We love this place!! My son has been going, a couple times a week, to Champion Gymnastics for about two years now. We can tell a big difference in his strength as well as confidence. The coaches really seem to take in interest in the kids and they really know how to encourage them to develop their skills. Thank you guys for your patience and care. What a great business!! read more

My preschooler went there for about 2 months. I loved the coach- and the mini champs class, for all of that it was great. We just wanted her to have an activity after school that would burn some energy. But my complaints are that the gym seems dirty and run down. I'm sure (hope?) they clean but it just seems run down. The girls bathroom is dirty/dinghy and always smells like a clogged toilet. I feel like the administrative/customer service side of things, they aren't 100% on top of it. They are slow to respond to emails, or just don't send their emails when they say they will. My other daughter that was going through evals to move up; the coach said they would email us and let us know her scores and if she was moving up or not, and we just never got an email from anyone. I've also heard from friends that they are not inclusive to autistic kids or kids with Down syndrome- stating they "don't have insurance for THAT." Don't really want to give my money to a gym that refers to kids in such a way. Also read up on some allegations about the owner that I would encourage others to look into. read more

I watched Coach Derek touch 3 girls on the breast and butt which moved me to start taking photos. Reported those to the gym owner promptly. He began to retaliate. I reported then to USAG and local police. There are now I believe 7 reports filed by CGC employee coaches with USAG of the coach AND owner JJ touching girls inappropriately. There is also an extensively researched news report detailing the owners behavior as observed first hand by other coaches.. Please please..... choose your child's mental health and long term joy over any one gym... much less one with so many reported inappropriate behaviors. Girls who experience inappropriate behaviors are affected for life... even when they observe it. Also, another owner, Kevin, whom I reported the behavior to, failed to report it to the police and CPS as required by law and strongly defended Derek who was later arrested and is no longer sanctioned by USAG thanks to a brave victim. Birds of a feather... read more

Champion Gymnastics & Cheer - Girl ended in tears after inappropriate touching. Many more incidents reported to the police and case is open. - Gymnastics Near Me - Santee, California

See all

We are still here a year later :) My son stuck with Parkour (his favorite class) and gymnastics once a week. We will start with Parkour. Coach Austin is really cool and good with kids. If you're interested in private lessons I definitely recommend him! My kids took private lessons with him and the improvement was amazing! More than worth the extra $$! The other parkour coaches are good too. Coach Xavier is really nice and good at repeating himself in a very calm voice to kids who misbehave. Coach Matt lays down the law helping keep the class under control and making sure the kids pay attention. I definitely appreciate that, since my son gets distracted sometimes and needs reminders to listen to the coach. Gymnastics time: the coaches do a good job teaching the kids good form in gymnastics. That's important. Class sizes are a little big and not many time options. Things I don't like: 1. no morning classes. I'd even take an early afternoon class like 1pm. Would make my drive have a lot less traffic. 2. they only allow one makeup a month total. So even if you're taking 4 different classes you still only get one. Overall I'd recommend classes here, but hope there will be improvements. read more

I had my daughters birthday party here and it was truly such a hit. We had three coaches at the party, Lizzy, Avery and Aaron. All three were AMAZING. The amount of patience they had with the kids was incredible. They were all so attentive to our needs. Truly a 10/10 experience. I cannot recommend enough read more

If you have a child who is not "normal " quoting this from Laura the manager then this is not your gym Any child on the spectrum or any ADHD or just a child who is curious and honestly just any child shouldn't ever be subjected to to this environment or energy The front desk is rude unorganized and judgmental The parents of the "normal " kids are equally as rude Over heard one woman talking very badly about my child to another woman They where both very rude and said my child had a personality problem Whom is "high functional autistic " Just over all super ignorant Some of the coaches are incredibly sweet and understanding but over all not a place for any child who needs extra support or who is curious Not about the kids at all don't be fooled by the giant sign painted on the wall ... They are more about the of a volume of kids they can get monthly then the quality of teaching Definitely do not recommend this gym Multiple times I saw the instructors on phones or just sitting down while other classes were going on Dirty and smelly most pads are ripped With giant holes Not worth the monthly free trial they offer. read more

