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Meet Travis Rainer of North Valley Gymnastics in North Phoenix

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Rainer.

Travis, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story of where I am today started when I was 15 years old and just a sophomore in high school. Our high school, Deer Valley High School in North Glendale, was the only high school left in the state of Arizona that still had a gymnastics program as part of the ‘extracurricular’ courses to take. The Coach/Teacher of the program, Coach McCarthy, was the most inspirational and motivational coaches/teachers I had ever encountered and really inspired me to give back to the youth in the community, so I took my first coaching position just before I turned 16 years old which was one recreational boy’s gymnastics class that had four boys in it and only one day a week for one hour. It was not until a year later that I was asked to take on my first ever boys competitive team for the Deer Valley YMCA.  At this point, I was in a position that required me to learn fast as I was going to be heading my first-ever team of boys into competition at the season that was approaching fast. Fast forward again to 2 years later, right before I was 19 years old and I was asked to step over and help with the Optional Girls Team athletes as well. This is where I learned a lot of my coaching and spotting in the sport of gymnastics as I was immediately dealing with higher-level gymnasts. After a couple of years of my involvement with the team, I realized that I wanted to learn as much as I could and be up at the top with the other great coaches in this sport. After five more years, I ended up raising, training and developing my first female gymnasts through the levels and onto NCAA gymnastics programs.

It wasn’t until the unfortunate death of my brother from a car accident and the fall of the housing market where many employees, including myself, were laid off that I decided to start looking into a change of lifestyle and was going to move to Southern California to start a new adventure.  But, before I made this move, which was going to happen in only two weeks, I was contacted by this new gym that had not opened yet by the name of North Valley Gymnastics, they definitely knew a lot about me from my prior years as a coach but I did not know much about them at all, so my decision to stop in for an interview was a long and hard decision, but I really didn’t have anything to lose.  During the next 11 years with North Valley Gymnastics I started and grew the men’s gymnastics program to over 200 students, 52 team athletes, 2 USA National Team members and had sent 2 of my first boys that started the program when we opened to two of the top NCAA gymnastics programs on scholarships, and we have many more of our men’s gymnasts about to make the same commitments to their top college choices in the next few years.  I was also named as AZ State Vice-Chair, as well as a head clinician at Region 1 Congress that helps educate many coaches from the western region of the USA.  I was also promoted to the Gym Manager of North Valley Gymnastics back in 2012 to help continue the growth and success of this amazing business alongside two outstanding business owners.

So, in the end, this ‘side-job’ that I thought would only be that, has turned into one of the most rewarding and exciting careers that I could have ever thought of being a part of that has granted me the ability to travel all across the world and witness this sport at the highest level from all over. So I guess I could say I didn’t choose this career, it chose me!

Has it been a smooth road?
Definitely not a smooth road at all. In a sport that not only consists of scarce involvement, as far as males go, compared to other sports (Baseball, BasketBall, Football, Track, Swimming, Volleyball, Cheerleading, etc) it does consist of very dedicated coaches that many strive for perfection with their athletes and programs daily. With that said, if you are not involving yourself in constant education in both the understanding of the sport of where it leads to and the ability to train, spot and orchestrate athletes throughout the process effectively and safely then it is hard to find your way to the level of gymnastics that exists at the top. It was definitely a difficult road to learn the art of coaching this sport as I did not achieve a high level of gymnastics as an athlete. I did not know many coaches, former gymnasts, or even where to look for proper education. So, I did what I do best and I took the initiative to look to anyone and anything to build my knowledge of coaching this amazing sport. And due to my constant competitive nature, I knew I had to learn from only the best, so I did just that, and I continue to do so. It took a long time to establish my name in a serious manner in regards to the sport of gymnastics, but now I try as hard as I can to help educate coaches from all over to the best of my ability so they can achieve the same goals and aspirations I had.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the North Valley Gymnastics story. Tell us more about the business.
Well, I kind of already explained this answer in my two previous questions so I will go ahead and skip to the question of what am I most proud of as a company. I am most proud of the ability to be a part of a company that started and continues to influence, educate and motivate children from all over the valley and state in not only the sport of gymnastics but as active young children as well. I think what sets us apart from others is our immense love and support for not only the children and families of our business, but for the entire youth community as well, and we work hard to spread the love of this sport to all we can around the state of Arizona!

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe this industry will continue to grow as it has for many years. It’s hard to think that an industry involving young active children would diminish in any way.  So we here at North Valley Gymnastics will continue to create a safe, fun, healthy and active environment for children all over, this can only add to the success and growth of this amazing industry.

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Image Credit:
Travis Rainer

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