The largest cheer, dance, and tumble gym in Columbia - Coaching what we LOVE to over 800 students!
170 Pontiac Business Center Dr Columbia, SC 29045
+803-422-3662
ABOUT US
Michaela Gonzales (left) & Alex Renwick (right)
OUR GOAL To provide quality, professional, and safe Cheer, Dance, and Tumble programs from beginners to competitive athletes. We want every child, no matter experience or skill level, to find a place they feel good about and can succeed in!
OUR MISSION To encourage, promote, and believe in the value of teamwork, leadership, learning, self-worth, and confidence among staff and students through the sport of Cheerleading, Dance, and Tumble in an effort to contribute to the child's growth as a confident, young athlete in and out of the gym.
Our company has grown tremendously thanks to our amazing staff and leadership, great kids, and program philosophy. However, one thing remains the same -- it has and will always be our goal to deliver a professional, quality program while being the best role models for our young athletes. And most importantly, teach our students about the appropriate progression for their age and skill level!
We are so proud of our athletes and all that they have achieved. However, one of the most rewarding accomplishments for The Tumble Tree is that we have single-handedly set the standards for cheer, dance, and after school programs in Columbia, and “raised the bar” for what these programs should be. We have been afforded the opportunity to train hundreds of students, win many competitions, and work with dozens of recreation and high school school cheer programs from all over our area. We are truly honored to be part of each and every young athlete's experience and have a direct effect on our community!
We believe our success has come from how we treat our families and students. We are extremely organized, great communicators, and spend a lot of time planning our classes and practices...so that our students get the most out of their time with us. We are so proud of our staff, as well -- they love what they do, and we think it really shows! Check out their bios, below!
(L to R) Alex, Michaela, Brittany Littlejohn,
& Tiffany Day
MICHAELA GONZALES, OWNER Michaela was recently named one of the TOP 20 under 40 Professionals in Columbia, SC in 2012! She is the mother of three children and has been married for 14 years. She is a graduate of the University of South Florida and was involved with cheering and gymnastics from her childhood to college.
ALEX HOOD, DIRECTOR & BILLING Alex started working for The Tumble Tree in September 2009 as an assistant coach while also working for Richland School District One. She quickly became a head coach working at many of the elementary schools. Alex and Michaela started The Twisters together in May 2010 and in fall 2010 Alex started working full time for The Tumble Tree. Alex cheered since middle school and competed for 4 years in high school. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and is married with a 7 month old baby girl.
BRITTANY LITTLEJOHN-MOORE, AFTER SCHOOL DIRECTOR Brittany started working for The Tumble Tree in 2010 as an assistant and head coach as well as an all star coach with The Twisters. Brittany began working full time for The Tumble Tree in 2011. Brittany cheered since middle school and competed for 4 years in high school. She is married to her husband, John.
In addition our coaching staff consists of Tiffany Day, our Tumbling Director, and after school and tumbling coaches. We are excited to have Chelsea Clark and Sterlin Choice on our staff this year. Both are previous competitive cheerleaders and currently cheer at the University of South Carolina. All of our staff are USASF certified as well have their first aid and CPR certification. They have been involved in cheer, tumble, or dance for most of their life!
OUR STAFF
2008-2009 The Tumble Tree was started by Michaela Gonzales in order to fill a need for high quality, well-managed cheer and dance programs in local elementary schools. We also offered two week long camps during the summer.
2009-2010 During 09-10, our after school classes spread to over 15 schools in the Northeast Columbia area. Our cheer camps continued to be successful during the summer, as well.
2010-2011 Cheer and dance classes expanded to Lexington County and several more after school classes were offered at the Columbia area schools.
In the summer of 2010, we also started an all star cheerleading program, The Twisters with 32 of our talented girls from the after school classes to make up our first 2 teams. We practiced at a local church gym and competed a couple times that year ending our season with 2 first place wins!
With business booming and our number of students and programs increasing, we were running out of room! In April of 2011, we moved into our own gym -- The Factory! The Factory is a 12,000 square foot fully air conditioned facility located off I-20 and Spears Creek Church Road. It is home to: The Tumble Tree, The Twisters, Carolina Cages, The Starlets, Open Gym, tumbling classes, summer camp, and birthday parties.
In the summer of 2011 our Twister all star cheer teams expanded from 32 to 80 girls and from 2 teams to 4 teams! We also began offering a 12-week summer camp program, every day -- all day during the summer for kids, ages 4-12. Towards the end of the year, we also started an all star dance program called The Starlets!
2011-2012 Our after school classes continued to grow, reaching to over 500 students and our Twister and Starlet teams reached over 100 members.
Sports Fundamentals, an after school Sports program began in our existing schools. We also began offering camps and classes in Sports at our gym.
2012-2013 This year has been a busy one for us! We now have over 800 students in Columbia and Lexington, 150 all star students, and over 20 employees! We began working with Middle and High School programs on choreography and training classes. We are also blessed with three full time employees that are passionate about their work!
2013-2014 This year our all star teams have grown to over 200 students and now a Senior team as well!
2014-2015 Our all star teams are continuing to grow and expand! We are also expanding our gym this summer to take on extra space for our tumbling classes and camps!
2015-2016 Our gym has expanded and is now 15,000 square feet. We have expanded our tumbling gym, added a conditioning gym, and several classrooms and playrooms for our camps. We have 9 Twister all star teams this year and 1 all star dance team. We are continuing to teach after school cheer, dance, and sports classes in Richland School District 2.
OUR HISTORY
(L to R) Alex, Michaela, & husband Joe at the awards
ceremony for Top 20 Under 40 Professionals
in Columbia, SC for 2012!
"We have grown to over 800 students in only 7 years - that defines our success as well as
our students and their families' happiness and satisfaction with our programs."
-Michaela Gonzales, Owner
Sterlin Choice (left) and Chelsea Clark (right)