Hi fellow parents! I really want to like this gym. I really do. My kids still go there because we found good coaches after trial and error in the different levels. FRIENDLINESS / CUSTOMER SERVICE Some of the coaches are really outgoing and awesome! Unfortunately the remainder of the staff is hit or miss. The front desk staff is mostly unfriendly which is a total bummer. COACHING COMPETENCY I'm not a gymnast. But I know lazy when I see it. Again, some of the coaches are amazing. The others are not and they never seem to get talked to about it? SUMMARY Well I just wish the leadership would reward/encourage their coaches to be positive and outgoing. We're teaching kids after all. Thanks for reading! read more

Overall, a very good gym. My daughter just finished her first season on their team and she really enjoyed it. The coaches seem knowledgeable and positive! On certain days it's fairly crowded and although it may look a bit chaotic, they actually have a good method to keep all the groups in order. One thing I will say however, it gets VERY VERY hot in the gym during the summer. This is to be expected in East County of course, although my father-in-law kindly donated some industrial fans hoping that would help with the heat, but they have yet to be utilized or installed. read more

**** zero stars***** Complete waste of my time drove 20 minutes after scheduling an appointment for Sunday to all arrive and be told that they were closed. No phone call no email no follow up. Unacceptable will not be returning. read more

Highly recommend signing your kid up for an aerial class! It's always a good time in the air.

They are amazing and I love the staff and energy there! So very organized and you can tell the instructors are very seasoned most every child that is there looks fantastic and really seem to enjoy it! I can't wait to see my little grow and get better! She is 3 and I'm already buying tons of leotards! If your looking for a nice big gym with very professional staff I'd check it out! They offer lots of classes and at diff times so it's pretty convenient! And the price is just as what you would pay anywhere else! read more

Champion Gymnastics & Cheer - Gymnastics - Gymnastics Near Me - Santee, California

See all

My 2 girls have been coming to CGC for about 3 years now. We started in a mommy and me class and a mini champs. The coaches are so kind and always encouraging the girls. Both my girls are now on team and they are thriving. What I love most is that the skills they are learning don't come over night, they have to work on them, they have to fail over and over and then when they finally get it they have something they are truly proud of. At Champion we feel like we are part of a family read more

Love the coaches here at CGC! My daughter joined their champs gymnastics recreation program a few years ago. She loved it so much that she joined their team gymnastics program & hasn't looked back. She is always happy to go to the gym to work on her skills. The family team atmosphere is wonderful. read more

Champion Gymnastics and Cheer is a high-energy gym that is family focused, driven, and genuinely supportive. From the friendly atmosphere, to the owners, the coaches, and every single athlete, they have become our home away from home. Our two girls have been part of the Champion family since the summer of 2021, spending 16 hours per week in the gym and we could not be happier to be a part of it all! JJ, Derek, Brittany, Daniel, and Tom, along with a few others, have coached my girls day in and day out, supporting them through challenges and celebrating with them through their successes. They have been patient, instructional, and highly committed in the development of each and every athlete, but moreover, they see to it that our kids are happy, safe, and having fun! Our time with this gym has been nothing short of exceptional and to top it all, we love and enjoy watching our girls develop, get stronger, compete at a competitive level, and learn what it means to commit, show up, and grind! If you are in the search for an exceptional gym, we highly recommend Champion! read more

My daughter feels inspired and uplifted here. Austin has taken her under his wing and she has improved leaps and bounds. Hopefully she'll be on the team soon! read more

Champion Gymnastics & Cheer - My daughters skills - Gymnastics Near Me - Santee, California

My daughter goes to Champions and she is a competitive gymnast. She came from another gym only because she wanted to become a better gymnast. Since starting at Champion she has. She earned amazing scores this year. She made new friends and had amazing experiences traveling to Las Vegas and even Texas competing in one of the largest competitions in the country. The coaches have been amazing and she feels safe and cared for. Derek, Brittany, Jillian, Jen and Tom have been amazing. The family owned gym has caring kind owners who make an effort to know their gymnasts and their families. The gym organizes lots of team building activities for the gymnasts/families such as North Pole train ride, hikes, end of the year banquet. They also have awesome team camps in the summer. My daughter is super proud to be a Champion athlete and her little sisters have decided to join her. Thanks Champions for all you do. read more

