Our Staff
Kindergym
 Rebecca Herren
KinderGym Director
(Safety & CPR Certified, Instructor member USAG)
Rebecca started gymnastics at 3 years old in Lawrence, Kansas. She stayed actively involved in the sport until the age of 16. During her High School years she became involved dance and cheer, adding many more experiences that would later become an asset to her gymnastic coaching.
After college she moved to Arizona and accepted the position as the Program Director at a gym in Mesa. Rebecca comes to North Valley Gymnastics with a lifetime of experience both as a gymnast and as a coach. She is a graduate from the University of Kansas with a double major in Communications and Child Psychology. She would like to continue her education by obtaining a degree in nursing and is engaged to be married in the spring of 2009. We are proud to have Rebecca as the Director of the North Valley Gymnastic KinderGym Program.
 Susan Norrid
KinderGym Coach
(Safety & CPR Certified, Instructor Member USAG)
Susan began her KinderGym teaching career 5 years ago, and has become one of the most requested coaches to date. Born and raised in Arizona, she attended Xavier High School in Phoenix, competing in Tennis and Softball, and later graduated College, receiving a Degree in Dental Hygiene. While maintaining her job as a Dental Hygienist for 15 years, she developed an interest in preschool gymnastics. Susan is a wonderful mother of 2 sons and has been married for 14 years. Today, Susan stays fit by Hiking and Running. She is very active in her community, at church and is a positive role model for all children, enriching their lives through movement.
Girls Recreational Gymnastics
 Brandi Harris
Girls Recreational Director
(Safety & CPR Certified, Professional Memeber USAG)
Brandi was born and raised in Romeo, Michigan. She moved to Arizona in 2001 for a job opportunity in Real Estate. She began her gymnastic career at the age of 4, and continued on to compete at a regional and national level, winning several event and all-around titles. She took her first coaching job at age 16, and felt she had truly found her passion in coaching. She has coached at a local club in Arizona for the past 10 years, bringing to North Valley her experience in Girls Recreational, Pre-school and Team Gymnastics. She is currently a student at PVCC pursuing her Associate of Applied Science Degree with hopes to become a registered nurse. We are excited to have here at NVG.
 Alexis Crain
Girls Recreational/Tumbling/Trampoline Coach
(Safety & CPR Certified, Instructor Member USAG)
Alexis began gymnastics at the age of 3, and continued her training in gymnastics and tumbling until the age of 12, when her interest changed to Cheerleading. She has been involved in competitive cheer all 4 years at Goldwater High School. Her hobbies include cheer, tumbling and riding dirt bikes. Alexis is currently a freshman at PVCC, studying environmental engineering. She is excited to begin her coaching career and finally share her gymnastics and athletic experience with her students at North Valley.
 Joy Donaldson
Girls Recreational Coach/ Girls Team Coach
(Safety & CPR Certified, Professional Member USAG)
Joy has been involved in gymnastics since the age of 3. She competed as an optional at All-American Gymnastics Academy winning many competitions. She competed and placed in the South Dakota State Meet, Regionals, and Nationals. After high school she went on to compete in the all-around at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire where she competed in the WIAC Gymnastics Championships and Regionals. She graduated in 2002 with a degree in Advertising and Marketing. Before moving to Arizona she was the team Level 5 coach at Siouxland Gymnastics in Sioux City, IA. Many of her girls become State Champions. Since living in Arizona she has coached everything from kinderGym classes, girls recreational to competitive team. Joy currently works at Tempo Creative as an Account Manager. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, running half marathons and doing triathlons. She is very excited to be sharing her lifetime of experiences with our kids at North Valley.
