Paul Comstedt
Co-owner/ Gym Manager/ Competitive Girls Gymnastics head coach
USAG CERTIFIED JUNIOR OLYMPIC TEAM COACH and AMPLIFY MASTER LEVEL COACH
Paul grew up in the foothills of Longmont, Colorado. Paul has been involved in gymnastics for over 25 years and has taught gymnastics for over 10 years in Colorado, Missouri and China! In both Colorado and Missouri, he has coached multiple state champion gymnasts. He has a degree in Biblical Literature and TESOL from Ozark Christian College and is a certified personal trainer through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine). Paul has a passion for kids, and it is his desire to see every child grow into a well rounded adult.
Kip Johnson
Co-owner/ Trampoline and Tumbling Team Head Coach
USAG Certified National Team coach
Kip is a former competitive trampoline and tumbling athlete who has over 25 years of experience in the sport as a competitor, coach, and judge. His accomplishments include competing in World Games, receiving an invitation to compete in the Pan Pacific Games, competing in 5 national championships and winning a national championship in tumbling. He has over 10 years experience as a trampoline and tumbling coach including coaching multiple USAG regional and national champions. He has also coached multiple national champion cheer squads. Kip has a master’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Kansas Medical Center and is currently a physical therapist at Freeman Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. His passion is developing young people not only into great athletes, but more importantly into young adults with character, work ethic, spiritual maturity, teamwork philosophy, interpersonal skills and life goals.
Derek Hammeke
Co-owner
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Derek was trained in gymnastics while growing up in Kansas City. He originally came to Joplin to attend Ozark Christian College. He has a degree in Biblical Literature and an Associate's Degree in Art. He owns Key Productions, a video production company in Joplin. He has received many awards for his wedding videos, documentaries and short films. He has always had a love for the sport and the lasting virtues that it instills in students. He also loves the community that the gym environment fosters.
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Kelsey Comstedt
Recreational Program director and coach
USAG Certified, Amplify level 3 coach
Kelsey has been coaching preschool and girls gymnastics for 4 years. In her spare time, she enjoys watching videos and reading about new skills to teach and new methods to make coaching kids fun. Her favorite aspect of the sport is the relationship building with kids. Kelsey loves to have fun, be goofy, and is serious about helping kids grow into well rounded adults. She graduated in 2012 from Harding University with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. She has always wanted to work with kids and be able to mentor them and now she is! She loves what she does so much! There is never a dull moment when coaching and seeing kids smile and having fun keeps that fire burning.
Austin Spencer
Recreational Coach
usag certified, Amplify level 1 coach
Austin has 4 years of martial arts experience, 4 years of training parkour and free running, and 3 years of coaching experience. Austin was born and raised in Joplin, Missouri. He attended Ozark Christian College. He loves getting to coach kids and see them grow physically as athletes as well as mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Austin says, "I love discovering how much the human body can do concerning athletics. The complex skill and the simplex feats of strength still amazes me every day."
Sonya Carrell
Office Manager
Sonya is a proud wife and Momma of 3 amazing kiddos. She has been working at Amplify for over 5 years. She loves getting to know the kids and families. Sonya says, "Amplify has become our home and our family. The high level of character and huge hearted staff is one of a kind. I couldn't have been more blessed to have all the staff and families influence my kiddos and set huge standards for them." Sonya was a Highschool Cheerleader, and has spent the last 9 years of her life surrounded by gymnastics, cheer, and trampoline & tumbling. All 3 of her kids have been involved in the competitive spectrum. "Competitive athletics is great for kids and helps them to be successful in many aspects of life." Sonya has also coached the pre-elite cheer team and Youth Level 1 competitive team. She loves all 3 sports, but has really grown to favor cheer. Sonya says, "The sport is seriously underrated for the amount of work, discipline, strength, agility, bravery, and teamwork involved. It has grown into such an impressive sport and now has been inducted into the Olympics. I cannot wait to see this happen!"
Lori Cole
Office
Lori grew up in Girard, Kansas on her family's farm. She enjoys working outside doing such things as gardening and working in the flower beds. For the past 14 years, she has assisted children and adults with disabilities and is currently attending WGU to obtain a Special Education degree so she will be able to work with students with disabilities. She enjoys working at Amplify because she likes to help others and loves watching students learn new skills in the gym. She has 13 years of clerical experience and enjoys helping others reach their goals. Her favorite event is tumbling.
