Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, widely known asParkettes, is a gymnastics club located inAllentown, Pennsylvania. It has produced several teams and individual gymnasts representing the United States, theCzech Republic, and Canada in international meets, including theOlympic Games.[1]
Parkettes was founded by Bill Strauss and his wife,Donna Strauss.[2] It started as a backyard after-school workout program at the Strauss home.[2] It was later in a barn, school, and church basement as they got the program established.[2] FormerMack Trucks CEO, Alfred Pelletier, helped the program move to a permanent home.[2][3]
The first Olympian produced by the club was Jody Yocum, who was named as an alternate for the1976 Summer Olympics.[2]
In 1988, Parkettes-trained gymnast Hope Spivey represented the United States at the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul.
In 1992, Parkettes' gymnast Kim Kelly was selected for the1992 Summer Olympics gymnastics training squad.
In 1998 and 1999,Kristen Maloney won the United States National Senior All-Around gold medal. In 2000, she competed at the2000 Olympic Games inSydney, where she won the bronze medal.
In 1999, 2000, and again in 2001,Kristal Uzelac won the United States Junior National All-Around gold.
In 2022, 11 Parkettes' gymnasts made misconduct complaints to theU.S. Center for SafeSport that resulted in an ongoing investigation of five Parkettes coaches.[4][5][6]
In 2003,CNN aired a documentary,Achieving the Perfect 10, which contained some criticisms of the demanding and competitive nature of Parkettes's training program.[7] In 2008,Jennifer Sey, the 1986 National Champion from Parkettes, published a book,Chalked Up, which was critical of Parkettes and elite gymnastics.[8]
