Coast Elite Gymnastics Academy

Coast Elite Gymnastics Academy operates out of a facility on Arc Way in Fort Myers, offering gymnastics instruction that spans from toddlers just starting to tumble all the way up to competitive team athletes. The academy was founded by Catherine Curtis and Dave Zwiefelhofer, two coaches who bring very different but complementary backgrounds to the gym.

Curtis has a history that includes competing as Miss Teen Florida, along with experience in gymnastics coaching, costume design, and pageant grooming, a background that shows up in how the gym handles its more performance-oriented programs and events. Zwiefelhofer graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, and has more than thirty years of coaching experience, having worked with gymnasts competing at the state, regional, and national level. Together they run a program built around both recreational fun and serious competitive training, which gives families flexibility depending on how far their kid wants to take the sport.

The class lineup starts with preschool gymnastics for the youngest kids and moves through recreational classes and tumbling instruction for school-age children. For families interested in a more athletic, obstacle-course-style option, the gym also runs Ninja Warrior training programs, which have become popular with kids who watch the TV show and want to try the real thing. On the more serious end, Coast Elite fields competitive gymnastics teams for athletes who want to train toward meets rather than just take weekly classes. The gym also offers homeschool classes during the day for families who school at home and want a structured PE option, plus birthday party hosting and summer camps for school breaks.

Coast Elite frames its mission around more than just skills on the mat. The gym’s stated philosophy is that kids learn self-discipline, motivation, courage, goal-setting, self-worth, confidence, and grit through gymnastics, alongside a love of movement, and that focus on character development alongside athletics is a common thread in how the coaches talk about their program. New families are offered a free trial class before committing, and class registration and scheduling run through an online parent portal, which makes it easy to check open spots or manage a growing family’s schedule without a phone call every time.

Located at 6360 Arc Way in Fort Myers, the gym sits in a commercial area not far from the Six Mile Cypress corridor, making it a reasonably central option for families across Fort Myers and the surrounding area. For parents looking for a gymnastics program that isn’t a big-box chain, and coaches with real competitive coaching backgrounds rather than just weekend certifications, Coast Elite is worth a look, whether the goal is a fun after-school activity or a serious path toward competitive gymnastics. The mix of a beauty-pageant-and-coaching background on one side and three decades of competitive coaching on the other gives the academy a broader perspective than a lot of single-focus gyms in the area.