“Punching” On

When COVID-19 put a halt on in-person gymnastics lessons, one Houma gym managed to keep “punching” on with the help of a digitally-centered age.

Owned by Wayne and Jessica Punch, Punch Gymnastics describes its mission as helping children to discover their strength while having fun in the process.

That’s why when business had to be altered in response to COVID-19, Jessica knew it was important for the gym to uphold that mission for its families and students.

“For us, the biggest thing was how we were going to stay committed to our families and to our athletes. We try to progress our athletes in a way that they are always learning, so for us, our biggest concern was trying to find a way, even though it would probably be an unorthodox way, of continuing our mission,” Jessica said.

Punch Gymnastics moved its operations entirely online while its physical location was forced to close when the stay-at-home order was put into place. Jessica said that classes at the gym are separated by age groups, so each group was given scheduled days and times during the week as to when their classes were set to take place through video call services like Zoom.

“We were still working. I still had my coaches working, and that was good because even though they weren’t working as many hours, it was good for them to be able to keep working some hours,” Jessica said.

The gym’s coaches also wanted to provide alternate options for athletes who were not available during their classes’ scheduled Zoom times, so coaches and athletes began making videos to share with other students.

Toward the end of the stay-at-home order, Punch Gymnastics coaches started the process of recording socially-distant at-home workout videos at the gym.

Additionally, Jessica said she would send workout plans to athletes, who would complete the workouts and record videos doing them. Punch Gymnastics would then share those videos for other athletes to view and practice at their convenience.

“With the Zoom classes, you have to come…when the class is offered, but let’s say that time doesn’t work for you or whatever. We wanted to come in and have another way to be able to teach the kids…so they were able to learn on their own time,” Jessica said.

Throughout their digital operations, Jessica said the priority was always to keep athletes engaged with their training.

“It definitely meant that we would have to do online gymnastics and still have our athletes of the month and still find ways to reach everybody,” Jessica said. “We were a little nervous about that but…we just really wanted to find a way to keep our kids learning.”

Jessica said it meant a lot to see Punch’s athletes have the chance to continue doing what they loved to do, even from a distance.

In particular, she feels like it was an opportunity for the students to capitalize on furthering aspects of their training that they may not have worked on as intensely before, such as strengthening and flexibility.

“It meant a lot for our kids to be able to stay strong. Gymnastics is not one of those sports where you can take a week or two off and then come back and not feel it. It’s one of those things you really have to stay up on,” Jessica said.

The gym reopened its doors on a limited basis in May when Louisiana moved to Phase 1 of the COVID-19 reopening plan. For the athletes who began to return to in-person lessons, Jessica said the opportunity to continue training while they were away paid off, as they did not have to re-gain any flexibility or strength.

Now, the gym is operating under new health and safety guidelines put into place to protect athletes and coaches from the spread of the virus. Employees are required to wear masks, surfaces are sanitized in between use, temperature checks are taken as students arrive and parents are required to drop children off in a car pickup line outside, instead of entering the gym.

The gym is still offering some online classes, but Jessica is happy to see athletes back together in the gym, participating in the sport they love. She said she believes there is a lot for them to learn from their experience over the last few months.

“I think it said that we’re willing to make things work and maybe to look at things from a different angle,” Jessica said. “What I’ve learned from them is that they just want to do what they love, so that means that if it has to be different, they’ll take it…It’s really shown me the resiliency of kids and that they’re able to adapt.”•