Cornerstone. Pillar. Foundation. Core. Heart. All of these words can be used to describe the impact of Airborne Gymnastics in the city of Santa Clara.
Founded in 1994, owners Leah Tanquary and Melanie Ruggiero have seen their gymnastics program soar. Still going strong after 30 years, Airborne has certainly become a pillar in the community, a foundational piece, a cornerstone at the heart of the Santa Clara community.
With the help of over 50 coaches and staff, Airborne currently teaches well over 1,000 students in their recreational programs and about 250 on the competitive team.
Recently, Airborne came together to host a 30th Anniversary celebration, a summer barbecue that ended up with over 300 attendees. Kids were allowed to run around inside with unstructured fun, dancing to music and jumping into foam pits, whilst the adults not charged with indoor supervision enjoyed socializing outside, reminiscing on the years gone by and pondering what the future may behold.
“There’s always rules here for the kids. They have to stay with their group when training, but at the party, they just got to enjoy the facility,” chuckled Tanquary. “It was a lot more free than it is normally around here. Organized chaos.”
With over 300 guests attending, being organized took a team of Airborne employees. Tanquary and Ruggiero had plenty of help bringing the event to life. Helping things go smoothly were Airborne staff members and coaches Jennifer Lopez, Rome Slater, AJ Parker, Julie La Clair, Courtney Fox and Cleo Washington.
“That was the most stressful part for sure,” laughed Lopez on food preparation being the toughest part of the event. “I pushed really hard alongside my husband to host this event because we haven’t had an anniversary party of any sort. And this is a big one. It’s 30. Let’s do it! I’ve been here for 12 years and thought we should do something fun with the community since we hadn’t done something like that in a while, especially because of COVID.”
The pandemic certainly did a number on lots of small businesses and programs that rely on community support. Airborne had to completely shut down operations for the better part of a year at the start of COVID and has been able to bounce back in the years since.
“We’ve always been really strong, but the pandemic was its own beast,” acknowledged Tanquary. “We had to scrap our entire program. We had nobody in here. For the better part of a year, we were shut down between March 2020 and March 2021.”
Since then, Airborne has steadily climbed back to its usual spot as one of the most popular youth sports destinations in Santa Clara, culminating in the anniversary celebration.
“It was an incredible day to share memories and reflect with past, present and future generations,” beamed Ruggiero. “Many of my gymnasts are back in the gym with their own babies. We are all bonded together by something that was started 30 years ago. I am extremely grateful for the support we received and the ability to enjoy the sport of gymnastics, a sport I fell in love with as a little girl.”
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