Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center by Lance Becvar

In this latest article on places you can take your children to get fit in, the writer discovers a story of heart felt devotion to not only fitness, but a special devotion to a parents’ love for their child. Come with me on this two part series on a local Western New York fitness center that will have you thinking about what it means to be committed to fitness and parenting while dealing with adversity. The first of this two part series will talk about the Greater Buffalo Gymnastics & Fitness Center history, class offering and structure of its organization. The second part will talk about this couple’s continued devotion to their fitness center despite facing incredible adversity after their daughter became ill.

The Greater Buffalo Gymnastics & Fitness Center was established in 1993 by a couple that was inspired by their passion for gymnastics. Torey and Sharon Hirsch both were involved with gymnastics at an early age, when they were in grade school. In fact that is where they met as children at Heim Middle School in Williamsville. They maintained contact with each other during their years apart attending different colleges. Then in 1980 they married and had two children shortly after. In the beginning they coached gymnastics for different companies, organizations; in fact Torey was once a judge for a time with the USA Gymnastics organization. Their dream to open their own gymnastics center of their own became a reality in 1993 after having to maneuver around through zoning issues the town of Amherst had with their design plans.

This gymnastics center grew from a 13,600 square foot facility to an over 40,500 square foot complex (see the slide show). The center not only houses the Greater Buffalo Gymnastics center but on the same property houses an adult fitness center, dance studio, martial arts center and a daycare. Children from 18 months to 18 years can participate in highly structured classes that can prepare them for nation wide competition. Torey and Sharon’s gymnastics programs have been very successful at training their students to compete with the best and win awards for their abilities, (see slide show). Furthermore children from 18 months to 3 years participate in sessions with their parents. All the instructors are safety certified USA Gymnastics coaches that undergo yearly training and recertification. In one of the waiting rooms near the gymnastics center there is wall with all the instructor’s certifications for viewing. What is most interesting about this facility is that the fitness center for the adults is located directly above the gymnastics center, where parents can watch their children participate in classes while getting a workout of their own in (see slide show). There are many places to observe your children’s classes, such as a separate waiting room upstairs with a perfect view of the entire gymnasium. Month fees can run from under $50.00 dollars to over a hundred dollars for older children in the advance classes, for more information please check out the web-link, http://www.buffalogymcenter.com/contact_us.php. My feeling about this center is one of deep caring devotion to what they teach in their classes and a willingness to go the extra mile for their students. Conversely, another facet of this story that intrigued and saddened the writer was their devotion to their daughter when she become chronically ill with Leukemia which will be discussed in detail in part two of this article.