Paramount Elite Gymnastics

My son loves this place. When we were considering gymnastics, I let him take trial classes at 3 different gyms so he could choose the one that he felt most comfortable with. and he chose PEG. He looks forward to Friday when he has gymnastics. He’s in quite a few activities right now: soccer, dance and gymnastics, but the level of excitement for gymnastics is through the roof and nothing else comes close. I wish PEG offers more sessions for boys, currently there’s only one class per week on Fridays at 7pm. We travel quite a bit and have missed a few sessions without being able to makeup for them because there isn’t another time within the week for the makeup, but fortunately the school is understanding and willing to prorate for the missed sessions. Overall I’m very grateful to have found Paramount Elite Gym.

My daughter started here a few months ago, and loves it. Her coach is Julius, and he really works with her. She’s 5 years old, and has the normal attention span issues of a 5 year old. She loves coming here, and I would recommend it highly.

My daughter has been a gymnast since the age of 2, and she’s 13 now. Through all those years, gymnastics has been the MOST important thing in her life (which is necessary when you are spending at least 16 hours a week doing it!). She made many sacrifices to be a gymnast, and her life, basically, was limited to gym and school, and little else, 365 days a year. For as long as she could dream, her goal was to compete optionals.
Our daughter joined PEG over 2 years ago, right after the gym opened, as a Level 5 gymnast. After a brief adjustment period — she’d been with her last team for 7 years — she fell in LOVE with PEG, her new teammates and the coaches. She wore the PEG leo with pride! Unfortunately, several injuries, a few serious, others nagging, delayed her growth, which, truth be told, put her on the wrong side of her coach, Yannick. I’m sure the fact that she has a strong personality and can be sassy when pushed, factored into the love-​hate relationship which developed between them.
However, it was a freak, life-​threatening illness — which put her in Cedars Sinai for over a week and literally out of commission for nearly 3 months — that really was the beginning of the end. In truth, the time out of training not only weakened our daughter’s gymnastics skills, it also impacted her emotionally — I guess nearly dying will do that to you! Not surprisingly, she had a hard time once she finally got back in the gym, and coach Yannick showed little empathy for her situation and an even greater disdain for her lack of progress as she struggled to get back in shape in the first six weeks or so. Sometimes he ignored her, other times he was flat-​out mean, but he constantly questioned her commitment and goaded her over being out of shape. In my opinion, that is bullying, and it all just pushed her into a further depression, which I’m sure, frustrated him more. Before long, one of the other coaches — his friend Shevon — piled on, to the point where my daughter felt ganged-​up upon. Eventually, it reached the point where instead of feeling safe and supported at PEG, our 13-​year old began to dread going there. And the resulting anxiety invaded every other facet of her life, including school.
Other parents called and expressed concern to us over the stories they heard from their own kids about the treatment being dished out, and when we tried to talk to Yannick about the situation, about his approach, we got little more than half-​interested platitudes. We were told to stop complaining and that if she didn’t like it, our daughter could take a demotion — leaving her teammates behind — to be with another coach. The head coach basically ignored us.
As parents, we tried to protect her and encouraged, frankly BEGGED her to quit, but she refused. She didn’t want to give up her dream or leave all her friends, and we were loathe to force it. Eventually, it got SO bad that our daughter couldn’t sleep at night, and cried many times either before or after gym. We felt helpless.
Boiling it down, Yannick flat-​out stole the joy of gymnastics from our daughter. He ruined a lifelong dream, and after one awful dagger-​filled day, she mustered the strength to walk out and never look back. It was the only recourse she had, and now we are left to pick up the pieces and rebuild her battered self-​esteem. The fact that we were paying PEG each month for this awful life lesson, only makes it harder for me, as a dad, to stomach.
I thought long and hard about sharing this story, and because we truly wanted the best for the other girls on the team, decided to wait until the 2014 States competition was over before posting. But for that same reason, this needed to be aired. Other parents have a right to know what COULD happen.
In fairness, Yannick is a terrific technical coach, and our daughter did get better as a gymnast under his tutelage. The team is fantastic, one of the best, and in NO WAY is this intended to infer that all of the coaches act this way, or that every child is treated this way. But in my opinion, Yannick is a negative person who needs to adjust his style to fit his gymnasts, and if he can’t, then I believe, he should not be coaching impressionable, emotional young girls who take every encouragement AND dig to heart. The fact that not one coach bothered to check-​in when our daughter was spiking 105 fevers in the hospital (or after she silently cleaned out her locker and left), reveals a lot about the culture at PEG.
I’m sure they’ll say this is just sour grapes, and I will admit, our stomachs are filled with proverbial acid. However, it IS also the sad truth, and that’s on them. In my opinion, no kid deserves the treatment our daughter received, and Yannick should think long and hard about whether he should be coaching!
My advice to you, if you are considering PEG and specifically, coach Yannick: beware, be vigilant, and never let an adult bully your kid! Life is too short.

Paramount Elite is a wonderful home for a gymnast. My daughter started here when they first opened. I think that was just a little less than two years ago now. At that time, there were only about 35 girls on the team and there were no classes at all. Now, they have over 100 girls on the team and they have full classes too. They’ve grown incredibly fast and there’s a reason for that: They are fantastic coaches!
The coaches who run it, Sarah & Liang create a positive, energetic, fun atmosphere. They are both very special people with big hearts. Sarah is an amazing force with a huge capacity. Sarah has gone above and beyond for my daughter when we had special needs.
Their team of other coaches is also wonderful. It’s a special place that I’m very happy to be a part of.

Been here with both my children for over a year and before this I’ve seen the highs and lows of the gymnastics world… Now I’ve seen what it’s supposed to be like. True training, for the benefit of the kids, focused on gymnastics and not governed by parents or other forces… They LOVE our kids and very very low turnover! So great to have coaches our kids can depend on! Couldn’t be happier! Proud to be part of one of the strongest teams in Southern California

My almost 3 year old just started gymnastics here a few weeks ago and loves it. All she talks about is gymnastics now. It’s the highlight of her day.
My daughter loves her coaches, especially Debbie & Liang. They challenge the kids, but are still are mindful of safety, while keeping it fun and engaging, which is essential for the little ones. Lots of high fives, hugs, tickles, stickers, which is the icing on the cake for toddlers.
Even though I am a parent, I am also a professional dance teacher and former competitive gymnast. I judge good coaches by the quality of their students and their ability to bring out the best in them.
They produce top quality gymnasts here. Every single child in their gym is in top shape even their recreational students. They really condition their bodies well. These kids make me feel out of shape. LOL
If you really want your kids to learn gymnastics, especially at a high level, this is the place to be.

The most knowledgeable, caring gymnastics coaches in LA can be found at Paramount Elite Gymnastics. If your daughter is serious about gymnastics, this is the place to be! Not only is the coaching top notch, but the gym culture is very kind and supportive, which is so important if your child is a competitive gymnast. The proof is in the pudding– PEG’s gymnasts not only sweep the medal ceremonies when they compete, but they are also happy kids who love their sport– what could be better?!

This is the perfect fit for what we were looking for for our daughter. They immediately took her in and started fixing the small things! Which in turn took our daughter to the next level in gymnastics!!! Excellent coaching with the perfect emphasis on not allowing the coach to gymnast ratio to get out of control… If you want your child to excel in competitive gymnastics, this is the place to be!!!

happy 1 year anniversary paramount!!! so proud to be at peg!