 Stefanie Wallerstein
Girls Recreational Gymnastics/ T&T Coach
Fitness Director/Adult Gymnastics
(Safety & CPR Certified, Professional Memeber USAG)
Stefanie has been involved with gymnastics for over sixteen years. Her love for the sport began when she was just 3 years old. She competed for the Y.M.C.A in La Canada, Ca. until the age of 14. She then decided to explore other sports. She participated in volleyball, basketball, and swim teams at the high school level. She was awarded MVP for her volleyball and basketball teams. Since she had such a passion for the sport of gymnastics she decided not to entirely give up that part of her life and began her coaching career as a kinder gym and girl’s recreational coach at the age of 15. She coached at the YMCA until she was hired at Paradise Canyon Elementary School as an assistant P.E. teacher. She coached at a private gym in Pasadena, Ca. while attending Pasadena City College. She was married in 1995 and later began her family. Missing her work in gymnastics instruction, she went back to her YMCA and became certified in Aerobics instructing and Personal training. She was later asked to become the new director of girl’s gymnastics. She ran a very successful gym program there, doubling the numbers of students in only one year. Stefanie is very happy to be back in the gym coaching again. It gives her great pleasure to be a part of teaching healthy life styles to children.
Girls Developmental Director
 Laura Bruins
Developmental Director
(CPR & Safety Certified, Professional Member USAG)
Laura has been involved in the sport of gymnastics for over 20 years. She started gymnastics at just 5 years old in her home town of Rancho Cucamonga, California. She spent most of her competitive years at Baldy View Gymnastics training under her mom, who is still today, the Girls Team Director. Laura was a competitive gymnast through optional level 8 with many successes. Her specialties being the floor exercise and beam. She has had a wide variety of experience in coaching from recreational to competitive gymnastics. Today, she specializes in the developmental process of gymnastic training. Laura is a 2002 graduate from California State Polytechnic University with a bachelor of science in Biology. She currently works at Mayo Clinic where she does cancer research. Laura’s primary goal at NVG is to utilize her skills and knowledge of gymnastics to enhance the lives of all her students.
Girls Team Directors
 Emily Pivin
Girls Team Director
(Safety & CPR Certified, Professional Member USAG)
Emily started gymnastics at the age of 4 at Buckeye Gymnastics in Ohio. At the age of 8, her career in gymnastics began to flourish as she continued her training at GymMarin in California, winning the California State Championship Title 3 years in a row. As she moved to optional gymnastics( levels 7-9) she won 2 more State Championship Titles, and became a regional and National qualifier. Emily graduated High School and attended Arizona State University. She made the ASU Women’s Gymnastic Team her freshman year, but due to a knee injury was unable to continue her training. She began her coaching career along side Olga Korbut, who focused mainly on preparing young girls for team. This would prove to be a great experience, as later she would become one of Arizona’s great compulsory team coaches. She has been coaching team girls now for over 10 years. Emily has been married for 3 years, and is expecting her first child in October.
 La Shawn Benson
Girls Compulsory Team Coach
(Safety & CPR Certified, USAG Professional Membership)
La Shawn started gymnastics at 6 years old at Leading Edge Gymnastics in Everett, Washington. From an early age it seemed that her talent and passion for the sport would be an advantage for her. By age 8, she was already winning state championships and several event and all-around titles. She added Ballet and Jazz to her formal training to strengthen her competitive performance. By age 11 she had competed through level 9 when she incurred a serious injury which prevented her from continuing with her gymnastic career. She began coaching at the age of 16 to share with the children the knowledge and passion she began at such an early age. Since
La Shawn has always had a love of dance, she has been able to incorporate her two passions together and become one of Arizona’s most respected and competitive dancers. She has gone on to win several national dance titles and has been sponsored by Southpole, Sedgewick, and Cedar Clothing companies. With over 15 years of experience in gymnastics and dance we are truly excited to have La Shawn join the NVG coaching staff.
