Hit or Miss: Jen Blanco

Braxton Marien, 6, bounced around on the trampoline, completing a series of seat drops and basic jumps with apparent ease. 

With his warmup behind him, the Tatum Ridge Elementary first-grader bounced up and down, gaining momentum with every jump, before flipping his way into a colorful sea of black, royal blue and neon green foam. 

Braxton struggled to make his way out of the foam pit before racing back onto the trampoline to practice his new skill set all over again. 

All around him, gymnasts of all ages flipped, tumbled and swung their way through a series of apparatuses, each one drawing even more excitement than the last, as seasoned veterans and newcomers alike celebrated the grand opening of EVO Athletics Aug. 6 — three days before the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team captured the gold medal in Rio. 

The event capped off a yearlong process for owners Kyle and Lydia Lawton; owner, Vice President and Chief Athletics Officer Jason Collins; and Jay Thorton, a two-time NCAA gymnastics champion and the second alternate for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team. 

A former hockey player from Vermont, Kyle Lawton never envisioned he would one day own a gymnastics facility. But that was before he had his two children, Ellie, 11, and Kody, 9, and met Collins, who had been widely recognized in the area for coaching top tier male gymnasts. 

“We have the best boys in the state here,” Lawton said. “Jason is killing it out here. Now I see the value and what boys can do in the gym. These kids are fit.”

Over the past year, the Lawtons, Collins and Thorton have been working effortlessly to create a gymnastics and cheerleading facility focused on providing athletes with the necessary equipment to help them thrive in their sport while keeping them safe at the same time. 

In addition to standard recreational gymnastics equipment, Collins and Thorton designed a section of the gym specifically for elite level gymnasts and Olympic hopefuls. EVO Athletics, located at 7188 E. 15th St., Unit 2, Sarasota, is the only gym to offer elite and college level training for girls and boys combined. They based the gym around NCAA and international matting systems; and all of the equipment is elite Federation of International Gymnastics approved. 

How cool is that?

“We wanted to make it fun for the kids and enjoyable for them,” Thornton said. “We paid attention to all of the details. We wanted to do it right, and I think we accomplished that in every aspect of this gym. I never trained in a gym this nice.” 

Throughout the grand opening, EVO Athletics gymnasts and cheerleaders and the community as a whole had the chance to see all the facility had to offer from stunting to uneven bars and rings to a small scale Ninja Warrior course. 

“There’s lots of area to work,” 13-year-old Kelsey Stuart said. “It’s not all in one area, so you get more work in and makes you work harder.” 

In the coming months, EVO Athletics plans to unveil its Ninja Warrior cross-training programming, featuring an array of obstacles and exercises, including warped walls, burpee ropes, a cargo tube net and an unstable bridge, among others. 

EVO Athletics also plans to start an after school program, which will provide students an opportunity to complete their homework before participating in an activity of their choice such as dance, singing, arts or flying. 

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This article has been updated to reflect that Jason Collins is an owner of EVO Athletics.