Kona Aerials Gymnastics

"We are visiting Kona from Texas. Our favorite coach, Josh, left our home gym to take a job at Kona Aerials recently so we thought we would visit him and get some private lessons while vacationing on the Big Island. I was pretty shocked by some of the reviews on here but since I only do private lessons with Coach Josh I can not speak as to other coaches. We come right after lunch since I homeschool my daughter and no one else is here for our private lessons. Josh knows how to maintain a disciplined class and jokes with the kids. He teaches skills in an encouraging way and is up to date on USGA standards. Coach Josh is even certified to teach Muay Thai internationally. My six year old is very shy around most adults but she is comfortable with him. So ask for Coach Josh and if you can afford it do a private lesson with him."

"Review I purchased a package from this business specifically because it said it would never expire. Being a full-time mom, who’s partner is often out of town makes it difficult for me to attend different classes, and I noticed that when I first looked at the schedule it was quite limited. Over the months, my partner was away more and more due to an illness in the family. The schedule for this company also became more limited, eventually only offering one class that ends after my child’s bed time. I reached out to the phone number listed for the business to ask if my daughter and I could attend classes together on my one package in order to use them up. Initially, I was told that was acceptable. Then a few days later, I received a text telling me that I would have to use up all classes within a week even though I had stated I would be leaving town to spend the holidays with our loved one with stage 4 cancer. That individual then went into Schedulicity and added an expiration that would occur in a matter of days while we will be out of town. Because I was originally told that my daughter & I would be able to take classes together I shared that with her and we were looking forward to it. The one class we were able to attend was well taught, and fun. There are no other options for aerial on the island, but as I said, our teacher was good. However, it is cruel and unprofessional to treat us as they did. I ended up paying $260 for one class which is not ok. They could’ve easily given us a few weeks after returning to use the classes. It saddens me that there are people like this."

"My seven year old daughter had been begging to do gymnastics for a couple months. We live about an hour away but finally I gave in and signed her up. Within a month she no longer wants to do the class because as she says, "the instructors aren't nice," and this is coming from a girl who loves everyone. I'm proud she came to this conclusion on her own because if she didn't I was going to pull her out anyway. The instructors here are ridiculous. I'm not sure what they think they're doing, but yelling at kids, using shame and threats, and just being condescending a-holes to little kids is unacceptable. I've coached a number of sports and never seen anyone ever act like this toward their kids. It's so sad to see a kid get completely turned off from something she loves doing because the instructors have no understanding of proper, positive ways to work with children. I read the other yelp review on this operation and I wish I'd listened. Save your kid the disappointment and take them to the Happy Feet soccer camp where the instructors know how to interact with kids."

"Warm and fuzzy has nothing to do with it. I've coached gymnastics for over 20 years and I do not take a warm and fuzzy approach. The owner of this gym is abusive to young children, her team kids, coaches and parents. Her behavior is appalling. Many parents stand up for her even though they agree in private that she is out of control because this is the only gym on this side of the island. Choose another sport, this woman is traumatizing. I would give it zero stars if I could."

"Should have been called Kona Mentals Gymnastics... The owner is nuts!!! She has no skills with training children. Anyone can yell at kids, that's not training, that's abusive. My granddaughter left crying because the lady yelled at her so badly. This isn't training for the Olympics. If she can't encourage children in a positive way to have fun doing gymnastics, she will never be a good teacher. Better to spend time playing with your kids at the park for free then paying for the abuse at this place."