Champion Gymnastics & Cheer - Gymnastics Near Me - Santee, California

I am a gymnast that goes there and I L-O-V-E it there! we have so many practice day options! shout out to all of my coaches who have helped me so much in the past two years that I have been here. read more

I want to start this review by saying by no way shape or form does this reflect Coach Austin nor any of the coaches at the gym and is only to reflect admin/management. We came to this gym pre/post Covid. We came back after my daughters cheer season ended specifically for tumbling with Austin who btw is AMAZING and the ONLY reason we come. During Covid this gym charged my card for 6 months and even after calling and canceling they continued to do so. Only stopped when I reported it as fraud due to lack of competence from the gym. Against my better judgement we re enrolled online as the system is user friendly and considering you can't enter the gym it's the best to do. Let's fast forward to the part where they yet again, dropped the ball. After a month of returning to the gym my son enters his parkour class. ENTERS- I mean he went in the doors, stepped on the mat & started warm ups. I get a call from the front saying my son has been dropped due to a trial period. My daughter also comes to this gym for the same reason to see Austin for tumbling and it wasn't until several minutes into the conversation when I ask about her does she notice that yes she's dropped to. She says we can re enroll them but your daughter is waitlisted. I went into the gym and spoke with Laura- who by the way should write a book on how not to handle a customer. I explained to her the lack of not only communication but professionalism that I've had and also have a huge security issue as they didn't notice a child was on the floor who wasn't enrolled! That's insane. Instead I get 100 reasons why it was handled the way it was and she proceeds to try to tell me I opened an email from the gym. Which btw wrong if you think I'm a liar Laura, just say that. I bring up my daughters friend who's only enrolled bc we are and she proceeded to tell me "oh she's been here since August" haha also a lie no she hasn't. After that she goes back by saying there's a balance issue on the account from my friend that she can't discuss with me. Laura says "we have hundreds of trials a month we can't control who enrolls and drops". How is that relevant Laura? Is the goal of your business not to retain long term returning customers? Because to state you have hundreds of free revenue a month doesn't exactly scream good business. I have 11 years experience as a regional manager for a dental corporation and not once have I seen even a receptionist handle a situation this poorly. Overall my experience with the management of this gym has been subpar and that's me being nice. If you want a gym who refuses to communicate with you in person unless they realize there is a child who not only isn't enrolled in a class but also isn't under an active release of liability consent to the gym then by all means sign up. Can you imagine if there was a situation where a child was picked up by a stranger? Do not walk but run from this gym. I should've listened when all of our cheer friends left and went to infinity. read more

My daughter has been with Champion Gymnastics for almost 3 years now, and we could not be any happier with the gym and coaches. We spend 16 plus hours a week there watching her train, and every single gymnast and coach has become like family to us. We look forward to every practice and cannot believe the progress we see in these kids each and every day. My daughter started out as a tumbler, and transitioned to gymnastics. All I can say to this is WOW. The coaches have transformed a tumbler into a fierce competitor with so much love of the sport. Coaches Derek, JJ, Tom, Daniel and Brittany have all helped her achieve goals we never even though possible. Their dedication to the students is anything and everything we could have asked for. The students have become their kids as much as ours, and it shows everyday in their constant love and support. They teach them to believe and achieve. If you are considering putting your child in a sport, I highly recommend Champion Gymnastics. Whether the class be tumbling, cheer, parkour, or gymnastics, I promise you will see your child thrive here! read more

Updated: They promised to refund the charges, thank you. Some instructors are fantastic and we appreciates that.

