Coach Ashley
Ashley has loved gymnastics and children since she can remember. She competed with USAG through Mountain Gymnastics Club in Ft. Collins, CO. She moved on to compete in high school with the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics team. She married her high school sweetheart Matthew not long after graduating. Ashley later became a Walmart Supercenter store manager in 2005 and ran stores in both Rock Springs, WY and Sidney, NE until she resigned in 2010 to stay home and raise her family. Ashley and her husband have four children. After realizing the positive effect gymnastics had on her oldest son, Payton, Ashley started to reacquaint herself with gymnastics, and remembered how much she loved and admired the sport. Ashley has coached gymnastics for several years through different organizations, and is a USAG Professional Coach. After realizing that watching a child learn a new skill was one of her greatest sources of joy, she finally decided to open her own gym in 2018. Ashley has great passion for coaching children of all ages, and is strongly devoted to the sport of gymnastics and its benefits of both athleticism and the values it instills in athletes.
Coach Payton
Payton has been a self-taught gymnast since he was four years old and learned to climb the hallway walls like Spider-Man. He is a recent graduate of Crawford High school and is now a sophomore in college at CSC. His hobbies include gymnastics, trampolining, and performing flips in obscure places. He also enjoys waterskiing, fishing, and working on cars. Payton is a USAG certified developmental teacher and is currently training with USAG to obtain his men’s artistic gymnastics instructor certification. Payton enjoys working with children and watching them learn new skills and gain athletic abilities. He loves and respects the sport of gymnastics and is always looking for new and inventive ways to advance the sport.
Coach Matt
Matt is the reason Panhandle Gymnastics opened their first gym in Chadron, NE. He believed in his wife Ashley, and gave her the means and the courage for her to start their first gym. Matt has always been in the background, building and fixing equipment, encouraging the coaches, and working his regular 9-5 job to support his family and his wife's dream of owning her own gym. He has always loved coaching, and as the gym has grown and expanded Matt has taken over coaching when needed. In February 2020, he was added as a permanent coach to Panhandle Gymnastics. In his spare time Matt likes to work in his shop building custom hot rods, spend time at the lake in the summer, and spending time with his family.
Coach Karissa
Karissa grew up on a ranch in Camp Crook, SD and is currently going to college at Chadron State. She is pursuing a career in physical therapy. Karissa has been in love with gymnastics for as long as she can remember. She was self-taught until she turned 11, when her parents decided it would be worth the near 2-hour drive (one way), 4 days a week, to put her into classes in Spearfish, SD. There she competed for 5 years and made it to level 7 until a horse accident left it to painful to continue. Gymnastics has made her who she is today and she is so excited to share the love she has for it.
Coach Emma
Emma grew up in Chappell, Nebraska. She is currently a sophomore at Chadron State College and am majoring in Special Education. She competed in cheer for 3 years in high school. In her free time she likes traveling and spending time with her friends. She loves continuing to learn more about gymnastics. Her favorite part of coaching is seeing the smiles on the kids faces after doing a fun new skill.
Coach Misty & Wren
Misty lives in Alliance with her two kids, Wren and Mitch, and husband John, three rabbits, a lizard, and a mouse. She's been an elementary teacher for 15 years. Misty and John are proud supporters of Wren in her love of gymnastics, making their backyard into a home gym. Misty and Wren are coaching cooperatively, helping Wren take another step towards her goal of coaching young people in her favorite sport.
Coach Katie
Katie grew up in Rapid City, SD and is attending Chadron State College for Special Education K-12. She has 15 years of studio dance experience, and works with a dance company called Flutter Productions during the summer. In her free time, Katie loves to crochet, bake, and spend time with loved ones. Her favorite part about coaching is her students!
Coach Elaina
Meet Coach Elaina! Elaina was originally from Fort Collins, Colorado. In her younger years, she moved around quite a bit before landing in Chadron where she has now lived for ten years. Elaina is in high school. Along with coaching, Elaina is involved in things like Student council, Musical Groups, Musicals, and competitive gymnastics. Elaina started gymnastics when she was 4, and is currently a level 6-7 gymnast hoping to qualify for regionals this upcoming season. When she was younger, Elaina loved to dance. Starting when she was 3, she danced for around 11 years before committing full-time to gymnastics. Even though she doesn´t dance anymore, she still loves to choreograph and put routines together for the team girls. Elaina hopes to go to college in the future, and is thinking of studying law and becoming a Lawyer, but isn´t sure yet. In her free time, Elaina enjoys hanging out with friends, reading, movie and game nights with her family, fishing, hunting, having mini photoshoots, and overall just living life to the fullest!
Office Manager
Kristin
Kristin is Panhandle's Office Manager, which means she handles all class registrations, payments, social media management and general day-to-day chaos.
As a child, Kristin loved doing gymnastics-in lieu of a gym to join, she made her family's front yard her gymnasium. This love of gymnastics carried on in all 5 of her kids, and she has enjoyed watching them participate and compete over the years.
In her free time, Kristin enjoys spending time with her family, creating art out of her photography and going on adventures with her husband and best friend, Paul.