Meet Alex

Coach Alex

Born in Prince Edward Island, Alex MacInnis grew up like most kids in Canada being surrounded by a passion for hockey and baseball. But even at the young age of 6, MacInnis was always drawn to watching the strong men of gymnastics seemingly fly through the air on his TV screen and decided that’s where he wanted to hang his heart. After years of training upward of 15-20 hours every week, MacInnis became a leading athlete for gymnastics on PEI, competing at his first Canada Winter Games in 2003 and moving forward to represent his province at 7 Canadian National Championships.

Viewed as “one of the strongest, fittest and most flexible” gymnasts in PEI history, MacInnis used these skills to earn a spot as the first PEI gymnast to ever compete in event finals on pommel horse at National Championships.

In 2011, MacInnis retired from competitive gymnastics and started coaching recreational gymnasts ranging in ages from 4-60 as well as competitive National level gymnasts. His passion for working with others and helping them improve their skills made for a natural transition as he pursued a career as a youth counselor. Studying at Holland College, he moved to Ottawa to expand his knowledge and began working with high risk and troubled youth.

Now, as the founder of “Alex Kazam Gymnastics” MacInnis has combined his gymnastics skills and coaching experience to form a unique blend of gymnastics and CrossFit. Having trained and coached with some of Canada’s top Crossfit athletes at Crossfit NCR, he continues to grow as a coach and learning from other perspectives and coaching styles from around the world.

Qualifications and Accreditations

• 7 Time Canadian National Gymnastics Competitor
  
• NCCP Level 2 Gymnastics Coach
• CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
  
• CrossFit Gymnastics Level 1
  
• Agatsu Upper Body Mobility
  
• Agatsu Masters of Movement LA
  
• Inversions Course Modern Body Yoga
  
• Kathryn Bruno Young 200 Hr Yoga Teacher Training
  
• 2015 CrossFit Games Athlete Gymnastics Coach for Joyanne Cooper

Coach Marco

Marco is relatively new to the gymnastics world but has been studying martial arts for over 15 years and this martial arts training gives him a distinct perspective on body awareness and movement. He has experience teaching not only in a martial arts setting but also in an academic one and his strong background in the health sciences as well as his scientific approach to training will be an important asset in his classes.

He looks forward to learning and improving together with his students.

Coach David

David spent his childhood in constant motion; whether it was climbing trees, racing bikes, or countless games of road hockey. In his late teens he discovered an affinity for running, and one bicycle and a speedo later, found himself traveling through North America racing triathlons.

In his late 20s, with 5 Iron mans and several marathons under his belt, David left the cardio world for bodyweight training through a route common to many former endurance athletes. After suffering a back injury, he found himself immobile, weak, and concerned about the potential for re-injury. Having discovered gymnastics based training, David attempted to teach himself through youtube videos, seminars, and online forums. Which, without a mentor, was a long process of self-discovery, successes, and a number of frustrations along the way.

As an AKG alumni and coach David offers a deep understanding of the challenge of learning gymnastics as an adult. With a strong background in running and triathlon coaching, and experience with adult learning programs in a corporate environment, he enjoys sharing his love of gymnastics with his students, and working with them to walk the same path toward a healthy lifestyle. Just a heck of a lot more efficiently than he did…

 

Coach Aly

Aly is a Human Kinetics graduate and level 2 certified gymnastics & trampoline coach. She participated in her first gymnastics class before her second birthday and while she dabbled in other sports gymnastics has always been her passion. Aly trained as a competitive gymnast for 10 years before eventually deciding to take up coaching. Over the past 9 years she’s worked with children and adults of all ages and abilities, from the introductory level to provincial competitors.

Her passion for the sport of gymnastics is driven by its ability motivate people. She believes that in gymnastics, there is always room for improvement, always something new to learn, new goals to achieve. Aly coaches in order to be able to share all the great things she has learnt from gymnastics with her students. To help others reach their goals and share in the excitement of their success.

 

Coach Katherine

For as long as she can remember, Katherine has always been passionate about the human body and what it is capable of, strength, flexibility, mobility, power, coordination, there’s always room for improvement. From a young age Katherine always wanted to do more than the her teammates, to be the best. She always worked hard, and enjoyed what she was doing and was constantly amazed by what she was capable of. While she was studying to become a school teacher, her passion for fitness drove her to  become a certified group class instructor as well. She believes everyone should know how amazing it feels to achieve progress and success in being active and healthy. Teaching being her vocation, Katherine knew she would love sharing her knowledge with the community.

Katherine later decided to take her personal trainer course with Canfitpro and worked as a personal trainer.

Still addicted to sports and performance, katherine is now a level one gymnastics coach and loves to teach people how to feel better, move better and live longer. ;)

 

Coach Adrian

Adrian has an NCCP certificate in Artistic Gymnastics Foundations. He began practicing gymnastics skills and strength training through AKG and the OGC rec open gym community. He has been practicing various sports and activities since way before the term ‘’movement’’ was the buzzword it is today.

Adrian is a national level climbing coach and a certified yoga teacher. He completed a 2500 hour certificate in massage therapy and practiced for several years as a sports massage therapist. His plethora of experiences provides him with a variety of perspectives on the human movement learning experience which he enjoys sharing with others.

 

Coach Ben

Ben first started gymnastics when he was three years old and is still an active participant now 20 years later.  Ben was active growing up, participating in many other sports but his focus was always gymnastics where he competed in the provincial stream for 7 years before turning to coaching at age 12. Now, 11 years later, Ben is a level three artistic trained coach and has worked with athletes of all ages and skill levels from toddlers to high level provincial athletes.

The reason Ben enjoys being a coach is because he gets to help people reach their goals and be successful. He understands that the road to get there may be long and challenging but hard work and persistence and the desire to improve makes anything possible. Ben truly believes that he is the person he is today because of the lessons he has learned from gymnastics and hopes that others can get out of the sport what he did.

 

Coach Nat

Natalie has been involved with the sport of gymnastics since the age of 3 and has been an active participant ever since. At the age of 12 she began coaching and currently holds her NCCP level 2 in artistic gymnastics, level 1 in trampoline, and is a provincial level judge.  Natalie enjoys coaching all ages and levels and has experience coaching kindergym, recreational, competitive, and adult gymnastics. Her favourite apparatus is bars, one that easily translated into her newest hobby, rock climbing.

On her free time, Natalie enjoys rock climbing and taking trips to nearby bouldering destinations. Natalie is a full-time social service worker and holds her M.A in Criminology with concentration in Social Policy.

 

Coach Sara