Jump Gymnastics

Jennifer Hood of Jump Gymnastics is a huge proponent of physical literacy for kids. Physical literacy, the combination of fundamental movement skills and fundamental sport skills, is “the gateway to keeping kids active for the rest of their lives. If we can expose kids to as much as possible early on it opens up doors for them later in life, whether they want to go into elite sport or just stay active. It's also a solution to two major problems – obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, and inconsistent or poor performance of Canadian athletes at an international level.”

Jen, a mom of three girls, who's coached gymnastics across Canada for 20 years and has an early elementary education degree, had always wanted to open a gym where the programming focused on “the best physical literacy for kids.” When her middle daughter was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis she “quickly realized holding down a regular job was going to be impossible for me so I needed something that provided financial security for my family and flexibility so I could be there for all of my kids.” Her daughter's diagnosis gave Jen the incentive she needed to launch Jump.