GET TO KNOW THE CREW

Valerie grew up in Massachusetts where she trained at Gymnastics Training Center and was coached by Dutch Olympian, Richard Maijs, and Bulgarian Olympian Tania Fillipova. Valerie was a 3-year level 10 competitor.  She was a member of the 2004 Massachusetts National Team and qualified for Vault finals. Valerie was recognized for her Scholastic honors in the Boston Globe and Herald.  Valerie attended the College of Charleston and graduated in '07 with a bachelor's degree in political science and health. Valerie has grown her competitive team from scratch to over 100 team members.  In those years she has had countless State Champions and multiple Regional Qualifiers and Champions.  She has coached a TOPs National Team member, Level 10 JO National Qualifier, and has successfully coached many to college scholarships.

Becky was born and raised West of the Ashley in Charleston, SC. She graduated with a Business and Industrial Safety Degree from Newberry College and has been a successful business manager for over 30 years. She was a competitive baton twirler with various state and national awards. She is passionate about fitness for children and helping them find a means to further their education through the sport of gymnastics. She has one son and a daughter who graduated as a Level 10 gymnast. She is married to Randy Parrish.

"The Professional FunMaster" Randy was a former competitive college gymnast at Illinois State University. He has been coaching since 1976 and owned Quincy Gymnastics for 25 years and coached gymnasts and cheerleaders to the National level and collegiate level. He is a certified Physical Education teacher. In addition, he was the director for 20 years at FLIP FEST summer gymnastics camp in Tennessee owned by Olympians John Macready and John Roethlisberger. He coaches all levels including recreational gymnastics here at GAC. He is GAC’s Program Developer and Director. He has coached athletes to various State, Regional, and National levels. He is USAG National and Regional Clinician and USAG Men’s and Women’s Professional Coach, Meet Director and Safety Certified. 

Orginally from Columbia, South Carolina, Tahj moved to Charleston to attend the College of Charleston. She earned her B.S. in Exercise Science in 2019 from CofC. Tahj was a competitive gymnast for 10 years before college, and competed Level 10. She works with both our compulsory and optional programs at GAC.

Brittany is from Bountiful, Utah. She ended up in Charleston for this opportunity to coach at GAC, as well as wanting to experience life outside of Utah (and all of the snow). She did gymnastics for 18 years, and for 4 of those years she competed for Utah State University on a full ride scholarship! Upon completing her time at USU she received a degree in Exercise Science with a Minor in Mental Health Advocacy and Awareness.

Chesny is originally from Charleston and graduated from Wando High School in 2020. She currently attends the University of South Carolina Beaufort majoring in Public Health.. She competed 3 years of compulsory levels and 3 years in Xcel, as well as coaching since the age of 16. She’s worked with Levels 3-7 and Xcel Silver-Diamond. A particular point of pride: at her last competition one of Chesny’s scores earned her 2nd place in the nation.

Faith is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, but ended up being pulled towards Charleston by our very own Coach Brittany. They were briefly teammates at Utah State University years ago, and now they work together at GAC! Faith did gymnastics for 19 years and trained up to Level 10 before competing at the collegiate level. She ended up at Temple University where she majored in Psychology and set the record for highest post season score in program history.

Chloe is from Oklahoma, where she cheered since the age of 5 all the way through college. During this time she has coached several types of gymnastics and cheer classes for 6 years. Chloe graduated the University of Central Oklahoma with a bachelors degree is Business administration with an emphasis on Sales. After graduating, Chloe moved to Charleston area to grow personally and professionally. Chloe is passionate about providing a vision for the future generations in the sport.

Emmett is originally from Fort Mill, South Carolina, but moved to the Charleston area for his undergraduate work in Sociology. He was a gymnast from the age of two and started competing at age six. He stayed in the sport until Level 7, qualifying for Regionals twice along the way. After stopping his own competitive journey, Emmett turned to coaching at his home gym for the next 3 years. He is currently a combat engineer in the U.S. Army National Guard.

Karenne is originally from Montana, and she made her way to Charleston in 2020 to work at MUSC while enjoying the beach and the warm weather. She was a competitive gymnast growing up, and she switched to coaching the levels 3-6 and Xcel throughout high school and college. Karenne has a Bachelors in Exercise Science from the University of Montana and is a nationally licensed EMT.