High Tech Gymnastics • Leander
High Tech Gymnastics • Leander
By Joseph M. de Leon Friday, 15 May 2009
Todd Hammitt was born into gymnastics. Even before he could walk with confidence, he was already jumping, balancing and tumbling.
“As early as I can remember, it was gymnastics,” he said. “I did everything I was capable of at the earliest age.”
His father, Tom Hammitt, ran track in college in the 1960s. In the 1970s, he taught gymnastics and wrestling to students at several Austin high schools.
By 1980, the elder Hammitt — who died in 2007 — was ready to open his own gym in Austin. He called it Tumbler’s Haven.
Two years later, the Tumbler’s Haven girls’ team won first place in a statewide meet at the now-defunct Austin Aqua Festival.
It was the start of many honors in the USA Junior Olympic Skills Program, including participation in more than 20 state championships.
In October 1986, Tumbler’s Haven became High Tech Gymnastics and moved to its present location in Leander.
“In the late ‘80s, all these high tech companies were moving to Austin,” Hammitt said. “My dad thought it would be clever to try and capitalize on that name.”
Hammitt, 33, considered closing the gym when his father died. The thought of running a business he knew little about while keeping his day job overwhelmed him. Hammitt had never taught before.
“I saw all these kids and I knew they would have no place to go,” he said. “We really tried to make it work.”
Now Hammitt helps do every job his father used to: coach, handy man, janitor. Today, the gym looks much as it did when it first opened.
Mats, beams and bars fill an 8,000-sq. ft. metal building.
Four- and five-year-old girls in leotards reach, bend then turn head-over-heels in awkward, halting gestures. Teens, after years of practice, hold stoic poses while balancing on a 4-inch wide beam.
Head coach and manager Cindy Cardenas shares the credit for such dramatic transformations.
She started working with Hammitt’s father in 1983. Trained in dance, gymnastics and physical education, Cardenas moves with grace that spills over to her students.
“Some kids think ‘I can’t do that’, so when they see that they can, it really helps their confidence,” she said. “It’s not just a sport. It’s artistic and you use your brain quite a bit.”
Classes:
- Kinder Kids is a class for 3-5 year old girls and boys. The focus is on development of motor skills and building self-confidence.
- Girls’ Gymnastics consists of training in all four Olympic events for women: Uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and vaulting.
- Boys’ Gymnastics teaches skills on the floor, vault, trampoline and bars.
- Tumbling involves skills done only on the floor mat. The trampoline is used as a training aid.
- Cheer teaches jumps, motions, cheers, chants and tumbling for cheerleading. Classes are also available for cheer groups.
High Tech Gymnastics, 901 Oakwood Drive, 259-4913, www.hightechgymnastics.com
