About Apollo Beach Gymnastics Academy

A family-owned gym rooted in three decades of competitive coaching, serving the Greater SouthShore. We built this place on what we learned in Idaho and what we believe in Florida.

Origins

From Flip Factory to Florida

Tammy started coaching at seventeen in the gym where she learned the sport. She and Todd built something real in Idaho, a program that sent state champions and scholarship athletes into the world. Their son Austin grew up in that gym, surrounded by the work. When family called them home to Florida, they brought the program with them. ABGA opened in 2020 and now serves the Greater SouthShore from a full facility in Gibsonton.

Leadership

Meet the owners

Three decades of coaching experience built this place.

30+ years coaching

Tammy McLean

Program Director and Co-Owner
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Tammy fell for gymnastics watching Nadia Comăneci in the 1976 Olympics. She started coaching at 17 in the same gym where shetrained and has been at it for over 30 years. With Todd, she built Flip Factory Gymnastics in Hayden, Idaho, a program that produced state champions and college scholarship athletes for nearly two decades before family ties brought them to Florida. Vault was her best event as a gymnast and is still her favorite to coach. also run an academic preschool and worked with children with special needs.

25+ years coaching

Todd McLean

Co-Team Director and Co-Owner
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Todd grew up around gymnastics but focused on football to finishhis high school career at East Valley in 1990. He studied Sports Psychology and Physical Therapy at Eastern Washington University before meeting Tammy at a North Spokane gym in 1994. The two have coached together for over 25 years, opening Flip Factory Gymnastics in 1998 and running it across Washington and North Idaho for nearly two decades. Todd has coached gymnastics and cheer at the highschool and college level. He has also presented at Gymnastics and Cheer Congresses and guest coached at camps across the country.

Amanda Garte

Finance and Marketing Director and Co-Owner
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Amanda is ABGA's Finance and Marketing Director and a mom of four. She joined the gym after watching her daughter find gymnastics and now runs the business side of ABGA alongside the McLeans.

Michelle – Gym Operations Manager

“Call Me”

Michelle keeps ABGA running. As Gym Operations Manager, she handles the day-to-day work that makes the gym feel like a place families want to return to, from answering the phone to keeping the lobby in motion. The kids call her the gym Auntie, and most of them know she carries smiley-face Band-Aids for the inevitable scraped knees. Before joining ABGA, Michelle served in the U.S. Coast Guard and co-founded Florida Exotic Realty Group with her husband André Ciappetta. She also spent years as a stay-at-home mom raising her son Christian, with stints as class mom and Cub Scouts den parent. Outside the gym, Michelle volunteers with local community causes and continues to run the realty business with her husband.

Motivation

Meet the staff

Our team loves this sport and grew up in it themselves.

Co-Boys Team Director and Rec Coach

Co-Boys Team Director and Rec Coach

Austin McLean

Austin grew up around gymnastics because his parents own the gym. He stepped away at 10 to play football and came back to the sport at 15. As a competitor he was the first ABGA gymnast to qualify for regionals and the first to qualify for Eastern Nationals, jumping three levels to compete as a Level 7 in his senior season. He now coaches everything from one-year-olds to adults, specializing in tumbling and boys team.

Team Boys and Rec Boys Coach

Team Boys and Rec Boys Coach

Brandon Gagnard

Brandon competed in gymnastics for 15 years and has been coaching for three. He coaches Boys Team and Boys Rec, with team as his favorite for the chance to develop new drills and teach advanced skills. He is studying computer software engineering in college.

Rec, Team, and Adult Coach

Rec, Team, and Adult Coach

Jewel-Lee Byer

Jewel-Lee competed in gymnastics through Level 4 and optionals over nine years before transitioning into coaching. She has coached gymnastics for six years and cheer for five, with All-Star and high school cheer experience of her own. Her favorite class to coach is team, where she gets to watch gymnasts work toward their upper-level skills and land them. At ABGA she coaches all levels including adults.

Katie Flach

Coach Katie brings more than six years of coaching experience at the compulsory and recreational levels. Her own competitive career spanned twelve years, reaching Level 9. Floor was her favorite event, and the double back tuck was the skill she was proudest to compete. Katie attended USF, where she spent a year with the USF Gymnastics Club. She graduated with a degree in Secondary Math Education and now teaches middle school math during the day, then coaches at ABGA after school.When she's not in the gym or the classroom, Katie sews and lifts weights. Born in Michigan and raised mostly in Florida, she lives with two dogs and a cat. She has one younger brother. Her favorite color is purple.

Makayla Owens

Coach Makayla spent two years in recreational gymnastics before moving up to team, where she competed for two and a half years. The part of coaching she loves most is watching a kid learn a new skill and level up. What keeps her at ABGA is the people. Makayla has built real bonds with the gymnasts she coaches, and the families and staff she's gotten to know feel like part of that, too.

Gym Operations Manager

Gym Operations Manager

Michelle-Monique

Rhia Snyder

Rhia has over 10 years of gymnastics experience, competing at Level 8 and training toward Level 9. She also cheered throughout high school and college. After college, she coached part-time at Golden City Gymnastics, helping young athletes grow their skills and confidence.

Rec Director and Co-Team Director

Rec Director and Co-Team Director

Sydney Gribnitz

Sydney grew up in a gym and competed from the time she could walk. She is a multi-time Idaho State Champion with podium finishes across the Pacific Northwest and Southwest. She has been coaching for over eight years and brings a strong dance background to her choreography work with the competitive teams. Sydney directs the rec program and co-directs team.

Pre-team and Rec Coach

Pre-team and Rec Coach

Tori Will

Tori cheered for 13 years on All-Star squads and coached All-Star Cheer Special Athletes for six. She joined ABGA to coach Pre-team and rec classes through Intermediate. Pre-team is her favorite, with the chance to see routines improve week after week.

Come see the gym for yourself

Book a free trial class and meet the coaches