By Paul Doherty Sports Editor Morgan Hill – After holding a
Chinese New Year exhibition, Champions Academy, 18855 Adams Court,
was well equipped for a one-year anniversary open house and
celebration of National Gymnastics Day.
By Paul Doherty
Sports Editor
Morgan Hill – After holding a Chinese New Year exhibition, Champions Academy, 18855 Adams Court, was well equipped for a one-year anniversary open house and celebration of National Gymnastics Day.
On Saturday more than 100 gymnastics enthusiasts watched world-champion, college, elite, and junior national champion gymnasts display their talents in the world -class facility.
Aspiring gymnasts also took part in the activities, receiving tips and coaching from Champions Academy founder and Olympic silver medalist JinJing Zhang, and junior national gymnastics champions Josh Dixon and Alexandra Evans, among others.
Academy co-founder Jenny Liu is pleased to have the ability to bring professional quality gymnastics to the area, and was happy with the amount of local community involvement. The open house also commemorated the academy’s first year of operation.
“We are a family oriented academy,” Liu said. “We have family friends that work here, and we really are for everyone … we want people to be happy to be here.”
As the only club in the area with Olympic-caliber coaching, Champions Academy has more than 100 students enrolled age 4 and up.
Valley Christian High School senior Alexandra Evans, 17, of Morgan Hill, has been involved in gymnastics since she was in the third grade.
As a regular at Champions Academy Evans has also worked her way to national prominence, and hopes to attend the University of California, Berkeley after high school.
“More than anything, I enjoy seeing people come out and support our sport, and our academy,” Evans said of the open house and National Gymnastics Day. “It’s a lot of fun helping the kids and watching them learn.”
Miranda Der, another Champions Academy regular, is a senior at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, and a 13-year gymnast.
“We were much better prepared for an exhibition this year,” Der said.
Josh Dixon is a national gymnastics champion, and will be the only South Bay Area representative competing next Wednesday at the VISA National Gymnastics at HP Pavilion in San Jose.
Dixon, 17, graduated from Willow Glen High School with a 4.5 GPA and will be attending Stanford University in the fall.
Entrance to Stanford was the most competitive in history with only 10.3 percent of 23,9566 applicants accepted, according to the university’s Office of UNdergraduate Admissions.
“I want to do pre-med, and the Stanford program is really good,” Dixon said. “Everything there is more personalized and the classes are smaller.”
Dixon began doing gymnastics when he was 11-years-old after becoming fascinated with his two older sisters’ enjoyment of the sport.
Since then, he has become one of the best junior division gymnasts in the country, making the Junior National team for the last 2 years, and competing in the national gymnastics championships in 2005, and in 2006 when he took second place all around.
“I’m probably best at floor, the high bar, and the palm horse,” Dixon said. “But I enjoy high bar the most.”
Dixon will compete in all seven events including floor, palm horse, steel rings, vault, parallel bars, uneven bars and horizontal bars at the VISA championships.
Dixon is currently placed sixth in the nation going into the championships, and hopes to advance his position.
With 14 other gymnasts competing in the Junior division, Dixon has the opportunity to make the national team and represent the U.S. at the at Junior competitions in Japan and Germany if finishes in the top seven.
Dixon gave demonstrations on the high bar and the floor at Saturday’s open house, and gave tips to the kids as they attempted to imitate him.
“It’s rewarding having kids look up to me,” Dixon said.
Dixon will compete at the VISA Gymnastics championships at 1pm on Aug. 15 at the HP Pavilion, as the only South Bay Area representative.
Champions Academy was invited by National Gymnastics to hold an exhibition from Noon-12:30pm on Aug. 17 at the Circle of Palms in front of the Fairfield Hotel as a part of the festivities.
“Publicity is good for us, but great for the sport as a whole,” Liu said. “And it definitely helps us promote within the community.”
