Inspire Sports Victoria is a 22,000 sq ft sports super center, home to a world-class gymnastics gym. After years of international experience working in gymnastics gyms in Australia and China, June Tiefenbach and her son, Lucas, decided to open their own gymnastics gym. In 2018, Inspire Sports Victoria, Vancouver Island’s largest gymnastics center, opened in Victoria, B.C..

Before her career in gymnastics, June spent an impressive 30 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a nurse, a Health Services Operations Officer, and retired as a Major. Lucas is a Canadian National Gymnast and a dedicated gymnastics coach. They both share a passion for the sport while recognizing the importance of balancing sports and academics.

Out with the old, in with the new

After years of working at other gymnastics gyms around the world, June had become aware of the drawbacks of “traditional” class registrations and overall management. “Traditional” meaning good old-fashioned pen and paper. Long registration lines and never-ending phone calls meant June and Lucas had limited spare time; time that could be spent engaging with their gymnasts and improving their gym.

These were disadvantages June knew she could fix: “We worked for other people’s gyms for long enough that we knew we wanted to set up our own gym the right way” June shares. “The right way” meant an online platform and leaving in-person registrations behind. After doing their research, Amilia was their first choice and Inspire Sports Victoria has never worked with another platform.

Moving to online registrations

The ability to do online registrations was a top priority for June; she was determined to eliminate the need to wait in long lines to register. Being the first gymnastics gym to move to online registrations in Victoria, there was some pushback. When Inspire Sports Victoria initially launched with Amilia, no one was familiar with the concept of an online platform. However, her clients quickly appreciated the benefits: “there was resistance when we started, but all of our families love working on the online system now. They love the fact that they don't have to stand in line” June specifies.

With fewer people lining up for registrations, June and Lucas can give their full attention to members in need of assistance. The online platform has also facilitated the operational side of running her business and appreciates having all the information she needs right at her fingertips. She now loves sharing that “if you have Internet access, you can register from anywhere in the world!”. Since opening in 2018, 100% of their registrations have been done online.

Communication is key

Having an online platform doesn’t only help June and Lucas with registrations, it makes contacting participants significantly easier. June was excited to share her appreciation towards the communication features Amilia offers, like the Constant Contact integration. This was especially important throughout the pandemic when their facilities were closed. June was relieved to receive positive feedback from her members; they were appreciative that Inspire Sports Victoria made the effort to stay in touch and engage with them while facilities remained closed.

Keeping up with rapid expansion

As their gym grew to be successful and their registered participants continued to increase, June was impressed with Amilia’s ability to handle their rapid expansion. Growing quickly often puts strain on a business, but this wasn't the case for Inspire Sports Victoria. In 2020, they had 6x as many members as 2018 when they first opened! She highlighted Amilia’s responsiveness to any issues they ran into: “you were so receptive […] and somebody was always there to walk us through it”.

Inspire Sports Academy

This mother-son partnership has proven to be successful; June was so satisfied with Amilia that when she and Lucas founded their 2^nd business, Inspire Sports Academy, they knew they wanted to launch with Amilia again.

Inspire Sports Academy (ISA) is a multi-sport student athlete learning academy. Their goal is to give student athletes the opportunity to enhance academic and athletic performance without disadvantaging social, cognitive, and physical growth. When students wish to excel in a sport, they often miss hours of class time at a standard school; ISA lets them excel in both. Opened in September 2021, the Sports Academy is home to 2000 sq ft of classrooms, a 5000 sq ft workout center, and a 17,000 sq ft gymnastics facility.

June and Lucas can share their passion for balancing gymnastics and academics through two successful businesses, and Amilia is proud to be a part of it every step of the way.

If you are interested to learn how SmartRec could help you and your organization succeed like it helped Inspire Sports Victoria, just reach out to our team. We would be happy to discuss it with you!