Shiny trophies line the back of Emeth Gymnastics gym on Columbus Day as a flurry of activity involving strength, agility and coordination strive to meet the mission and training of hundreds of young girls and boys that walk through its doors.
“What I want people to know about Emeth Gymnastics is that our desire is to serve families with excellence,” said Heather Leshovsky, founder and owner of Emeth along with her husband, Jim. “Our leadership is extremely invested in continually finding new ways to inspire and serve parents in their pursuit of growing kids with strong character.”
An in-house league competition night fueled the energy inside the gym, which had kicked off in 1999 in the sanctuary of Christ Covenant Church, with other stops in-between, before landing at its current location at 14999 White Road in Middlefield in 2009.
“We have grown close to 500 students that attend each week, and we have girls and boys teams that compete throughout the state and region,” Heather said. “We have about 25 employees, including our coaches, welcome team members and general manager.”
Emeth Gymnastics is a faith-based gym where students are taught many life lessons through scripture, character education and gymnastics training.
“Emeth is a Hebrew word that is found in the Old Testament and it means truth,” Heather said. “More than anything else, I want to communicate God’s truth to the students and families that come through our doors and use the opportunities that gymnastics training gives to help build lasting character into our students.”
Character training is a key part of the curriculum for all of the classes. Teams within every session have a character theme, which includes a quality they are focusing on developing in their students and a Bible verse that focuses on that quality.
“Classes spend a short time every week learning the theme verse and the sign language that goes along with it, listening to short stories and participating in discussions led by their coach that teach them about how to practice the quality they are working on as coaches look for teachable moments during training to encourage those qualities,” Heather added.
Shannon Chase, a seventh-grader at Berkshire Junior/Senior High School is in her eighth season on Emeth’s competitive team and competes in all four events of women’s artistic gymnastics, including vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
“When Heather invited Shannon to be on Emeth’s competitive team as a 5-year-old, I was a bit skeptical,” said Jennifer Chase, Shannon’s mom. “I couldn’t see the gymnastics talent that she saw. Little did I know what an amazing gymnastics adventure was ahead of us.”
Shannon currently competes in Level 9 of the USAG Junior Olympic Program and will be entering her second year of competing in Hopes, a pre-elite program designed to help athletes reach the national team and the highest levels of gymnastics in the country.
“Sharron will travel to Columbus, Ohio, Covington, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Kissimmee, Florida to compete in the national qualifiers for Hopes this year,” Jennifer said. “Heather and Jim Leshovsky have built up a tremendous gym.”
The sounds of coaches’ directions and repetitive landings on mats, vaults and beams filled the nearby area.
“Nice landing,” one coach said to a nearby ponytailed gymnast.
Dorothy Hoffacker’s granddaughter, Julia Rodriguez, has been taking classes for about three years.
“I think Julia learned teamwork and also self confidence,” Hoffacker said. “She has learned that hard work pays off.”
Julia’s mom, Michelle Rodriguez, and her family came to support her as they stood and watched from an upstairs viewing area.
“Their motto is ‘Building Character Through Gymnastics,’” Michelle said. “Julia has improved her gymnastics’ skills while also learning such things as perseverance, being teachable and self control.”
Amos Arnold, general manager and Heather’s brother, made his rounds, checking on operations and greeting parents.
“My job is to create and carry forward our Emeth culture,” Arnold said. “I enjoy educating and encouraging our staff to reach their potential as coaches and welcome team as they serve each family and student who comes through our doors.”
The gym’s success is built on a wide variety of programs for different students and families that come through its doors, from a progressional program of about 425 students to competitive teams of about 85 athletes.
“We also created a gymnastics league to be a part of another program we have at Emeth called Llama Team,” Arnold added.
Llama Team is a leadership-training program started five years ago with the goal of training a small group of students each year to understand and practice the skills needed to make an impact through servant-focused leadership.
“We provide a high quality sports training experience that their children love and look forward to that benefits them physically, emotionally and spiritually,” Heather said. “Our coaches have quality training, are continually striving for higher levels of expertise in what they do, and they care about who their students are becoming through their experience with us.”
