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2-year old Gavin Caramore tries out the rings under the supervision of instructor Mark Doyle (Credit: Monique Singh-Roy)

After 13 successful years in Westhampton, Flip-Flop Gymnastics has expanded to the North Fork, opening a facility in Southold.

The new business, titled Flip-Flop Gymkids, offers gymnastics instruction and training to children, ages 18 months to 5 years.

“Flip-Flop Gymkids is an introduction to gymnastics,” explained owner Sue Caramore of Aquebogue. “They don’t know they’re learning gymnastics as they’re playing, but they are learning specific jumps on the tumble track and we’ll tell them to kick their feet over the side of the mat and they’re learning how to do a cartwheel without knowing it.”

A ten-week session with three classes per week costs between $215 to $230.

“It starts right up again for another consecutive 10 weeks, people can join at any time and we pro-rate the price,” said Caramore, who added that the program is about so much more than just gymnastics.

“It instills confidence and creates a familiarity for jumping and builds up their muscles, so they’re confident that they can land on their feet,” Caramore explained, citing her two-year-old son Gavin’s progress as an example.

“He’s got upper body strength and he can land on his feet when he jumps down from things, it’s physical fitness and balance as well,” she said.

7-year old Clare McKenzie shows her prowess on the balance beam (Credit: Monique Singh-Roy)
7-year old Claire McKenzie shows off her prowess on the balance beam (Credit: Monique Singh-Roy)

While Westhampton’s Flip-Flop Gymnastics offers classes for kids aged 18 months to 17 years, Flip-Flop Gymkids is focusing on the toddler set.

“People are asking for weekend and afternoon programs here,” Caramore said. “Its just a matter of staffing. We hope to grow, right now we have the tadpoles program, which is 18 months to 3 years and the leapfrogs program is 3 to 5 years.”

Alex McKenzie of Laurel was at Flip-Flop Gymkids on Friday with his daughters, Claire, 7, and Whitney, 2 and 1/2, who was taking a class.

“Claire’s been going to the other center for several years now, we’ve been very happy with the programs she’s involved with over there,” McKenzie said. “My wife found out about the kid’s program here, we started bringing Whitney and she loves it.”

Caramore is hoping the program only grows in popularity for North Fork parents and their kids.

“It’s a little bit quieter out here on the North Fork, but now with the holidays over and word of mouth, we’ve been getting a lot of interest,” she said.

Flip-Flop Gymkids is located at 46520 Route 48 in Southold. Along with gymnastics classes, the space is also available for childrens parties. Call (631) 765-8787 for more information or visit flipflopgymkids.com.

Flip-Flop Gymkids owner Sue Caramore with her son, 2 year old Gavin (Credit: Monique Singh-Roy)
Flip-Flop Gymkids owner Sue Caramore with her 2-year old son Gavin  (Credit: Monique Singh-Roy)
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