Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce recently selected Clarksville Elite Gymnastics Center as its Veteran Business of the Month, a local business that has grown exponentially over the last 25 years under the leadership of Larry Corrigan.
Corrigan is a retired U.S. Army. He started as a young Ranger then spent the rest of his career in 5th Group. “I was in Group from 1988 – 2006,” Corrigan said. “I stayed in Charlie Co. 2nd Battalion for the vast majority of my service, 23 years total. I retired in 2006.”
Corrigan was on a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) team. “We would jump on the weekends and flip and twist,” Corrigan said. “I wanted to learn how to do it better. We jumped in Huachuca and El Paso. Army jumps straight and falls flat. We jumped for fun and I wanted to learn to do it better. I made friends with a gymnastics coach, and after Somalia I was looking for something. I needed a hobby. I was working with the guy that taught us how to flip. I started teaching little kids, and it has led to this.”
Corrigan retired here in 2006. “I never moved away,”Corigan said. “I’m never going to. I love it here.”
He recently showed us around the 50,000+ s.f. Building that is called the Elite Sports Complex. “We’re about to open a second building, which will house cheer-leading and an indoor playground for kids,” Corrigan said. “Here, we do gymnastics and we have a ninja course, So, there is tumbling, preschool gymnastics, recreational gymnastics, and team gymnastics.
“We work with kids from preschool to 18 years old. And, we have one of the most dominant teams in the state. There is a gym in Franklin – Let it Shine, and ETC in Murfreesboro. The three of us sort of trade punches back and forth.”
Elite, in its most recent regional meet, did really well. From the state of Tennessee four level-10 kids made it to Nationals and one of them is from Elite. 100% of Elite’s Level-9 kids made it.
“There is optional gymnastics for the upper levels and compulsory gymnastics for the little kids,” Corrigan said. “We have students as young as 18 months, competitive gymnastics starts around age 5. Most of our kids come out of the recreation program. Our coaches are very adept at identifying talent. We actually have a place on our teams for every kid. We have 147 kids on our team, and they represent all levels.
“We currently have around 2,000 students enrolled, and we’re growing. We started in 2000, that’s when our gym opened. I was volunteering at a gym that closed and I decided to start my own place. I didn’t know a lot, but us SF Guys think we can do anything.”
Elite started with just eight kids in a 6,000 s.f. Facility. They moved to a 9,000 s.f. building for several years. The gym was then set up in the Miss Lucille’s Marketplace complex for ten years.
“We got the opportunity to buy this land, and we finished this building a little over a year ago,” Corrigan said. “Here we have 54,000 s.f. The gym is 44,000. So, we’ve grown from 8 kids to 2,000 kids in 24 years.”
The Elite has 97 coaches, many of whom are college kids who teach a few hours a week. They also employ several who are professional full-time coaches. “There used to be a USA Gymnastics tagline – ‘begin here, go anywhere’. My son was a wrestler. His twin sister was a collegiate gymnast. He learned standing flips and other things and it helped him as a wrestler. Other wrestlers would always ask him to show him how to do that.
“The foundation of gymnastics is strength, flexibility, balance, and speed. Those are things you need in all sports. If you train in gymnastics, it’s going to enhance any other sport you do, football, basketball, whatever.”
For Corrigan, it’s all about the kids. “I want to make sure we get a picture of our team,” Corrigan said. “I fired myself from the head coach position. I spend most of my time now setting up meets, from Phoenix to Detroit. I coach the girls you’re about to meet, but they’re the only ones. I’m ready to retire. The youngest of the girls I work with is here today. I want to see her through graduation and hopefully a college scholarship, and then Ill be done.”