Stinks like feet it's dirty and the "coaches" don't watch to help your child they are too busy talking to each other. A kid could easy snap their neck tumbling because they are not being taught safe proper form. read more

We have been at Champion since May 2022. We have three girls there, all competitive gymnasts at different levels. This is our 3rd gym, and our oldest has been doing gymnastics for six years. The 1st gym closed for good during COVID, and we left our 2nd gym when the distance became too much for our family schedule. We LOVE Champion Gymnastics, and our gymnasts are thriving. The owners are awesome, and the coaches are amazing! In addition to their regular practices, our girls have had privates with Derek, Tom, and Daniel over the last few months, and they have helped them immensely. We are so happy to have found our gymnastics home!!! read more

This gymnastics facility has the most top notch coaches and the atmosphere is built on providing a fun family friendly experience. It makes me so sad to see other yelp reviewers continually harass and post slanderous accusations towards anyone at this training center. To go as far as making up stories and posting pictures pretending that it's your own child is disgusting. The families that are a part of champion know and live the champion family culture. I personally have two daughters that have been at Champion for over 7 years and have worked with all the coaches. We are so thankful and blessed by their knowledge and skill. We would never go anywhere else. read more

My granddaughter goes to Champion Gymnastics and Cheer for 3 years now. I love the fact I get to go watch her all the time! It's so much fun! The gym is so open which makes it hard to miss a beat watching all the kids! Love watching my granddaughter progress so quickly. She has such amazing coaches.... JJ the owner, Derek, Brittany, Tom and Daniel just to name a few of her main coaches. All amazing people as well! read more

We have found this gym to be great place for the kiddos. Coaching staff has been great. A lot of individual attention is provided which was what we were looking for. read more

One of the best gyms in SD. My daughter has attended this gym for almost 7 years now. She has grown up with many other students and the coaches. The coaches are like family to her and I appreciate that very much. I feel as though they look out for the children's best interest, and safety. I have nothing but great things to say about Thomas, Brittany, Austin, Vanna, and so many more that work at Champion. Both my children have done sports with Champion and have no complaints (well maybe a bigger parking lot lol). Thank you for everything you do!!! read more

My daughter joined Champion a year and a half ago and we could not be happier! She is there 16 hours a week and wishes that it was more! The gym is truly a second home for her and she absolutely adores all of the coaches she has had so far- Derek, Jj, Tom and Brittany. She has grown so much as an athlete and competitor in the past year and a half due to the amazing environment and wonderful coaches. As a parent I also love how open the gym is. There are is never a time that you are not able to see your child, and they are often practicing only a few feet away from you. Overall our experience here has been nothing short of amazing! read more

From the first time I walked in, I knew this was the place for my daughter. Now that they offer different classes for adults and kids besides gymnastics, my son enjoys the hip hop class they have to offer. So excited to see this place grow leaps and bounds. Everyone that works at CGC are very kind and funny ;) along with the parents that I get to know. Thanks CGC for being like family! Come in and check it out! Don't be afraid to go and jump on their trampoline, See if you can jump higher than Coach Jack! read more

Champion Gymnastics & Cheer - Gymnastics Near Me - Santee, California

See all

I tried to register my son here for their parkour class. He is diagnosed on the Autism spectrum so I put it on the medical form. It wouldn't let me fully register him online so I called. The kid who answered seem very nice when I told him about what I was trying to do he told me I had to talk to someone else. The owner came on before asking me anything about my son told me that they can't have kids on the spectrum at their gym. I asked why not and she said that her coaches weren't qualified to take care of them. I continued to ask what she meant and asked if their was special training I wasn't aware of then she said that their insurance wouldn't cover it. That made no sense to me so I finally said you know nothing about my child. She said well if he acts like a "normal" child then he should be ok. What the heck? They definitely need a lesson on discrimination and how to better handle the situation. I will not be registering my children here and would not recommend it. read more

This company is not inclusive to children that may have a disability or children on the spectrum . Furthermore they actually stated on the phone that if your child doesn't act like a normal child then they can not participate. Who says that ?! Definitely wouldn't want my kids going somewhere that has this type of mindset. read more

