Michaela grew up in Norfolk, NE and received a Biology degree with a minor in coaching from UW-River Falls. She was hired at Mini Hops in 1999 and is currently the Executive Director and Adaptive Program Director. She enjoys gardening, biking, and hiking. Michaela coaches because she wants to make a lasting impact.

Ellie is the Marketing Director, who started at Mini Hops in 2020. She has degree in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas. Ellie is a former colligate track athlete and she was a professional mascot for over 6 years.

James grew up in Grand Forks, ND and has a B.A. in biology from Metro State University. He is currently the Facility Manager and coach, he started coaching in 1996, but came to MHG in 2002. He has a daughter and two sons, all who are gymnasts at Mini Hops.

Stefny is currently Lead Recreational Director and HR Generalist. She has been at Mini Hops since 2009 and coaching since 1991. She speaks Russian and has two amazing kids (both were MHG gymnasts). Stefny says that teaching is her calling. Serving others and sharing what she knows to enhance others’ lives is her mission.

Keyla is our current Xcel Team Director, who has been coaching at Mini Hops since 2007. Fun fact: Keyla was a competitive JO gymnast with MHG. When she is not coaching, Keyla enjoys spending time at the cabin, traveling, and solving puzzles. Her favorite part of coaching is sharing her knowledge and passion for the sport with her gymnasts.

Kris is our Academic Preschool Director, but is trained to work in many other departments. Kris has been at Mini Hops since 2018, but has been coaching since 2010. Kris enjoys getting to teach the next generation as well as introducing them to the world of gymnastics early on.

Raye has done a lot since she began her coaching career here at MHG in 2018!  She created and transformed both the Performing Arts Program, Performance Team and the Camp Program into amazingly inclusive, innovative vessels for students to grow, learn and blossum into their best selves.  She is extremely creative, caring and hardworking; an amazing teacher to all!  Outside the gym, Raye enjoys time with her loving partner, Jason and their sweet dog.  She also enjoys traveling, sight-seeing and Mardi Gras!

Coach Dani is from Waterloo, Iowa and received a degree in Leisure, Youth, and Human Services at the University of Northern Iowa. She is the oldest of five siblings and grew up playing lots of sports. She works in almost every program at Mini-Hops, but she mostly loves working as the Adaptive Coordinator, promoting inclusive gymnastics to all individuals with differing abilities. Her favorite food is grilled cheese.

Konstantin “Kostya” Kolesnikov began gymnastics at the age of 7, earned the title of All-Around Champion at the Russian Cup, was a member of the USSR/Russian National Team, and has a Bachelor of Science with an emphasis on Physical Education as a Gymnastics Coach. He has coached all levels of gymnastics, including several Olympians. He was the University of Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics Teams Assistant coach and in 2021 he was recognized as a USA Senior Coach of the Year by USA Gymnastics.

Coach Kristin was a gymnast for as long as she can remember; competing throughout her childhood and adolescence.  She had been coaching and judging gymnastics almost her entire adult life and has a true passion for teaching gymnastics in a way that is healthy both mentally and physically.  MHG welcomed Kristin in 2016 and have been amazed and thankful for her contribution to the Girls Competitive Programs ever since!  Outside of the gym, Kristin has a wonderful husband, Skylar, is a “pet-mom” to her sassy cats, rides her motorcycle and loves to exercise.

In 2018, Kelly joined the Mini-Hops Girls Team coaching staff and quickly became the Pre-Team Coordinator, helping the youngest athletes to determine if gymnastics is the sport they want to pursue as they learn to work hard and stretch themselves to the limit.  She is amazing with the youngest of athletes and can give the incremental challenges that lead them to success.  Kelly was a gymnast growing up and was a strong competitor for Lakeville North High School and is happy to use the sport she loves to teach young athletes the value of sport in learning life lessons.  When Kelly is not at the gym, she is either being an amazing mom to her son, Caleb or spending time at another gym for her own workouts!  In the recent past, she was training and competing as a power lifter!

Paula was a high school gymnast for 4 years and then started coaching in 1993 in Vancouver, Washington. When shes not coaching she loves the outdoors; hiking, trail running, kayaking, paddle boarding etc. She loves to use her creativity to help athletes achieve their skills.

Our proud and loud “East Coaster”, Coach Doug has been coaching gymnastics since the late 70s or early 80s.  He has coached EVERYTHING, from tots to teens, birthday parties to high level competitive gymnasts.  The majority of his experience is working with boys’ competitive teams, and he has guided many athletes to National Championships and had several gymnasts earn a spot on the US. Junior National Team.  Currently, he is coaching Solen Chiodi who competed to earn a spot on the US. Junior National Team in the summer of 2022.  In his spare time, Coach Doug enjoys playing guitar, is creative and talented wood worker and he is an amazing cook!

Coach Bridgit began at Mini-Hops as a Mini-Gym Assistant Coach in 2015.  Since then, she has continued to learn and grow as a teacher throughout the years and now she coaches ages 5 months to 12 years; she LOVES kids, and it truly shows!  Her smile is contagious, and the kids are instantly drawn to her loving and caring personality.  Bridgit is a huge K-Pop fan and her cat, “Ember” is so sweet that she waits by the door for Bridgit to get home every day!

John is a self-described student of the sport, always thirsty for more knowledge from his peers and students.  His education background is extensive with an Exercise Science degree as well as a BS, secondary science Education from CO state University and three years of classroom teaching experience in grades 7-12.

John himself started relatively late in this sport at 10 years old in Marina, Huntington Beach CA and finished up his collegiate competitive career with the University of New Mexico achieving NCAA national ranking on pommel horse for 3 seasons.

In 2013 John was the Head Gymnastics Coach ­ at a club in Tampere, Finland ­ where he designed training programs and optional routines to maximize scores on each event for each gymnast. Coached at the Finnish national team training camps and traveled with the team to all competitions including international competitions.

John not only enjoys gaining knowledge, but he also loves sharing it as well.  John believes that this technical sport allows us as coaches to develop all the right character traits during an athlete’s gymnastics journey; honesty, dedication, personal accountability, work ethic, grit, and much more. 

John takes his coaching seriously, but when he is not digging into the code of points, he likes to ride bike, write music and recently replaced training for marathons with body building.  A FUN fact about John is that he built his own “Tiny House” with no formal drawings or plans.

Becky has been coaching at MHG since 2012 and she is truly passionate about gymnastics and teaching!  She has coached most levels from parent/child classes all the way up to competitive girls’ teams.  She is a “Jill of all Trades”, helping as a customer service member, preschool coach, academic preschool teacher, girls school age and upper level recreational and team coach.  We are grateful to have such a caring, hard-working, kid-expert among us!  In her spare time, Becky enjoys horseback riding, is a beautiful and talented singer and loves playing with her sweet and funny cats!

Coach Ricia has an extensive history in gymnastics as both an athlete and a coach. In addition, she earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and a Master’s in Social Work from University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She moved to Minnesota in August of 2022 after a successful directorship at the YMCA in Eau Claire where she increased the enrollment from practically zero after covid shutdowns up to several hundred students!  She loves to coach all ages and levels, from parents and babies up to level 8 gymnasts, because she understands and is passionate about the sport of gymnastics and using it to develop amazing humans.