About Us
Monica Mckeddie-Owner
Head coach and owner Monica McKeddie has been affiliated with gymnastics for many years. She started at age 12 at the YMCA in Van Wert. After they closed the program there, she attended the Delphos Gymnastics Academy, where she quickly excelled and the owner asked her to join the team.
She started out in class VI, but she only competed in that class for a short period of time before moving to a higher class, (III). She competed the rest of the year in class III and went on to qualify for the state competition.
The next year the United States Gymnastics Federation, (USGF), changed the class rating to level rating. The rating scale gives each gymnast more time to gradually progress on their skills. Furthermore, the level rating scale gives younger girls the opportunity to compete. The scale starts at level 1, which is beginner, and goes up to level 10, which is elite. Level 1 through 7 does compulsories and 8 through 10 is optional. After the USGF made the switch every coach had to test and then place their gymnast in their new level.
Monica was placed in level 6, which she competed for 1 year, and went on to state. The next year she moved up to level 7 but only competed for a few months before she moved up to level 8. She had a high enough All-around score in a sanctioned meet that enabled her to move up. She Competed privately for another year and went to state. She stayed at level 8 another year while competing for her high school, Delphos St. John‘s.
Her freshman year she qualified for districts, but at the end at practice one night, she encountered an injury which held her back that year. Her next year she did well and competed at districts where she qualified for the state competition. Junior year went well as she placed first on beam, vault, floor, and all-around and 2nd on bars at the district meet. As state came around, she was doing well in warm up but when she went to her last warm up event, floor, she hyper-extended her elbow doing her last tumbling pass. Monica knew how hard she had worked throughout the season to get to the state competition, so she continued and competed through her injury. At the end of the meet she walked home with a 6th place medal on vault. Her senior year was pretty much the same throughout the season. She won districts with her highest all-around she had ever received, (36.10). Also, she competed at the state competition and made it through the whole meet dealing with strep throat.
She continued to compete privately during her high school years and made it to the state competition each year. By the end of her gymnastics career Monica was competing at level 9. She made it to state but did not compete at that meet.
Monica went on to coach for a few years at her home gym in Delphos and took the place as head coach for the Delphos St. Johns Gymnastics Team, where she made it to state 4 more times as a coach, bringing her own students. The school decided to cancel the gymnastics program because of the liability of the sport. Monica also coached the St. John’s Competition Cheerleading Squad for 3 years and was able to compete at state, where they placed each time.
She has also coached 2 years at the YMCA and had the opportunity to work with a great group of girls, the team known as the Van Wert Air Cats. She has also had the pleasure of teaching and getting to know many new faces and their parents. Monica is looking forward to bringing this wonderful sport to Van Wert and teaching your children to live healthy and exercise.