| Berdina Elizabeth Malloy, born on March 5, 1970. You could say I was born to flip. I have been upside down more than I've been right side up! I am a self taught tumbler and have loved to tumble since I was a kid. I had my first class at the age of 15. I only lasted 9 months on the team due to shin splints and no nerve to learn new apparatus. Then I started coaching for Larry and Anneta Merriman in 1986 at the age of 16, and stayed there till fall of 1993. Leaving there was one of the saddest days of my life. I truly loved coaching for the Merrimans. However, I was forced to find a better paying job, and worked for two years at Echlin in Litchfield. I then went to work for someone for 1 year and 9 months. Because of personality conflicts, I left there in search of a place that was an equal opportunity to tumble gym, where every one is treated the same. I wanted the advanced level of tumbling, and good equipment to do it on. I wanted to make it affordable for every one who wanted to learn. There was nothing in this area, so I opened the Flip-Flop Shop in 1998. Before I even had registration, I had 68 kids sign up for classes. The turn out was amazing! There were so many kids wanting to learn to tumble. In January 1999, our gym joined the USTA and AAU. In February 1999, we competed at our first meet in Shelbyville. The team and gym have been going stronger ever since. We have countless State Champs, and 10 National Champs as of 2005. But most important, we enjoy our little gym here in Coffeen IL. and never have forgotten to have fun while we work on learning new tricks. My goal for every one of my students is to reach their potential, set goals, be careful, make friends, enjoy our gym, and challenge their skill level. I hope that my students will look back when they are all grown up and say "I had a lot of fun at a gym called The Flip-Flop Shop in the little town of Coffeen, and the coach there taught me to be strong, determined, confident, patient; and most of all, I felt loved." |
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