 Denise Frantz
Optional Girl’s Team Director
(CPR & Safety Certified, Professional Member USAG, Women’s Artistic Judge Levels 4-8)
Denise has been involved in gymnastics for over 35 years. She began her competitive career by the age of 5, and won her first state champion title just 5 years later. In addition to holding the all-around title, she was also a regional and national qualifier for 9 consecutive years. By the age of 15, Denise began teaching Preschool gymnastics. She found herself with a passion for teaching young children which would later become one of her strongest assets. By the time she entered college at Oklahoma State University, she was forced to end her competitive gymnastics career due to an ankle injury. However, she continued coaching Preschool through optional level competitive gymnastics. In 1994 she moved to Arizona and began her long time coaching career. She took her first head coach position with only 15 gymnasts, and due to her experience and dedication, expanded her team to over 40 gymnasts ranging from levels 4-9. She remained dedicated to this program for over 15 years with many successes, taking gymnasts to State, Regional, and National levels with many championship titles. In 1999 she became the Grand Canyon State Games Commissioner for 8 consecutive years, was an Arizona State Board Member in 2006 and 2007, and Meet Director for the Level 4 Arizona State Championships in 2006 and 2007. Denise has been married for 9 years and has a 4 year old son who is also in gymnastics. We are proud to have Denise as part of our North Valley Gymnastics family.
Boys Recreational Gymnastics/ Boys Team Director
 Travis Rainer
Director of Boys Programs/Boys Team Director
(Safety & CPR Certified, EMT & First Aid Certification, Professional Member USAG)
Travis has been involved in the sport of gymnastics for over 17 years. He was a competitive gymnast, competing in club gymnastics as well as at the high school level. He began his coaching career in 1999, building the boys recreational and competitive gymnastics team through the YMCA. He had multiple successes over 7 years as his team increased to over 35 competitive boys ranging from levels 4 – 10. His boys team had many state and regional all-around champions, including national qualifiers and event titles. Soon there after, another opportunity arose when he was asked to train the competitive girl’s level 5 – 10 team at another local gym in 2008. Once again, gaining many state, regional, and national champions. Travis has been educated in coaching gymnastics through many elite and Olympic level coaches, clinics, sanctioned congresses, and literature over the past 10 years.
 Michael Malin
Boys & Girls Recreational Coach/KinderGym Coach
(Safety & CPR Certified)
Michael has had a passion for working with children for the past six years. He is 21 years old and from Detroit, Michigan. He has always been an extreme sports enthusiast, participating in skateboarding, waterskiing, surfing, and football. He knew he wanted to work with children, so he began volunteering with childcare at local churches. He moved to California, was trained and began working for MyGym. When Michael decided to move back to his home state, he was hired by American Gymnastics and coached there for 3 years specializing in preschool and recreational gymnastics. He learned more advanced coaching skills while continuing to gain a stronger education. Michael is currently attending school at MMI and is very proud to be part of the North Valley Gymnastics Coaching Staff. He looks forward to helping children develop their social, mental, and physical well being!
Trampoline & Tumbling (T&T)
 Michael Wykoff
T&T Director
(Safety & CPR Certified, Professional Member USAG)
Michael was just 6 years old when he discovered his love for Martial Arts. He began his involvement in Tumbling and Trampoline at the age of 15, and has used this powerful combination to gain more experience in 3 other various styles of Taekwando. Michael has also trained with several of Arizona’s top tumbling coaches to gain more knowledge through experience and has pursued his love for the sport through coaching. We are excited for him to be the Director of T&T at NVG. Michael is currently a senior at Arizona State University, majoring in Political Science
Cheer Directors
 Michael Perez
Cheer Director/Choreographer
(Safety & CPR Certified, ISAF Certification)
Michael has been involved in All Star Cheer as well as High School Cheer for over 8 years. He has trained with some of the top teams on Arizona, winning numerous titles, such as; 2 consecutive AIA State Championships, USA National winner at the High School level and placing in the top 5 at USASF Cheerleading Worlds. He is currently a college sophomore at SCC majoring in Fashion Merchandising. Michael is professionally trained in Dance and Choreography and is very excited to be working together with Erica to put together North Valley’s All Star Cheer Team.
Dance & Fitness
 Francoise Joubert
Ballet, Pilates Instructor, Choreographer
(Safety & CPR Certified)
Francoise began her dance studies in Bordeaux, France at 6 years old in the company of Jarquis de Luevas. She also studied in Canner, France under Rosella Hightower, Andrew Glegosky, Solange Golovine and Olga Stens (character). She started her career at the Opera de Bordeaux (Grand Theatre) in France under Maitre Skouratoff.
