A Las Vegas gymnastics center has expanded to a second, larger location, enabling the gym to offer more to the community.
Desert Gymcats recently celebrated the grand opening of its location at 2425 S. Cimarron Road, near Sahara Avenue, a couple blocks south of its building at 950 S. Cimarron Road, near Charleston Boulevard.
"What we're going to do is more things with our F.E.A.T., which is our autism class. I'd like to start a program where we can take kids from Boys and Girls Clubs and do a class with them," said Jessica Spruell, co-owner of Desert Gymcats. "Now that we have more room, we can do things like that."
On Sept. 23, Desert Gymcats hosted its first F.E.A.T. class for at the new gym. Additional classes are scheduled for Oct. 14 at the original location and Oct. 28 at the new location.
"It's just a free class. They come in and we have our team kids work where each kid has their own helper," Spruell said. "It just really helps them and they have a really good time. You can see improvement in each child as we go."
The kids in the class generally range from 3 to 15 years old. Desert Gymcats has hosted the monthly class for about three years and plans to make it bi-monthly, being featured at both gyms.
"We do basic gymnastics like rolling and body positions, supporting their own weight, like little handstands. Sometimes they're very coordinated and do the same thing as any other kid," Spruell said. "Their favorite thing is usually the trampoline. Sometimes they really love the foam block pit. It's just basic coordination stuff, like holding onto a bar, holding a support, walking on the beams. Each kid seems to have a certain area where they gravitate towards."
The extra space will also allow for separation between different programs, including girls and boys gymnastics, preschoolers and trampoline and tumbling classes. There's also Ninja Cats, which is similar to "American Ninja Warrior" and cheerleading classes.
"We outgrew our other facility with our regular program," Spruell said. "... It gives everybody more space."
