Photo by Tiffany YoungGymnastic facility growing by leaps and bounds
Champions Westlake owner Gretchen Huddleston knew she wanted to be a cheer and gymnastics coach early on but took a roundabout way to get there. While attending The University of Texas at Austin as a college cheerleader, she changed her major from education to engineering at the suggestion of her father before switching to finance and earning her degree.
After UT, Huddleston moved to Houston where she worked as a stockbroker. But it was not until she moved back to Austin and became a preschool teacher that the opportunity to become a coach arose.
Huddleston's good friend, Janet Pfluger Scott, had opened Champions Academy in January 1996 and in August 1996 asked Huddleston to partner with her in opening a Westlake location. Since Huddleston was a single mom, the flexibility of the schedule worked well with raising a family. At the time, classes were taught at The Hills Fitness Center, followed by what Huddleston calls her "temporary" space at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, where classes were held for 14 years.
Scott still owns and operates Champions West Austin Youth Association—now a separate business from Huddleston's.
