About us

Our philosophy

Active kids become active adults. Early introduction to physical fitness is very important to childrens health and general development. Our club's professionally trained coaches guide children through fitness fundamentals at a pace and level suitable for them.

Our coaches have been trained to channel children's natural energy into learning gymnastics basics and beyond. Our athletes follow a Level Program specially designed for each age group and ability!

We encourage you to come and visit our facility, where kids have fun and they learn a lot!!!

Our coaches

Celestina Popa-Toma -- Program Director and Owner

Celestina Popa - Toma (or, as everyone calls her, Celi) attended the Sport School in Bucharest from 1989 to 1991. She graduated from University with a degree in Physical Education in 1994. She received the Master of Sports in Gymnastics in 1987. A very important gymnastic move (jump straddle full turn) is named after her - The "Popa". She has obtained the National Romanian Coaching Certification Level III. Celi has been coaching since 1991 and her experience as a coach in Canada has been with Flicka since 1994. In 1984 she was placed second at the Romanian Nationals at Junior Level and then went on to make the National Team. From 1984 until 1989 Celi was a member of the National Women's Romanian Gymnastics Team. In 1985 Celi was a member of the team at the World Championships in Montreal where they won a silver medal. Also in 1985, she was the All Around Champion, Vault and Beam Gold Medallist at the International Chunichi Cup in Japan. In 1987, Celi was part of the team who won the gold medal at the World Championships in Rotterdam, Holland and in 1988 she was a member of a Romanian team who won the silver medal at the Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

Flaviu Toma

Flaviu Toma (or, as everyone calls him, Toma,) is Celestina's husband and was born in Romania. Toma is highly qualified and has been actively involved in gymnastics since 1966 either as a gymnast or as a coach. He attended the University of Physical Education in Bucharest and also received a diploma from a training institution which specializes in the coaching of gymnastics. He has completed Levels 1,2,3,4 N.C.C.P. certification here in Canada.

Toma was a member of the Romanian National Men's Gymnastics Team and the Junior Men's Champion in Gymnastics in Romania. He spent a year in Holland as a coach and after, in 1984 he came to Canada. In Canada, he has coached many top gymnasts in his career and was a coach at Flicka Gymnastics from 1984 to 2009, and from 2009 he started to coach at Celestina Popa Gymnastics and Flip City Gymnastics in Langley.

Alycia Chan

Alycia has been working for Celestina Popa Gymnastics since 2010. She is a NCCP Level 2 Artistic Gymnastics and Level 1 Trampoline certified coach. She has 12 years experience as a gymnast and during those years she competed at a national level on Team BC and at a NCAA Div I University on full scholarship. She returned early and later attended KPU to become an Educational Assistant. She currently works for the Langley School district during the day and coaches our competitive groups by night!

Ophelia Dixon-Lawless

Hi my name is Ophelia! I am 16 years and I have been with Celestina Popa Gymnastic for 11 years. I trained and competed from the age of 4 to when I was 14. I am the oldest of 4 and I also often babysit for families in my neighbourhood. I am constantly around children so it felt natural once I met the age requirement of 15, to take my Level One to coach gymnastics/trampoline. I have now been coaching for the past year and a half!

Amanda Hodges

Amanda has been participating in gymnastics with Celestina since 2012. She has spent many years volunteering at the gym and is now an NCCP Level 1 trained gymnastics coach in Artistic Gymnastics and Trampoline. Alongside the gymnastics training Amanda danced as a competitive dancer for over 12 years. Amanda enjoys physically challenging herself and engaging in staying healthy through an active lifestyle. She loves working with kids and is passionate about helping young people reach their own goals and potential. She is currently a student at Simon Fraser University and continues to train in dance and gymnastics.

Janay Stenmark

Janay: "I started gymnastics at 3 years old and continued to train and compete until I was 16. Eight of these years were spent at Celestina’s in the Interclub Performance Plus program where I had won multiple awards at the competitions I attended. Now I am an NCCP Level One Artistic and Trampoline trained coach and have been working at Celestina’s since 2019. "

Vanessa Hodges

Hi I’m Vanessa and I have been involved in competitive gymnastics with Celestina since 2010. I have also spent many hours volunteering at the gym and am now a NCCP Level 1 trained gymnastics coach. In my spare time I also train as a competitive dancer and have danced for over 12 years. I enjoy taking on new challenges and doing anything physically active. I have fun working with kids and really like seeing them learn new skills.

Hannah

Hi I’m Hannah! I started training at Celestina Popa Gymnastics when I was five years old and continued to train and compete until I was fourteen. I started volunteering in the gym and have loved it ever since. I am now an NCCP Level One coach in Artistic Gymnastics and Trampoline. I have always loved working with kids and staying active so coaching is something that I love to do!

Reese

Hi I’m Reese and I have been involved in gymnastics for around 6 years. I love working with children and seeing them accomplish their goals, being active and having fun! I volunteered at Celestina Popa gymnastics for about 2 and a half years before I met the age requirement to fully become a coach. I am now NCCP level 1 artistic gymnastics and trampoline trained and looking forward to seeing everyone having fun!

Kaley

Hi! My name is Kaley and my love for gymnastics started in 2012 when I was 6 years old. I competed in artistic gymnastics for four years, and competitive trampoline and tumbling gymnastics for three. I trained in 2020 for level 1 NCCP artistic/trampoline gymnastics. I love teaching kids new things and being active, so coaching is right up my alley. I can’t wait to meet everyone and welcome them to the gym!

Brianna

Hi! I'm Brianna and I have been in competitive gymnastics since I was 8. I started out in Interclub then moved on to JO and I am in Xcel gold currently. I started coaching almost 2 years ago because I love watching kids progress and truly enjoy gymnastics!

Our facility

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Unit A, 20120 115A Ave, Maple Ridge, V2X 0Z4

604-459-4458