I started Columbine Gymnastics as a gymnast parent of several years and as an adult with an appreciation for what an impact sports can have on the mental, physical and emotional growth of a child. The permanent closure of our local gymnastics facility in the spring of 2020 left me little options for my dedicated gymnast and we soon were making the weekly commute to Grand Junction to attend gymnastics there. This was much more taxing than just the time commitment, my daughter was still getting less than half the time in the gym that she would’ve if we had a gym locally still, she was falling behind quickly, she felt she had no friends at the Grand Junction gym as opposed to attending a gym in our community where she went to school with and would run into her teammates whenever she was out and about in the community and what once was her safe haven and retreat from a stint of stressful years for her to include her father’s cancer diagnosis and our divorce was now bringing her very little happiness. During our time in Grand Junction for gymnastics I needed to find an activity for my busy son who was instantly excited when hearing about the opportunity to try his hand at the Ninja Challenge program offered at yet another gym in Grand Junction. He thoroughly enjoyed the classes, especially all the swinging ropes and monkey bar obstacles, he attended his first Ninja Challenge competition there and did very well. I was amazed at how much boys and girls of all ages loved the sport, the classes had waiting lists constantly and that I really appreciated the spirit of the sport which was all inclusive. Everyone cheers for everyone, there is no confrontation like many traditional sports have and sports that my son had shied away from in the past.
About Columbine Gymnastics Academy
Cat Redman - Owner
I spent the better part of a year researching what it would take to open a gymnastics facility in Garfield County again and in the fall of 2020 while taking part in an online auction to purchase gymnastics equipment, I stumbled across the ninja DS1 system. A 12 foot heavy duty warped wall with a rock climbing wall on the backside that was connected to steel monkey bars which had a salmon ladder on the end. The set came with all the basic apparatus and had never been moved since its initial installation. I saw such sets online, brand new and was aware of how extremely expensive they were. I didn’t even have a location secured for a gym yet, I had no idea how to break the set down or where I would store it. All I knew was that it was a great buy and I wanted it for ninja warrior obstacle programs in my future gym.
It was clear to me that these programs would be a great benefit to the youth in Garfield County and in early 2021 I felt I had all the elements to make this happen. CGA opened officially for classes on June 1st 2021. My family, Coaches and I truly hope you and your children will enjoy taking classes, attending an open gym or having a birthday party at CGA!
Thanks – I would like to give special thanks to my closest friends who have supported me throughout this journey, especially to Adam Ford who helped me get started down this path and who traveled with me to assist in the retrieval of equipment through unprecedented circumstances, to my loving boyfriend Justin Nightingale who is always there for me and who has done countless hours of maintenance and grunt work to make CGA a reality, to my amazing coaches who have been supportive and very flexible as we navigate through how our gym will function – I could not do this without you guys! And finally to Jon and Noreen Wilson, thank you for working with me and allowing me to use your facility in order to bring this gym to life. It is such a pleasure working directly with the property owners who live and work in the same community and who see the value of businesses like CGA for our youth.
Columbine Gymnastics Academy
Conveniently located at 24207 US-6, Unit A, Rifle, CO 81650, Columbine Gymnastics Academy provides gymnastics classes for all ages starting as young as 18 months with our Parent & Toddler classes all the way up to Advanced Competition Gymnastics classes.
In addition to Gymnastics, we feature Tumbling classes as well as Mountain Ninja Course, which is based on Ninja Warrior.
We also offer Private Lessons & Birthday Party packages. Please call 970-319-1044 or contact us for more information!