Team Supervisor: Alan Herron – Alan is starting his 20^th season as the Team Supervisor with the City of Aurora’s Gymnastics Program. He has been coaching gymnastics since 1979. While talented in all areas, Alan’s specialty is coaching bars and tumbling. He is presently serving as the CARA chairman.  In addition to all of his time and energy with the Aurora Illusions, Alan coaches high school gymnastics for the area high schools, teaches tumbling to cheerleaders, and conducts many coaching and spotting clinics for the CARA community. He recently completed an advanced supervisory training program through the city and also received an award from the city for being an exemplary employee. Alan has a BS in Biology and a BA in Graphic Design from Purdue University. The success of this program is a direct result of Alan’s intense energy and unparallel dedication.

 

Team Head Coach: Jeff Cottle – Jeff started coaching for the City of Aurora’s Gymnastics program 22 years ago as a teacher’s assistant in high school. He has excelled in coaching just about every class our program offers. Jeff currently coaches compulsory and optional gymnasts. Jeff’s specialty is choreography. Along with choreographing many of the floor routines for the girls on our team, he also choreographed the performance our girls put on at the Denmark Sports Festival in June 2006.  We are so thankful he continues to be part of our program every year!

 

Sean Furlong: Sean is another new face to our program this season. Sean comes to us with 8 years of coaching experience from Xtreme Gymnastics in Scottsdale, Arizona. He can be seen around the gym working with compulsories and optionals. Sean has a bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Arizona State University and an MBA in Management from the University of Phoenix. Sean’s outgoing personality has been a great addition to our staff. We look forward to working with him throughout this season and many more!

 

Traci Hogan: Traci will be starting her 7thseason with the Aurora Illusions and 10^th year with the City of Aurora’s Gymnastics Program. She is also a former gymnast. She currently works with the compulsory 4’s and 5’s. Traci has a BS from the University of Northern Colorado in Kinesiology. We are so glad to have Traci’s gymnastics and coaching experience as part of our program.

 

Diana Schleef: Diana has been coaching for the City of Aurora since 2005 and is starting her second year as a compulsory coach with Aurora Illusions. Diana coaches Pre Team and Compulsory 4’s.  Diana does a great job teaching cheerleading and all other classes for our program. Diana is a former cheerleader and gymnast. Diana brings a great deal of enthusiasm and commitment to our program. We hope to have her as part of our program for many years to come!

 

Amy Sobolik-Brown: Amy has coached with the Aurora Illusions Gymnastics Team for over 10 years and has coached recreation classes for over 15 years. Amy is a former City of Aurora gymnast, competing on one of the first City of Aurora Gymnastics Teams. She ran the City of Thornton’s Gymnastics Program for a few years and returned to Aurora 6 years ago. Amy coaches compulsory and optional girls. Amy is a certified high school judge and also judges CARA. You will no doubt be seeing her as a judge a few times this season. With her expert judging abilities, Amy brings a very strong technical aspect to our team. She is also a very caring and compassionate coach. Like other long-timers, we are thankful to have her with us for another season!

Lisa Sparrow: Lisa is starting her 5^th year with our program. She has over 10 years of coaching experience working with girls of all ages. Lisa coaches compulsories, optionals, and high school gymnastics. She works in the offices at Meadowood and Overland helping in many areas of the city’s gymnastics program. She has a BS in Health and Exercise Science from CSU and a MS in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from Emporia State University.

 Marlene Nothstine: Marlene is the magic behind the scene of our program. She does many of the administrative tasks for our program as well as runs the computer at our home meets (including regionals and state). Marlene’s service to our program is incredible as you can see in how smoothly our meets run! Marlene’s contributions to our program are endless. We can’t thank her enough for her professionalism and dedication.