Noboru Miyagi is a national elite gymnastics coach who established the MIYAGI GYMNASTICS ACADEMY in Auburn in 1984.
Miyagi immigrated to the United States from Okinawa, Japan, in 1967 to attend California State University at Northridge. As a member of the CSUN men’s gymnastics team, Miyagi was a three-time winner of the CCAA All Around Gymnastics Championship and won the California State Championship in 1973 and 1975. Miyagi was also the NCAA All-Around Champion and was ranked All-American in 1973, 1974, and 1975.
While he attended CSUN, Miyagi coached for various Southern California gymnastics clubs. In 1977-78 he was the assistant coach at the University of Southern California Women’s Gymnastics Team.
Miyagi’s first gym, the Miyagi Institute of Gymnastics, opened in Southern California in 1978. He and his wife Julie moved to Auburn in 1984 where Miyagi Gymnastics Academy was born. In 1987, the gym moved to its permanent home off Bell Rd. Since then Miyagi has coached countless kids in the sport, including his three daughters (Jessica, Monica, and Erika) who now coach and run the gym alongside him.
His coaching accomplishments span generations from tiny tots to national-level recognition. Miyagi’s goal is to develop gymnasts of all levels to their fullest potential.
Jessica Miyagi is one of Mr. Miyagi’s daughters and now co-manages the gym with sister Monica.
Jessica is an accomplished gymnastics coach with over 20 years of experience specializing in competitive levels 6-10. As a former competitive gymnast since she was 6, then competitive at the national level for 8 years, Jessica’s passion for gymnastics began early, then led her to earn a full-ride scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, and onto begiming a professional performer in the stunt world. After a successful career in competitive gymnastics, Jessica transitioned into a professional stuntwoman career, working for 6 years on high-profile productions such as Stick It and Make It or Break It. Her experience as a stuntwoman sharpened her athleticism, strength, and precision, which she now incorporates into her coaching methodology.
As a coach for over two decades, Jessica specializes in competitive levels 6-10, focusing on building technique, mental resilience, and strength. She is known for her ability to connect with her athletes and for creating an environment where gymnasts can push their limits while maintaining a positive, supportive atmosphere. Jessica’s coaching philosophy is rooted in the belief that gymnastics should be both challenging and enjoyable, helping athletes achieve their full potential.
In addition to her coaching expertise, Jessica manages the gym, overseeing daily operations and ensuring a welcoming, positive environment for all employees, athletes, and families. Her role as manager allows her to shape the overall experience for gym members, ensuring the facility runs smoothly and continues to foster a love of gymnastics at all levels.
Outside of coaching and management, Jessica enjoys spending time with her family. She also helps maintain the health of her community with work at Placer County Ag specializing in PlacerGROWN. Her goals are to support the health and wealth of the community through supporting local producers and build mental and physical strength and flexibility through gymnastics!
Chandra has been part of the Miyagi Gymnastics family from a very young age, into adulthood. She has been coaching for over ten years, with a notable Optional team. Many individuals placing in the top three or higher at every Regional Championships they’ve attended under her coaching.
She encourages the girls to be independent, ask questions, and think for themselves. Maintaining good morals and work ethic as a team, as well as respecting one another. Making sure there is a good line of communication and trust, to ensure healthy growth and progression within the sport.
Coached by Miyagi himself from a young competitive athlete, to a successful coach. Movement and creativity have always been a passion of Chandra’s. She has been able to embrace and perfect her craft here at Miyagi’s.
Aside from coaching, she has a passion for choreography and dance, art in any form, being outside, and staying creative.
I have been coaching for 14 years. I started coaching recreational gymnastics when I was 16. After college, I coached level 8-10 beam for 3 years. After that I was the head coach for the XCEL program at a gym for 2.5 years. I spent 1 season coaching beam at UC Davis when they won the Conference title in 2023.
I believe that everyone can benefit from doing gymnastics and that it is the foundation for all sports. I believe in creating a safe space for gymnasts to be able to grow as a person and an athlete. I believe in having fun while teaching life long lessons and hard work.
I love coaching because of the connections you make with the athletes and watching them grow while doing the sport that they love. I am connected to gymnastics because of my deep love for the sport. I do not remember a time I was not in the gym. I started in a mommy and me class and was hooked ever since!
A fun fact about me is that I competed at Sacramento State for 4 years. During those 4 years, I competed bars, beam and floor. We won our conference championships 2 of the 4 years I was on the team and I qualified as an individual to regionals my Junior year on bars and Senior year on bars and floor.
Now, I enjoy running and am training for my first marathon in December!
I have been coaching for almost 6 years now. As a coach, it is important for my students to have a safe, clean environment to practice in. I want my students to build their motor development / learning as well as their general physical fitness and health.
I hope to help students gain life skills and friendships. I want students to have a third place for themselves to unwind from the stress from day to day life. I have a passion for not just coaching but for many disciplines of kinesiology. I strive to be knowledgeable in the field of sports medicine to aid athletes, prevent injury, help in the comeback from injury, and foster a healthy relationship to movement and nutrition. I want to help with the mental aspects of navigating through this sport. I strive for my students to feel confident and motivated with their journey, and feel safe to make mistakes, ask for help, and see the hard work pay off.
I got into gymnastics when I was 5 years old. I enjoyed being a gymnast and have many great memories of my time in this sport. I started coaching when I was 17 and have grown to understand and love the sport in a whole new way. I am now continuing my passion in studying judging and kinesiology.
My name is Brooke and I have been coaching gymnastics for about ten years now! Like most coaches I was a gymnast for a long time competing in the junior Olympic program and then in tumbling and trampoline, with some related experience in diving during high school. I started as an assistant at the gym where I grew up at 14 and loved it so much that when I moved away I had to find a new gym. Now I coach recreational classes on Mondays and Wednesdays at Miyagi’s.
One of my favorite parts about coaching recreational gymnastics is getting to work with my students on their goals. I have some who want to go to team so we work on the finer points and make sure they are ready and some who just want to keep getting skills and trying new things. Seeing the accomplishment on my students faces when they figure out a new skill is the most rewarding part of coaching! In order to foster these kinds of achievements I strive to create a safe space to learn and play while being challenged and growing as an athlete and a human.
Other than working with students I love being able to keep up some of my skills and just being around the gymnastics community; it is a fun place to be. It seems like much of my life has stemmed from growing up in the gym: from trying pole vaulting in college to starting to go rock climbing as an adult and all of the other areas of my life where I’ve taken on challenges or been uncomfortable in growth.
Coach Hayley has been passionate about gymnastics since she was 4 years old. She spent 9 years in the sport, including 2 years of competitive experience in high school, where she competed on beam and floor.
Though she took a break from gymnastics in middle school but quickly found herself coaching the cheer team on back handsprings using her trampoline, and even teaching extreme rollerbladers how to do front flips off half-pipes.
Over the years, Hayley’s love for flipping took her to all sorts of places, where she found herself coaching random spectators in the process! She now specializes in recreational gymnastics, focusing on building a strong foundation in the sport.
For Coach Hayley, the key elements of effective coaching are enjoyment, repetition, discipline, and fine-tuning technique. With 2.5 years of coaching experience under her belt, she believes gymnastics is a sport where the learning never ends!