Juliana Truska
Girls Gymnastics team coach
USag certified, amplify level 1 coach
Juliana is from good old Memphis, TN, "where you don't have to ask a restaurant if they have sweet tea or not". Juliana began gymnastics at the age of 3 in Memphis, TN. She started competing in gymnastics at 6 years old and continued through her senior year of high school as a level 9. She qualified for Regionals, 3 years in a row as a level 9 gymnast. Juliana began coaching while still competing at the age of 16 at her home gym. She went to Auburn University, and coached compulsory at the Auburn Gymnastics Academy. Juliana has coached at Amplify for 2 years and has coached kids from 2 years old to 17 years old. She currently is the Level 3 head coach and she assists with the optional team. Juliana's favorite aspect of the sport is the fact that kids are able to thrive mentally, physically, and spiritually, through one of the most difficult and fascinating sports there is! She has been involved in the sport for 19 years. Juliana and her husband both attend Ozark Christian College. Juliana says "Amplify is my second home here in Joplin and is like my family away from family." Her favorite part of working at Amplify is seeing gymnasts faces light up when they conquer fear and grow not only as a fearless gymnast, but also as a fearless person. There are so many lessons that can be learned in the gym that the students are able to carry with them throughout every part of their lives.
CJ Rhoades
Trampoline and tumbling Team and Recreational coach, Preschool, Girls Gymnastics
USAG Certified, amplify level 1 coach
CJ has been competing in the sport of Trampoline and Tumbling for 10 years. His favorite event is double-mini trampoline. He is currently competing at the Sr. Elite level. In 2014, he was a part of the team representing the United States at the world age group competition in Dayton Beach, Florida. He has been coaching for 3 years and he loves it! CJ says, "I want to share my passion for this sport and gymnastics with everyone I meet." CJ lived in Lindon, Utah for 18 years before moving to Joplin. Outside of the gym, he likes to do anything outdoors. He spends a lot of his free time running.
Tate Simmons
Trampoline and Tumbing Program director, team trampoline and tumbling Coach
usag certified, amplify level 1 coach
Tate is currently a competitive trampoline and tumbling athlete and has been competing for four years. I has been a trampoline and tumbling coach for three years. He loves to coach tumbling and has coached many cheerleaders with tumbling. His favorite event is tumbling on the rod floor. He is currently a student at Crowder College in Neosho and he is on his way to become a registered nurse. He has always loved science and wanted to help people, it is for this reason why he loves coaching! Tate says, "I love to see a child's face light up after working so hard to learn a new skill and then finally getting it." He fell in love with trampoline and tumbling the second he bounced on a trampoline. Tate says, "It has shown its challenges but because I love it I work through them." Tate wants to help kids develop or accomplish anything they want in the sport and to help them grow as an athlete to love the sport and as a person to love themselves and others around them.
Kelly Kleespies
Girls Gymnastics program director, Competitive girls gymnastics coach
USAG certified, amplify level 3 coach
Kelly is 21 years old and recently married. She has been in Joplin for about a year and a half and she loved it! Kelly says, "Its a great place with a great community". When she is not working, she loves to paint and to be outside doing really anything! Kelly competed in gymnastics for 11 years and has been coaching for about a year and a half. Kelly says, "I absolutely loves coaching! I would love to do it until I'm an old lady!" Kelly thinks coaching is awesome because it allows her to invest in kids' lives and encourage them to be the best they can be, and she loves that she can still be involved in gymnastics even though her own gymnastics days are over! Her favorite events are beam and floor. She loves the work ethic it builds into the kids, and how proud they are of themselves when they get a new skill. Kelly says, "It's an amazing sport that shapes you into the person you'll be for the rest of your life".
Courtney Logal
GIRLS GYMNASTICS and parties!
Courtney is 19 years old and was born and raised in Webb City, Missouri. She started girls gymnastics at the age of 6 and competed as a level 9 for Amplify her senior year of high school. She now is a sophomore at the University of Missouri where she cheers on the coed team for football and men’s basketball games. This past year they got 6 th place at Nationals in Daytona, Florida. Courtney also competes for the club gymnastics team at Mizzou to keep up with her love for gymnastics. She is a political science major and plans to attend law school at Mizzou. She has some dance experience in ballet, jazz, hip hop and east coast swing. In her free time, Courtney enjoys hanging out with friends, reading and being outdoors. Courtney has coached gymnastics for almost 4 years and absolutely loves it. She says it is a great way to share her love for the sport while teaching the kids other valuable life lessons. Gymnastics will always be a huge part of her life.
Adriana Henry
Cheer, Trampoline and tumbling
USag certified, amplify level 2 coach
Adriana has been involved in gymnastics for more than 20 years. Her mother is a former gym owner, and Adriana was raised in the gym, spending most of her days on a trampoline. She competed for 10 years in both trampoline and double-mini trampoline. In 1998, she won her first National Title at the age of 9. Over her competitive career she won multiple State titles and placed in the top ten of every National Championship she attended. Adriana began coaching at the age of 15 in her mom's gym, beginning with trampoline and tumbling. She has also has coached competitive gymnastics, cheerleading, and hip hop. Cheerleading has been Adriana's passion for the past ten years. In that time, she has also worked as a choreographer for multiple programs winning titles in a variety of competitions. Adriana enjoys coaching hip hop the most because it allows the routine to be most creative. Adriana lives on her family's farm in Neosho with her husband Travis and their daughter Briar. In her spare time, Adriana enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, and collecting Legos.
