I’ve been coaching since the age of 16 and have coached everything from rec and team girls, boys and T&T to cheerleading and circus classes as well. T&T and boys team are what I enjoy the most!

On a personal note, I have a twin brother, I have a wonderful wife Amanda, and two very energetic boys Ian and Theo.

I have been teaching gymnastics at Central Coast Gymnastics for 3 years and have been coaching for 6. I have been a team coach for 2 years and LOVE working with team kids! I am from Boulder, Colorado and was born in Kansas City, Missouri. I was a competitive gymnast for 10 years and I am currently a 4th year Kinesiology major at Cal Poly (will be graduating in the fall). My hobbies include hiking, backpacking, and eating good food! Working with kids brings joy to my life and I LOVE working at CCG!

I was born in Sacramento, grew up in Chico, and lived in Fresno for about 12 years. I was a gymnast for 10 years, finishing my career as a level 9 at Athletic Horizons. I moved to SLO to work for CCG! I started coaching when I was 26 teaching cheerleaders to tumble. Over the years I progressed and began coaching rec, pre-team, JO, and then eventually became the Director and Head Coach of a competitive team with almost 30 girls, 5 of which were optionals.

I currently coach the girls pre-team, Xcel and JO teams.

I'm an avid photographer, programmer, and my biggest accomplisments include being the Regional Champion at Level 8, becoming an Eagle Scout, and climbing the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. My favorite color is green, favorite food is sushi, and favorite movie is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Hey there, I’m Coach Morgan. I’m The Preschool Director here at CCG! I have a passion for working kids of all ages! I love coaching gymnastics because it teaches the kids self-confidence, leadership skills and so so so much more, plus it’s super fun! I grew up in Thousand Oaks, CA as a gymnast, dancer, snowboarder, outdoor adventurer and horseback rider. I competed up to level 8 in gymnastics and competed on my high school dance team. I graduated from Cal Poly in 2003 with my BS in Recreation Administration. Professionally I’ve run all types of recreation sports, camps, Sunday school youth groups and after school programs as well as coached gymnastics for many years.

I’ve called the Central Coast home since January 2000 and CCG my home away from home since May 2017. When I’m not here at CCG I’ll be at my massage studio just down the street. I love what I do! I get to work with kids, raising up little leaders AND bless people with massage AND live here on the Central Coast! Life doesn’t get better then that! When I’m not working I’m spending time with my nephews & step daughter or hiking or hanging out at the beach or with friend. I love Jesus, the great outdoors, my family and my friends.

As the Preschool Program Director you’ll catching me out on the floor most mornings and the occasional afternoon. I love to have fun, be silly and loud.

Fun Fact: I love Mochas, steak, pizza & pasta…OK OK I love food!

I was born in Orange County, CA on January 17, 1983. At the age of three my mother signed me up for gymnastics lessons and I’ve been flipping ever since. I was a competitive gymnast for 10 years, eventually reaching the level of Junior Elite Class (now called Level 10). I was lucky enough to have top notch coaching, including Chinese Olympian and World Champion Li Xiaoping. Gymnastics was always a great challenge for me. I am very proud of what I have been able to achieve in this sport. I consider qualifying to the Junior National Championships the single greatest achievement of my life.

I loved competing, but even as a kid I always wanted to be a coach. I have been a boys gymnastics coach at Central Coach Gymnastics since October 2001. I have taught all levels from Class A to competitive team. As an athlete I have learned so much about what it takes to make dreams into reality. My dream is to inspire and pass on my knowledge to young people so they can grow and become happy, successful adults. My goal is to build a competitive team and recreational gymnastics program to rival any in the state. I am proud to see the great strides we have made toward this goal.

Meanwhile, I am pursuing a Computer Engineering degree at Cal Poly. Whatever the future holds for me, one thing is certain, gymnastics is in my blood and will always be a part of my life.

I grew up in San Luis Obispo and started doing gymnastics at age 3 in a small gym that used to be located right up the street from Central Coast Gymnastics, on Higuera Street. I quickly fell in love with the sport and progressed quickly.

I started competing as a compulsory gymnast at 6 years old and reached the optional levels at age 10. During this time, advanced gymnastics equipment and experienced coaching was not readily available in this area.

At age 12 after completing my first Level 8 competitive season, my love and commitment to the sport would be taken a step further.

At the advice of my then current coach, I made the difficult decision to move away from home to Santa Barbara where a more progressive gym was located so I could continue developing as a gymnast. This ultimately 3-year move allowed me to progress to a Level 10 gymnast. I completed 2 seasons of Level 10 and at the age of 15, made the difficult decision to retire from the sport I adored for so long.

Although my love for gymnastics never left me, it was not until my own daughter expressed interest in the sport that gymnastics re-entered my life. This time around from a whole new point of view. My daughter is now entering her Level 7 competitive season at Central Coast Gymnastics.

I believe my experience as a former high-level competitive athlete, as well as an involved parent and educator, I can be a huge asset to the development and encouragement of present and future gymnastics team members of Central Coast Gymnastics.

Hi! My name is Jeremy and I've been coaching at CCG since 2019 working mainly in TnT and Camps! I was born in Stockton and moved to SLO in 2019. I started competing in TnT when I was around 10 years old starting at Modesto Acro and then moved onto Springtime Tumble and Trampoline. After competing for about 4 seasons I decided to retire from competition. I'm currently in my second year of school getting my studio art degree. You will most likely find me in gym 2 coaching Rec TnT, I look forward to seeing you!

Hello! My name is Maddie W. I was born and raised in San Diego, California and am currently studying statistics at Cal Poly. I am currently coaching preschool classes at CCG, and am the Events Coordinator. All of my past coachs have inspired and encouraged me to become the person I am today and I hope to do the same for other young athletes beginning their journey as a cheerleader or gymnast.

I began competititve cheerleading at the age of 5 at Cheerforce San Diego and have been cheering for a total of 13 years since. My first two years at Cal Poly I was a memeber of the Cal Poly Cheer and STUNT Team. During my time on the Cal Poly team we won the 2018 Game Day National Championship in Flordia and placed 4th at the 2019 STUNT Nationals in Michigan. If I am not at CCG you will find me studying on the beach. Some of my favorite things are cats, volleyball, and traveling!

Hi! My name is coach Ella! This is my first time coaching, but have been a student at CCG for many years. I currently do cheerleading at mbhs. I grew up just a few towns over, and love being on the central coast. I have had experience working with kids in the past, but being a coach is so enjoyable! I have such a passion for both cheerleading and gymnastics, and love being in the gym.

I coach camp and preschool and have so much fun doing it!

I want to be a teacher after college, so coaching is a great step for me to get experience with kids! I have always loved working with kids, and I Love working at CCG!

Coach Mariah just joined our coaching staff after graduating from our Cheer program. She competed with CCE for 7 years and loved every minute so much she asked to join our Staff! Mariah is coaching Team Sparks, Performance Cheer, and Cheer Tumble 1 & 2 classes.

I have lived on the central coast my whole life. I have been training theater for five years and training dance for the past two.

I started coaching at CCG in 2019 and I currently coach boys gymnastics.

Fun Facts:

• I do photography in my spare time
• I am the youngest of five kids
• I started gymnastics at CCG when I was three

Hello, my name is Sam! I am 21 years old pursuing my BS in Experience Industry Management at Cal Poly. Ever since 2nd grade I have had a passion for gymnastics. I did gymnastics for 8 years and now I have coached for about a year and a half. The outdoors is where I am happiest whether that be hiking, lounging at the beach, camping, hanging in a hammock in the trees, or traveling around the world.