She began her teaching career in France and has continued here in the United States at the Ballet Conservatory in Palos Verde, CA for 4 years. In 2002, she received a prestigious teacher recognition award from the National Arts Foundation. In 2006, she furthered her career by getting certified in Pilates. Françoise presence in AZ is well known as a Ballet/Pointe instructor and Choreographer and is excited to be sharing her knowledge and experience to the kids at NVG.
Special Needs Program
 Bernie Ray
Special Needs Director
(Safety & CPR Certified, USAG Professional Membership, KAT Certified)
Bernie has been involved in gymnastics for over 20 years. She began her coaching career in Boise, Idaho where she coached for 6 years. She moved to Arizona in 1995 for a more challenging experience, which was Director of a gym in the west valley. She has coached every aspect of gymnastics including parent-tot classes, pre-school, recreational girls and boys, developmental and competitive team girls, as well as competitive cheerleading. Bernie’s focus changed in 2004. her love for the sport led her into new and innovative areas. She started her own program working specifically with special needs students. She specializes in one- on- one physical activity instruction, using gymnastics equipment, for special needs children. As one parent says, “its’ physical therapy and occupational therapy in a fun and safe environment”.
Camp Counselors/Open Gym/ Birthday Parties
 Ashley Beasley
Camp Counselor/Open Gym/ Birthday Parties
(CPR & Safety Certified)
Ashley has been involved in gymnastics for over 13 years. She started competitive gymnastics by the age of 7 and has competed through optional level 8, excelling in the floor exercise and vault. Entering into High School she found that her interests had changed as she became more involved in after school dance programs. She has continued her passion for dance by training 7 hours a week at Diverse Elements Dance Studio. Ashley is a junior and honor student at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale. She is very involved in her youth group at church as well as her community, and looks forward to sharing her knowledge and love of the sport with her future students.
 A.J. Kissee
Camp Counselor/Open Gym/Birthday Parties
(Safety & CPR Certified)
A.J. Kissee has been involved in gymnastics since he was 4 years old. He progressed through boy’s competitive level 6, with his strongest events being pommel horse, rings, and vault. Entering into High School, his interests changed as he decided to play on the JV Hockey Team at Pinnacle High School. This year he has returned to his first love of gymnastics and is again training on the boy’s team as an optional Level 8. His hobbies include, skateboarding, Creative Arts, and spending time with his friends. A.J. is sophomore and honor student at Pinnacle High School and is also involved with his church youth group at North Bible Church. He is currently interning with Travis in the boys recreational program, and is looking forward to coaching his own classes next year!
 Shelby Rose
Open Gym/Birthday Parties
(CPR & Safety Certified)
Shelby started gymnastics at the age of 4 in Phoenix, Arizona. She enjoyed recreational gymnastics for several years, but became involved in cheerleading by the age of 10. As she progressed through her middle school and high school years, she found herself with a passion for singing and theater and began helping at Desert Stages Theater. There she would perform and teach summer camps for over 5 years. Shelby is currently a senior a Cactus Shadows High School, involved in student council, and the drama club and is very excited to be working with children, teaching KinderGym classes and helping head up the Summer Camp program at North Valley Gymnastics.
 Camille Walker
Open Gym/Birthday Parties
(Safety & CPR Certified)
Camille is a sophomore and honors student at Horizon High School. She is very involved in their Choir program and Creative Arts.Camille finds passion in singing, dancing and performing on stage. She has always enjoyed babysitting, and working with and helping children of all ages. We are excited to have her join the NVG Staff!
 Emily Wykoff
Camp Counselor/Open Gym Coach/Birthday Parties
(Safety & CPR Certified)
Emily is a high school student at Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek. She started gymnastics at the age of 4, at a local gym in Arizona. Her passion for gymnastics grew as she progressed through competitive levels 4-8, and placed in the top 3 at many of Arizona’s State Meets. Today,
Emily has become passionate about dance and trains 18 hours a week at
Diverse Elements Dance Studio. Her hopes are to become part of their competitive dance program.
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