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS FACILITY & STAFF! We have been through multiple gymnastic studio's in Santee and was on the hunt for something better. Not only do they offer multi level recreational & competative levels but they also offer PARCORE!!! 8) Our son had been begging us to start Parcore but after several phone calls and a ton of research we realized our city does not have any established classes for this outside activity. We where able to come tour the facility as soon as I called & fell in love with the staff and how they genuinely care about all the kids. Fantastic facility, lots of room for parents to watch and even study areas for kids between classes. Family owned & operated and might I say very well maintained! Shout out to the janitor, your facility exceeds my expectations of cleanliness! read more

JJ and Champion Gymnastics & Cheer ("CGC") are wonderful. Our daughter attends gymnastics there regularly and loves it. Not only is the gym top notch, but the staff are very caring and create an awesome environment for the kids. Tip: CGC is an amazing place to have a kid's birthday party (or other party event). Inexpensive and perfect for the kids. We had our daughter's 4th b-day there and we had parent after parent telling us it was one of the best kid's b-day parties they had ever been to and that they were going to book a party there. I recommend it. read more

What a fantastic first day we had. Austin taught the Tumble Bees class and made Tiara feel welcome and comfortable. His humor and ability to remember names created a fun, enriching environment. Lucky for us Austin and ( I'm sorry I didn't get the other coach"s name) was also the Coach for Beginners Parkour! Kingston was anxious beginning his class today but left full of confidence and eager to come back. Thank you for such a great experience! read more

Champions gymnastics has been a wonderful place for my kids to learn and develop many athletic skills. Both my daughter and son have been attending the gym for several years and the strength, agility, and discipline they have developed is amazing. Since they offer a variety of sport activities my kids have also been exposed to more experiences at a single location. In addition, the trainers are top notch. They break down the maneuvers into small increments allowing the kids to digest each section of the task in order for them to process it. I highly recommend Champions for all kids. read more

I only give this place one star because I have to so I can write a review otherwise I would give zero stars. It's been years since my daughter did gymnastics at CGC and I am sure many things have changed since but recent event have me shaking my head so I felt compelled to share my experience. One of the reasons I selected Champion Gymnastics and Cheer (CGC) was because I wanted a smaller gym where my daughter would get more one-on-one. Often times, she was one of two or three in the class. I thought this was great at first, but too many times, a less qualified instructor would coach my daughter. This was a huge waste of time! Without mentioning names, an older woman with long nails would work with my daughter, and my two year old would come home with scratches all over her little body. I tried not to let it bother me, because I felt like it wasn't intentional but this should have been my first red flag. When my daughter moved up, I was asked to wait in a designated waiting room which was filthy. I chose to wait outside rather than deal with the filth. The bathrooms were equally disgusting. I couldn't help but to notice that everywhere I looked, the place needed to be cleaned. There were black hand prints all over the walls inside the gym and the equipment showed signs of grime. The floors were rarely vacuumed, and there was always bits of junk on the tumbling mats. I even offered to clean while my daughter was in her class since it was so bad. As if the filth and terrible instruction weren't enough, we finally called it quits when we became aware of inappropriate relationships that developed at the gym. I recently contacted an investigator to discuss my concerns about my past experiences and observations at the gym as a tip line was set up due to new developments. I originally outlined those developments here on Yelp but those details were not firsthand knowledge (and because someone complained), my review was taken down. After a quick revision, this is what I can post and I would encourage you to do a quick goggle search to help you find additional information. I'm surprised this place is still in business. Bottom line, and based on my firsthand experience and observations, the morals, values and ethical standards at CGC are non existent. It's definitely not a place where I would allow my child or teen to take gymnastic or even hang out. The lack of skill to teach gymnastic with some instructors is not worth the money or time. If you are lucky, you or your child might have a skilled instructor but the lack of boundaries in their working relationship is still questionable. If you're thinking about signing your child up at this place, I would strongly encourage you to look at other gyms in the area. The YMCA and Elite are by far a more professional and a safer option. We have tried both and we love Elite by comparison. It does cost a bit more but if you chat with the owner, there are ways to reduce your costs by helping with their events. I have even found smaller classes where my daughter gets the one-on-one instruction we were first looking for. After our experience at CGC we stopped gymnastic altogether because it was difficult to trust people with our daughter. We decided to wait until she was a bit older to try again. That gap of time set her back with her desire to advance in the sport. Please avoid the mistake we made and start somewhere else. Lastly, protect yourself from CGC spam. After numerous requests to stop the spam, we finally had to block CGC, their Facebook requests and their LinkedIn requests. We were bombarded with these email after email. We have not experienced this level of unsolicited emails ever. Best of luck to you parents and students. Trusting the people you work with and the people who work with your family members shouldn't be a scary thing. Update: I responded to the response of CGC and guess what, Yelp took it down again. Clearly someone doesn't want patrons a to know what our full experience was like there. CGC knows exactly who I am given that they can date how long it has been since we've been there. There is no surprise or shock here forks. I made all of my concerns very clear before we left. They are just trying to save face. Check them out for yourself and you'll see. When you realize I was correct, check out the YMCA and Elite. They are also in the area and offer free trials and tours. read more

