Going To The Mat For New Center

By LAURA KINSLER The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 7, 2008

TAMPA PALMS - The tumbling pass years in the making will happen when Tampa officially opens its newest gymnastics and dance center.

Mayor Pam Iorio will cut the ribbon at 9 a.m. Saturday. She might feel like doing cartwheels, but the main entertainment will be provided by gymnasts of all skill levels, including Tampa native Maalika Moore-Thomas, co-captain of her Ohio State University gymnastics team.

At 19,568 square feet, the New Tampa Recreation Center, 17302 Commerce Park Blvd., offers much-needed breathing room for the city's popular gymnastics program. The gym has two regulation-size tumbling mats, a dozen balance beams, three vaulting stations and four sets of uneven parallel bars. There's also a high bar and rings for the boys, a climbing wall for preschoolers and a separate room for meetings and dance classes.

Although the center will offer competitive team gymnastics, it also was designed to appeal to tumblers as young as 3. The little ones even have a special sliding entrance to the gym.

The New Tampa center has been approved to host its first sanctioned gymnastics meet in the fall.

It will host a series of weeklong summer camps specializing in activities such as gymnastics, dance, baseball, softball, soccer, cheerleading, rock climbing and skateboarding. Each camp costs $85 to $95 and is open to boys and girls ages 6 to 12.

Program director Heather Wolf-Erickson said the center will begin registering students for summer classes at 5 p.m. Monday. "We'll open the doors at 4 p.m.," she said. "We've had some parents call and tell us they want to wait in line to be sure they get a spot."

Summer session classes will be held at various times every day except Sunday. The session lasts from June 16 through Aug. 7. The center will offer gymnastics and tumbling for kids of all ages and skill levels, beginning dance and hiphop dance.

The sports readiness gymnastics program for boys ages 7 to 12 is designed to improve the strength, agility and flexibility boys need for other sports.

"We'll be adding more classes in the fall," Wolf-Erickson said. "We've had a lot of requests for martial arts and self-defense classes."

The Tampa Parks and Recreation Department expects to break ground this summer on the adjacent skateboard park and open it by the end of the year.

MAKING CONTACT

For information on summer camp registration at the New Tampa Recreation Center, call (813) 231-5272 or e-mail newtampatgd@tampagov.net.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.