Kids First Sports Center

CORPORATE INFORMATION

Company Profile

Queen City Gymnastics Center, Inc.
dba, Kids First Sports Center

Officers

• Jeff Metzger, Founder/Senior Adviser
• Jen Evans, President/Treasurer
• Megan Smith, Vice President/Secretary

Scope of Kids First Sports Center

• 108,000 sf facility
• 42,000 sf gymnastics hall
• 5,000 students at peak

Our Mission

To do great things for kids and to help kids grow into happy, healthy, responsible adults!

Our Programs

• Tumble Bees℠
• Swim School
• Queen City Boys & Girls Gymnastics Teams
• Boys and Girls Gym Jam Recreational Gymnastics
• Girls Gym Jam Xcel 
• Camp-a-Palooza Summer & Holiday Day Camps
• Queen City Storm Cheer & Dance Program
• Fly Kids Academy / Queen City Ninja Elite
• Just Tumble 
• Foundations Pediatric Therapy
• Aerial Arts & Acro
• Soccer Shots
• Salle du Lion Fencing
• Queen City Dance Academy
• Abrakadoodle (Art Classes)
• Parks Taekwondo
• Book Bums Cafe

A History of Innovation

Queen City Gymnastics Center, Inc. was founded in 1975 by Jeff Metzger and quickly established an innovative and risk-taking culture which continues today. Repeatedly leapfrogging itself and the industry, the Company has, on five separate occasions designed and built the largest (of its respective era) custom-built gymnastics facility in the USA. The first, in 1977 in fact represented the first custom built facility in the USA and included the nation’s first in ground pits. The 1984 construction of a 22,000 sf facility again represented the largest custom-built gym ever built and the 1988 addition once again leapfrogged the nation. The 1998 rebranding to Kids First Sports Center, boasted a custom-built, $4.5M, 86,000 sf facility and the 2009 22,000 sf addition once again keeps it ahead of all competitors.

More on Our Mission

Kids First is owned by Jeff Metzger, Jen Evans and Megan Smith.

Jeff got his industry start first as a local gymnast; then as a dance studio tumbling instructor; a YMCA coach; a GymClub owner; and now, an entrepreneur. Jeff is President of Small Business Boot Camp, a total immersion marketing and leadership workshop dedicated to teaching gymnastics, swim, cheer, martial arts and dance school Owners and Managers the Kids First success secrets. The Boot Camp slogan and primary aim are one and the same...lifetime solutions for your business...business solutions for your lifetime.

Our People

This is where our Company really shines. Our 13 wonderful Department Leaders guide a dedicated Crew of over 200 employees toward the Company Mission, building happy, healthy, responsible kids. These ‘DL’s’ have 11 Responsibilities, the first and most important to be a great leader. Our People are governed by 7 Unifying Corporate Principles and 11 Teaching Principles. Additionally, our Company adheres to 7 Hiring Mantras which guide our selection process.

Our Growth Strategy

QCGC opened its first club in 1975 and its second in 1976. In 1980 QCGC abandoned itsmulti-location growth strategy to focus on selling 2nd, 3rd and 4th products to current clients rather than searching for new students. This proved successful and for each of its products the Company created a separate and unique department driven by a dedicated Department Leader. This decentralization and delegation of decision-making and responsibility started while total enrollment was relatively small and was critical to Company growth ever since. Looking back, management believes it has been a combination of five things—(1) focusing on additional products rather than additional students; (2) learning how to delegate responsibility; (3) inspiring via a mission/purpose; (4) aligning through unifying principles; and (5) a willingness to make mistakes and take risks—that has driven the Company’s 30+ year record of non-interrupted revenue growth.

Our Gymnastics Teams

QCGC is one of the few USAG clubs which successfully competes nationally in men's and women's gymnastics as well as trampoline and tumbling. Our Boys Team, led by coaches Brandon Norris, Keith Pettit and Deacon Harris, has had 35 national JO qualifiers in the last four seasons and is acknowledged as the strongest team in Ohio as well as the Region. The Girls JO Optional Team, led by Stacy Moore and Zach Busam is likewise recognized as one of the strongest teams in Ohio as well as Region V. To the Women’s JO Nationals, QCGC has qualified 27 Ladies in Pink including two AA and five individual Champions. Our compulsory ladies are equally impressive led by Sadie O'Hara.

