LOCAL FOCUS: Northwest Aerials Gives Local Families a Program to Flip Over

PATTI GABLE, owner of in Kirkland, knows gymnastics.

She started as a gymnastics student when she was 10 years old and in her teens advanced to become an elite competitive gymnast, earning state, regional and national titles. She finished her competitive career after qualifying for the 1976 Olympic trials. She didn’t make it to the Olympics, but that didn’t slow her down.

She returned home to Seattle and while attending the University of Washington, began the next leg on her gymnastics journey: coaching. At age 19, she took over Gymnastics, Inc., in the Queen Anne area of Seattle and renamed the program the George Lewis School of Gymnastics, after her coach.

“Gym teaches kids time management, ways to deal with difficult situations and to keep trying when things don’t work out,” she says. “They learn to get up when they fall. Since it’s an individual skill, everyone can succeed."

Upon graduation in 1981, she moved her school to a strip mall on 124th in Kirkland – just across the street from the current location – and renamed the school Northwest Aerials. Over the next 13 years, she built a strong gymnastics program, offering classes and coaching on the four primary Olympic events: balance beam, uneven bars, floor and vault.

In 1994 though, Northwest Aerials had outgrown the space. She partnered with her father to purchase the building across the street and moved the school into its current location.

The new facility allowed Gable and her team to build a first rate gymnastics training facility, with additional space – and head room – for competitive quality trampoline, dance studios, toddler gym space, an outdoor pool and more.

Today, Northwest Aerials offers gymnastics, dance, swimming and trampoline programs and is one of the premier gymnastics programs in the Northwest. In fact, according to their website, it is one of the oldest and largest gymnastics and dance schools in the United States.

They have produced 200 state champions, 20 regional champions and 20 gymnasts on the U.S. and regional national teams. They have had seven students receive full college scholarships, which is not common for gymnastics, have had a boy train at the national training center for trampoline, and are the home of the 1999 National champion.

Beyond the titles, Gable says gymnastics provides skills valuable for other activities. “Gymnastics is also great for motor skill development and feeds well into all sports. There aren’t many sports that develop upper body strength," she says. "Gymnastics is a really good sport for that.”

The program, which has grown tremendously over the years, offers classes in gymnastics, trampoline and dance, including combination classes in gymnastics and dance.

“Our business model is that we teach quality gymnastics, dance and swimming in a fun, safe and positive environment,” says Gable. “We develop our offerings based on demand, what’s popular currently, what staff I have that is qualified to teach and what I think is a good program for kids to get involved in.”

DANCE CLASSES range from traditional tap and ballet classes, to jazz, breakdancing, Irish and even Tahitian dance, which is taught at the club by an outside group. Gymnastics and trampoline classes take place throughout the year for students of all skill levels. During the summer, the club offers swimming lessons in their heated outdoor pool.

The club also trains a competitive girl’s gymnastics team as well as a boys’ recreational team and coed competitive trampoline team.

Gable, who is also a parent of two, understands the need for flexible options that accommodate all kinds of schedules. Her programs more than rise to that need.

The club hosts an “indoor park” playtime on the gym’s inflatable equipment on Thursdays and Fridays for an hour, and they offer a Kiddy Camp for preschoolers every Friday from 9-1. They also offer numerous camp programs throughout the summer – and over every school break – that can be scheduled daily, weekly, half-day, full-day or with before or after care. During the summer, students attend with an eight-punch card, allowing them to go to any class that fits into their schedule without having to miss or make-up classes due to vacations, camps or family outings.

Additional programs include birthday party packages, “Extra Gym” for current students, a monthly Parents’ Night Out, “Flip Clinic” for backhandspring practice, meets for competitive students, dance shows and an annual recital at the Kirkland Performance Center, and more.

“I see NW Aerials continuing for a long time,” says Gable, who is now seeing her third generation of students enroll at the club. “I love being down here and I love working with kids and staff. I have staff that has been here for a very long time. In fact, most staff has been here 10 years or more. For example, our manager started taking classes as a child, continued , started assistant teaching at 14, started coaching and is still here at 38.”

Gable is not a woman to sit on her laurels and watch her business grow. She is a mom of two teens who are involved in a host of other extracurricular activities, has served as PTA president and for 26 years (with a two-year break four years ago), and served as the USA Gymnastics State Director, overseeing all competitive gymnastics in the state of Washington.

“I feel confident in the people I have here because they’ve been here so long. If I need to pull back my time, I know everything will run fine. The fun thing for me is I don’t do a lot of coaching anymore because it’s gotten so big. We have 1,200 students here and I have my kids. The athletes I have are national competitors.”

For details, see the Northwest Aerials web site here, or call 425-823-2665.