Meet Our Coaches -

Courtney: Just You and Me Kid / Pre-school / Rec Gymnastics / Team / Manager
Courtney was born and raised in NYC. She was a competitive gymnast as a child and continued her talent through high school. She always had a niche for working with kids. At the young age of 12 she babysat often for siblings (three younger sisters) and friends. She began coaching gymnastics at 14 and hasn’t stopped since. She moved to Atlanta in 2002 and started coaching at the Ashford Dunwoody YMCA, where she quickly moved up to become the Gymnastics Coordinator, growing the program from 30 participants to over 300.

Courtney has been working with kids from the ages of 3 months to 15 years old, including pre-school, recreational and competitive team. She has always maintained her USA gymnastics safety certification and also keeps up with current pre-school certifications (formerly KAT, now HOT). Working with kids brings a smile to her face – not only when a skill has been accomplished, but a goal has been reached. For some that may be walking down a high beam alone, and for others just getting up on the beam. There is no standard in working with children. Each child is an individual with their own personality.

A 25 year old dream is finally coming true with the opening of Jump Start Gym.

Lih-Sia: Team Coach

Lih-Sia grew up in Maryland where she took rec classes in gymnastics for most of elementary and middle school. In high school she transitioned to dance and acrobatic gymnastics. She was a member of her highschool performance dance troop and competed in acro her junior and senior years. During her senior year of high school her acro coached opened a new gym, where Lih-Sia worked part time coaching, doing birthday parties and summer camps, and assisting at the front desk. After leaving for college she continued to work at the gym during summer and winter breaks until permanently settling Atlanta in 2007.

After high school Lih-Sia moved to Atlanta to attend Georgia Tech, where she earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2006. She is happy to have found a job she loves coaching at Jump Start.

Annette: Billing / Birthday Parties

Daniela: Team Coach

Daniela is Jump Start’ss resident olympian. She earned 6 medals as part of the Romanian team at the 1988 Summer Olympics (three gold, two silver, and one bronze). In her five-year tenure as a member of the Romanian senior national team, Daniela earned six individual World Championships titles as well as the 1987 European Championships all-around title. She was the only gymnast, male or female, to medal in every single event at the 1988 Olympics, where she earned seven perfect 10 scores.

In 1991 Daniela moved to the United States and began coaching gymnastics. Courtney and Daniela met back when Jump Start was still a dream, and Daniela became one of our first team coaches when the gym opened in 2011.

Anya: Team Coach/ Acro

Coach Anya is currently a third year Stamps Presidential Scholar at Georgia Tech studying business and psychology to become a social entrepreneur in education. Anya started gymnastics as a baby and competed through level 5 in artistic gymnastics; she is currently a level 8 acrobat and has been coaching for six years. Outside of the gym, Anya is Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of Trailblazers, a student-driven e-magazine about transformative education, Director of Design Thinking Education and Research for the social impact organization Wish for WASH, and an actress/dancer for Drama Tech, Georgia Tech’s student run theater.