Audrey Wunderlich
CHEER
Audrey moved to Joplin a few months after graduating from college to work full time at Christ In Youth. Audrey says, "At CIY, we believe that everyone is called to Kingdom work: using the gifts, talents, and passions that God gave you for His Kingdom. I knew after settling into this community that God was calling me to use my passion for the sport and sharing it with other athletes. I'm so excited to be apart of the team at Amplify and to instill my love for cheer into other athletes". Audrey's favorite part of cheer is stunting. She picked up her first pair of poms in second grade and her college coach had to pry them out of her hands after her senior year of college. For 16 years, cheer became much more than a hobby but a passion that grew her into who she is today. Audrey says, "I was very blessed to cheer all four years in college, winning the Mid-South Conference Championship in 2012, the NAIA East Regional Cheer Competition in 2012 and 2013, and taking my team to NCA College Nationals for the first time in my College's History, placing 9th, 6th, and 5th".
Olivia Johnson
Preschool
usag certified, amplify level 1 coach
Olivia grew up at the Lake of the Ozarks in Camdenton, Missouri. She moved to Joplin to attend Ozark Christian College and Missouri Southern State University. She is currently attending to receive a bachelors in both elementary education and Christian ministry. Olivia has always loved being around kids and has never doubted her decision to make a career out of it! She is also recently married, however they do not plan on leaving Joplin anytime soon. Olivia grew up spending a lot of time in dance. She most enjoyed hip-hop, jazz, and ballet. Although most of her experience and heart is in dance, she has also fallen in love with the sport of gymnastics. She enjoys coaching gymnastics and loves the relationships she gets to build with the students. Olivia says, "Coaching at Amplify is something that I look forward too and a job that I find so much joy in!" Olivia's favorite aspect of the sport is that is builds strong students. Olivia says, "They are physically strong, yes, but also strong in their hearts, minds, and their motivations. I love that I have the opportunity to see each new set of students develop into strong adults.
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Savanna Jones
OFFICE
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Savana has three children, Lucas, Layla and Lucy. They have all been involved in the activities at Amplify. Her daughters are currently on the level 4 Gymnastics Team. She is so thankful for the staff and for the patience of all of the coaches. Savanna loves seeing kids active and doing things they enjoy. She enjoys watching them gain their confidence as they master skills that are more difficult. Savanna's favorite aspect of the sport is learning self-confience and trust.
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Jenna Harrison
Preschool and parties!
Jenna was born and raised in Dalhart, Texas. She graduated from West Texas A&M in May of 2015 with two Mass Communication degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Advertising Public Relations. She moved to Joplin in September of 2016 to pursue my dream of working in missions and international non-profit work. Jenna's favorite aspect of gymnastics is tumbling and bars, but also as a whole the discipline, grace and beauty of the sport overall.
Mackenzie Strycker
Trampoline and tumbling, preschool, cheer and parties!
Mackenzie was a competive gymnast for 6 years, school cheerleader for 4 years and now a college cheerleader. She is attending Missouri Southern State University to get her bachelors in elementary and special education. Mackenzie's favorite event is Trampoline.
Gracie Smith
RECREATIONAL GIRLS GYMNASTICS, cheer, and parties!
Gracie competed 7 years through level 8 gymnastics and trained up to level 9, placing in the top at state, to be qualified and compete at Regionals as a level 8. She has competed on a level 3 Sr Elite cheer team, they won national and grand champion titles. Gracie is currently on a Level 5 Worlds Cheer team. Gracie has also learned some Urban and T&T training. She loves being able to help our community and do things such as volunteering through Next Step Ministry's, church, and the humane society. Gracie says, "My faith and sharing the love of God is important to me. I love cheer and gymnastics so much that I want to be able to help athletes love it as much as I did and still do." One of Gracie's goals is to become an orthopedic surgeon after attending college at Baylor or OU. She wants to help those get back to where they were before they got injured. She also wants to better herself enough to be on an elite team like Top Gun or CA.
Calvin Fry
Recreational Trampoline and Tumbling
USAg certified, amplify level 1 coach
Calvin has been competing in the sport of Trampoline and Tumbling for 5 years. His favorite event is Trampoline. He is currently competing at the Jr. Elite level. Over the past few years he has had several top 5 finishes at the National Competition for both Trampoline and Double Mini Trampoline, and several top three finishes at many other national level meets. Calvin is new to the field of coaching, but loves it and wants to "share the opportunity to be involved in this great sport with as many people as I can." Outside of the gym, he likes to hangout with his teammates and have as much fun as possible in life.
aSHLEY cOLE
TRAMPOLINE AND TUMBLING, gIRLS GYMNASTICS
usag certified
Ashley has been competing in this sport for 10 years and recently started shadowing as a coach. She plans to coach when she turns 16 years old, as well as continuing to compete in trampoline and tumbling. Her favorite event in girls gymnastics is vault and her favorite event in trampoline and tumbling is double mini. Other activities that Ashley participates in are: Current member of National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes Leadership, Manager of yearbook staff and assist in teaching a toddler Sunday school class. She enjoys working with students and watching them grow whether in a sport and academically.