Our Gymnastics Classes

Tumble Bees℠, led by Casey Campbell, is our largest program with enrollment of 1800. Contrary to many preschool gymnastics programs, Tumble Bees℠’ primary goal is NOT to teach gymnastics skills, but to utilize them as tools for teaching life success skills. In Tumble Bees℠, learning gymnastics skills is a byproduct, not a goal. Most important is to help our preschoolers associate any learning environment—including the challenges and trials and errors—with fun, positive feelings, rather than stressful, anxious feelings. Tumble Bee℠ classes are divided into six separate age levels.
Our Gym Jam program, for school age children, offers a skill-oriented curriculum. However, unlike many programs, we subdivide the students first by age (grade) and second by skill level. This ‘sort order’ dovetails well with our ‘batch’ scheduling concept (larger, homogeneous classes subdivided into smaller groups). Note, we individually selected the more dedicated athletes in our Gym Jam classes and invite them to participate in our Developmental Program. Our TnT classes, are also sorted first by age (grade) and second by skill with special classes for those children showing talent.

Special Events

Some GymClubs thrive on special events such as meets. This approach to doing business has proven so successful that special events such as meets actually cost the Company because it requires interrupting the ongoing (and profitable) programming.

Please Visit Us

Our Company prides itself on helping others grow. Any USAG GymClub owners interested in receiving a free QCGC Literature Packet which fully explains our class structure, procedures and pricing, please contact:

Kids First Sports Center
7900 E. Kemper Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45249
Ph: (513) 489-7575
Fx: (513) 489-9761
Email: jmetzger8777@me.com
Web Sites: kidsfirstsports.com & metzgerbootcamp.com

We love visitors and invite you to visit the Kids First facility any time, no appointment necessary.

While onsite, if you would like to spend time with Jeff Metzger please call in advance to schedule a consultation appointment. Additionally, phone consultations are a convenient way to get guidance quickly and conveniently. Please schedule in advance.

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KIDS FIRST STAFF

• Did you know that Kids First currently has over 200 loyal employees, all dedicated to helping children grow into happy, healthy, responsible adults?
• Did you know that 56% of Kids First employees are students, former students or parents of students?
• Did you know that Kids First has 40 employees who have been with the Company for more than 5 years and 20 employees more than 10 years? That smashes industry standards!
• Did you know that the 1st of 7 Kids First Hiring Mantra is “Hire the Character, Train the Skill.” ‘Character’ is defined as alignment with the ‘Kids First 26 Points’: the Mission; 7 Unifying Principles; 11 Teaching Principles; 7 Hiring Mantras.

GYMNASTICS INNOVATION

• Did you know that the suede covered balance beam was invented by Our Company in 1976? Ranchero Naugahyde, purchased from Irwin Manufacturing, was settled on after experimenting with numerous surfaces in an effort to eliminate the use of resin on the gymnasts’ feet.
• Did you know that our Company invented the padded balance beam? The padding was fabricated to our specifications by Netherland Rubber, a Cincinnati company still in business today.
• Did you know that our Company designed and built the first gymnastics dismount pits in the USA? Previous to that, the only pits were in the former Soviet Union.
• Did you know that our Company invented the double layer spring floor? This floor was subsequently marketed and became the standard with hundreds sold to gymnastics schools across North America.
• Did you know that our Company’s gymnastics training hall—42,000 sf (1 acre)—is the largest in the world?
• Did you know that our Company has 5-1/2 floor exercise areas, more than any other gymnastics school in the world? Supporting these floors are 11,700 springs?
• Did you know that our gymnastics hall has 21 holes in the ground including: 11 dismounts pits; six in-ground trampolines; one 90 ft tumbling floor; two Tumble Traks; one trench bar? No gym anywhere even comes close!

KIDS FIRST SWIM SCHOOL (formerly Hubbard Family Swim School and Starfish Swim School)

• Did you know that the water turn-over in the pool was designed to double the State of Ohio’s filtration requirements? To further enhance water quality and safety the water is also ozonated.
• Did you know that the pool water temperature is 89°? The air is kept at 90° and is conditioned by an $80,000 dehumidifier that recycles heat back into the pool.

OTHER PROGRAMS OF NOTE

• The Fly Kids Ninja Academy launched in July 2020 and quickly amassed 300 students within its first year! It is believed to be one of the larger privately owned ninja operations at nearly 10,000 sq ft!
• Did you know that our Camp-A-Palooza program has the largest teen leadership program of its kind with 45 Leaders in Training each summer along with 7 Counselors in Training?
• Did you know that Tumble Bees℠ is the largest preschool gymnastics program in the USA and probably the world? 
• Did you know that thousands of industry owners from North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa have visited our Company attending The Small Business ‘BOOT CAMP?’ BOOT CAMP is hosted biannually in November and May and is widely known as the best place to go to learn how to run a gymnastics school.

AND FINALLY...

• Did you know that Kids First is probably the most admired school of its kind in the USA? We can’t prove this statement but we genuinely believe this to be true.

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Click here to see KIDS FIRST LEADERSHIP