Administraton

Lyle Guthrie, Executive Program Director & Men’s Elite Head Coach

In 1986, Lyle founded Az. Boys Gymnastics Academy; originally, an all-boys club. Later, a girls program was added so the name was changed to U.S. Olympian Gymnastics, Inc.,. In 1999, he purchased the land that the gym is now situated on and in 2000, Lyle fulfilled his dream when he changed the name to Az. Olympian Gymnastics (to correspond with our team name) and opened the door for business at our current location. Lyle has been teaching gymnastics since 1979, and has developed and trained many state, regional, and nationally ranked gymnasts. For the past 20 years, he has annually had gymnasts on the state and regional Boys All-Star Teams for levels 5 through 10. He is a professional member of USA Gymnastics Organization; is USAG safety certified, and both first aid and CPR trained and certified. This past season, Lyle was one of the assistant coaches for the ASU men’s gymnastics team.

Karleen Guthrie, Office Manager

Three years after Karleen & Lyle were married, they opened Az. Boy's Gymnastics Academy with only 4 staff members—Karleen was in charge of administration and filled in as class assistant, Lyle as program director and head coach, and 2 other boy's coaches. She didn't have any gymnastics background, and jokingly admits to marrying into the sport. However, she worked along side Lyle for two years, training & studying, learning the fundamentals of gymnastics. Later, when the beginner girl's program opened, Karleen was the gym's 1st girl's instructor. As the girls progressed, she graciously relinquished her position to a qualified girl's coach. On rare occasions, Karleen fills in as a substitute instructor and is both 1st-aid and CPR trained and certified.