A group of owners of San Antonio-based boutique fitness centers and gyms have formed a coalition with hopes of providing each other with support and to raise awareness about their businesses in the midst of a lingering pandemic.

According to a press release, members of the new San Antonio Fitness Coalition said they hope part of the $180 million allocated for tourism, travel and hospitality industries for COVID-19 recovery will be shared with fitness-oriented enterprises.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in November signed Senate Bill 8, which directs the $16 billion the state has received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act toward resources and programs designed to help various organizations seeking relief from the pandemic’s economic effects, according to reports.

San Antonio Fitness Coalition members said their industry has been particularly hard-hit since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the spring of 2020, as gyms and fitness centers were rendered nonessential by the state and were closed to the public for months.

According to the release, many such fitness centers and gyms have closed while others have struggled and sought different types of financial assistance.



Some coalition members said they hoped the beginning of 2022 would bring a surge of customers, especially people seeking to commit to fitness as a New Year’s resolution.

However, the spread of the contagious omicron COVID-19 variant has affected their businesses, coalition members also said.

"Up until December 2021, we hoped that January 2022 would serve as a turning point for local gyms,” said Becky Cerroni, CEO and co-owner of JoyRide Cycling and Fitness, in the release. “Generally, January is to gyms what December is to retail shopping. This January, omicron meant that people were not going back to the gym in the numbers we hoped for. I felt like we needed to stand up and say something as a small business community that has been marginalized by federal aid.”

Cerroni, a native San Antonian and owner of two JoyRide Texas studios, founded SAFC whose membership includes Kristin Faye, owner of Smart Barre and Pilates; Alison Galvan, owner of EnergyX Fitness; Heather O'Neill, owner of CryoFit Alamo Heights and Sweat Equity; Jason and Yardley Padilla, owners of Soul Fitness; and Heather Dorak, owner of Pilates Platinum.


The release said 47% of fitness industry professionals—or about 1.5 million people—lost their jobs due to COVID-19-related closures nationwide. Additionally, 22% of U.S. gyms had closed by August 2021, the release said.

According to the coalition, JoyRide’s two San Antonio studios collectively saw their revenue drop 60% between 2019 to 2022, and the two JoyRide San Antonio studios have each had to cut employee pay and hours.

Additionally, the number of JoyRide clients nationwide has decreased from 8,000 per month in November 2019 to 3,400 in November 2021, the release said.

Cerroni said she was inspired by friends who formed the Philadelphia Fitness Coalition in 2021 to put together a similar organization for San Antonio fitness center and gym owners.


Cerroni said many such ventures are minority- and women-owned businesses, adding that she and her counterparts have seen little to no kind of support from government as the pandemic goes on.

“Our job is to keep our community moving, healthy and resilient to disease, we are committed to that mission—and we need the help of our politicians to do that,” Cerroni said in the release.

“We are talking to local council members; we are planning events to promote each other’s businesses—this is all rooted in the idea that ‘we rise together,'” Cerroni added.

Fellow coalition members shared the struggles being experienced at their respective local fitness studios.


"We are still being affected by the mandates and COVID[-19] in general,” Galvan said of EnergyX Fitness. “We have kept capacity at about 65% at the overwhelming request of our members, and our overall participation is lower, resulting in lower sales, which has drastically lowered our marketing budget.”

Jason Padilla said Soul Fitness has had limited class sizes and seen a drop in memberships and in-person workouts.

“Some members became accustomed to the virtual workouts instead of in-studio workouts; it seemed safer for them during this time of uncertainty,” Jason Padilla said.

Faye said people gathering to work out together is much more than just an opportunity to get physically fit—it is a chance to improve community camaraderie.


“Community is the heartbeat of my Smart Barre and Pilates studios, and it beats strongest when we are in the studios working out together,” Faye said.