Buckeye Staff

Gabby grew up at Buckeye Gymnastics starting at age 7 and “graduating” as a high school senior. She competed for Buckeye for 6 years through Level 8. She is currently studying to become a Physical Therapist and discovered that she has the gift of teaching after rejoining us as a gymnastics teacher and coach.

Dayah grew up in the gym. She competed as a member of Hills Gymnastics in Gaithersburg, Maryland, before earning a full college scholarship at West Virginia University. At WVU Dayah earned an undergraduate degree in Athletic Coaching Education with a minor in Personal Training and went to earn her Masters in Athletic Coaching. Dayah competed and lettered all four years at WVU culminating with a 3rd place All Around finish at the Big Twelve Championships in 2014 and in being elected Team Captain by her coaches for her dedication and leadership. She continued her gymnastics career at West Virginia as a graduate assistant coach and as a teacher and coach at WVU’s summer camp program.

Anamaria started gymnastics as a child in Romania and by the age of thirteen was invited to train at the Olympic Center among other national and international champions. She went on to win medals in such competitions as American Cup, Goodwill games and European Championships. She was selected to be one of the six gymnasts who made the 1996 Olympic Team for Romania but, unfortunately, she was unable to compete due to a knee accident. For the last past 16 years she has been coaching in the USA preparing athletes who won State, Regional, and National Championships. Anamaria is a National level rated judge and the recipient of Master of Sports Certification awarded by the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. She earned a BA Saginaw Valley State University in International Studies with emphasis in Business and a Certificate in International Business and a minor in accounting.

In the 30+ years that Kittia has been coaching at Buckeye her gymnasts have won over 1,000 state, regional, and national titles. She was an elite gymnast herself and a former elite national champion and she attended Arizona State University on a full athletic scholarship. Kittia is also a brevet judge and she has judged the top American athletes at the most important competitions in the country including Championships of the USA and the Olympic Team Trials. In addition, Kittia was elected by the coaches and judges in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana to serve on the Region 5 Board for USA Gymnastics. As Head Coach at Buckeye Kittia coached Gabby Douglas to the 2016 Olympic Team (Team USA Gold) and 2015 World Championships Team (Team Gold, Silver AA) and she has developed both Nia Dennis and Shania Adams both USA National Team members. Buckeye was named the Region 5 Elite Gym of the Year in 2016.

Becky has been involved in gymnastics since she was six years old.  She was a top performer at Buckeye Gymnastics for seven years as she won many individual state titles and helped the Buckeye team win six State Team titles.  She competed at the J.O. National Championships in Dallas and attended WVU on a full athletic scholarship in gymnastics while leading the Lady Mountaineers to four winning seasons. She has been an important component to our coaching staff at Buckeye for many years and she has developed many state, regional and national champions. She was part of the Buckeye coaching team that was voted Optional Coaching Staff of the Year in Ohio in 2016.

Taylor is a former Buckeye gymnast who won floor at L9 Easterns, as well as competing for Eastern Michigan from 2013 until 2015. Taylor graduated from Eastern Michigan in 2017 with a BA in Communications and a minor is psychology. Taylor coached Buckeye’s Level 1 and Level 2’s prior to leaving for college and has expanded her coaching experience by coaching pre-team through Level 7 at Champion Gymnastics in Ann Arbor.

Sasha is a former Champion of the USSR and a Master of Sport. He was also the head coach of one of the Soviet Gymnastics Training Centers in Ukraine where he developed national team members and at least one Olympian for the former USSR. Sasha brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Buckeye. He is hard-working with a focus on the development of solid and technically correct basics. Sasha has been coaching the Girls Team at Buckeye for over 20 years and he was part of the Buckeye coaching team that was voted Optional Coaching Staff of the Year in Ohio in 2016.

Becky was already something of a legend in the sport of gymnastics in Ohio before she stepped into the gym as a coach at Buckeye. Becky was the 2012 Horizon Coach of the Year for Region 5 (OH, MI, IL, IN, KY), 2011 Ohio Judge of the Year, and the 2013 Spirit of Team Ohio award winner. She has been coaching some of the best gymnasts in the city, state and region as coach at Universal Gymnasts for over a decade and she was an accomplished gymnast in her own right at Lima Gymnastics. Becky brings over 30 years of gymnastics experience to Buckeye through her competing, judging and coaching and we welcome her to the coaching staff.

Kyle joined our girls team program the beginning of June 2019.  Originally from Toledo, OH Kyle has coached at Sunrise Gymnastics, Flip Fest and most recently as a Girls Team Coach at Victors Gymnastics in New York working with Levels 3 – 10. Buckeye is looking forward to all the positive energy  Kyle will bring to our program.

Scott is a graduate of West Virginia University with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a Master’s degree in Sports Promotions. While at West Virginia Scott was a scholarship gymnast on the Mountaineer’s Men’s Team. Scott has over 35 years of coaching experience ranging from coaching college at West Virginia University and UC-Berkeley to 9 years here at Buckeye Gymnastics and 15 years spent coaching in California. He was a member of the So Cal USAG Board of Directors for a number of years while in CA. He is currently coaching S&G and USAG Girls team, and is the Scarlet and Grey Team Director and Operations Manager at Buckeye Gymnastics.