One of my most vivid memories was the first day I went to my new gym. I was frightened, scared, and maybe even a little excited. I thought to myself, a new place and a new start. Little did I know it would be a huge transformation for my gymnastics career, I would gain friends that always have my back and a coach that is like a second father. I walked into the gym for the first time. I could feel the positive energy in the air. My old teammates and I were all a little nervous, sad and anxious because we didn't want this gym to shut down too and leave us lost and sad like our last gym had. Still, we were very excited to see what this gym would hold for our future. Then I saw how huge the gym was, there was a plethora of equipment. It was like walking into a castle that's how humongous it was. Then we met the coach, His name was JJ. He was a tall goofy looking man. He gave us a huge grin and told us that this was going to be our new home away from home. You could tell he was a very kind and respectful man right out of the gate, but when I actually got to know him he would help me do anything when I was scared, angry, or any other emotion was there for me. He was like a second father to me. That same day we got to meet the other gymnasts, even before we could say hello they welcomed us with open arms. Already I could see how sincere they were, they were like brothers, little did my old teammates and I know we were about to have a lot more brothers. After a few weeks together we were unstoppable and inseparable. We would push each other, help each other through tough times and difficult skills. We were always there for each other whenever we needed it. That day I found a new family and my fears and worries melted into joy and happiness. The gym wants me just to be there to me loving every second of being there and craving to be there more. I was also progressing in my career faster than ever before. I'll never forget that day. It was a great day for me and one I will never forget. By, Sohan Venkat read more

Big facility and lots of equipment to utilize. I do however feel like there's a lot of time wasted in the young kids class. 45 minute class equates to 5 minutes in water breaks and chatting, 15-20 minutes of warmup, 5 minutes at the end to jump on the trampoline or swim in the foam pit and the rest is actual gymnastics. Everyone is nice and really good to the kids so I'm torn on staying with 2 times a week and maybe will eventually try out another facility. The part I HATE....it's super filthy in the waiting areas and the bathrooms. Drives me crazy. 10/8/15 just started at elite gymnastics down the street and the difference is amazing! Took off one star from original review for cgc seeing a comparable gymnastics facility. Lower monthly and no yearly registration fee on top of it!! read more

I had to sit here for like a long time. Kinda not good. aLsOoOoooo. The scores for the gym meet didn't even load. Get ur stuff together bro. Like seriously read more

Brought my daughter here over the weekend for a free trial class and she loved it. The location is rather large and they have a ton of equipment. The staff was very friendly, the owner Robyn was there to answer any questions we had. Overall i really liked it. The schedule of classes is great! In searching for a gym, i noticed not a lot of places offer classes after 5 or weekends so that was a plus for me. The fees seem reasonable. Only thing i didn't really like was that they charge a $35 annual fee per child, so that can get pricey when you have more than one to register. **They also offer a military discount so that was really nice also!** Overall i really liked the facility. read more

My daughter has been taking classes with coach Lena for over a month now and she absolutely loves it! Lena is paitent and kind with the kids and does such a great job of understanding their skill level and keeping them engaged! She is sweet and respectful and clearly knows what she is doing. We are so happy to have found this gymnastics gym! read more