- April 18, 2024
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As the program continues to expand with every successful competition, the desire for more space continues to be an issue for Riptide Gymnastics.
Terry and Hollie James, Riptide’s coaches, have expressed interest in the City of Ormond’s Gymnasium, which according to Hollie James, would “immediately relieve the tax payer’s burden of keeping the city's program from dying and give the highly successful teams at Riptide more space to grow.”
“The idea seems to be getting stalled by the Leisure Services Board,” James added. “The city is facing an $85,000 deficit year after year with no relief in sight. Riptide Gymnastics is highly qualified, ready and able to run a successful, family-oriented recreational and competitive program on the city's premises.”
Riptide recently took the Disney’s Magical Classic International Competition, topping teams from nine other states and five different countries.
“They make us totally proud,” James said. “They work hard. Riptide is one of the few gyms that have a proper balance of working the kids hard but loving and comforting them at the same time. If you give them the right balance, you get the success we got this year.”
Riptide’s Level 1 team won the championship, and Mariah Estrella, Julia Rice and Anastasia Von Bretzel all won first place in their individual divisions, while other girls also placed. The Level 2 team placed third in the competition, followed by the level 3 team took sixth against 25 different teams. Von Bretzel also won the all-around Level 1 State Championship earlier this year.
“These children at Riptide are putting Ormond Beach on the top of the gymnastic podium,” James said. “These young athletes are very new to the sport, yet taking top position against teams with much more experience and training time, but we are very detailed freaks, and that’s what separates us from other teams.”
As Riptide athletes continue to bring hardware to Ormond Beach, gymnasts around the area and country continue to journey to Ormond to be trained there, causing a need for a much bigger place.
“We’re looking for a 10,000 square-foot building,” James added. “It is very frustrating to see the people who budget the tax payers’ money close their eyes to this proposal. We can pay the bills right this second. Let’s merge this thing together and make it successful.”
