Nearly 50 years ago, Casey Wright’s parents opened Wright’s American Gymnastics in Whiteland. Having grown up in the gym, throughout her life Wright has been involved in the family business. After her parents retired in the late ‘90s, she took over the Southside gym, where she worked as a coach. She focused on the fundamentals of gymnastics and looked for ways to offer more for kids, beyond just the elite athletes.
“I wanted to provide an option where both boys and girls could enjoy daily successes of what fundamental movement can do,” says Wright.
After having a son, she began to brainstorm ways to offer something for boys that combined gymnastics and constant movement. In 2013 she opened NinjaZone, which is a combination of gymnastics, “Ninja Warrior”, and parkour.
“It’s a different sport but based in fundamental movement,” Wright says.
Given that 95% of the clientele at Wright’s Gymnastics was female, she was thrilled to offer an option for males too.
Located inside of Wright’s Gymnastics, it was a win-win, as she was able to include boys using the existing infrastructure. Not only did families now have a place where they could take both kids for exercise, but also young boys, who have limited programming options, had access to an amazing program.
The NinjaZone concept took off so well that Wright licensed the curriculum all over the world; now 300 children’s facilities have NinjaZones inside them.
At both Wright’s Gymnastics and NinjaZone, the core value is fun. This is why they employ child-centric versus sports-centric coaches.
“We look at the child as a whole, not just the sport that they do,” Wright says. “We ensure that fun exists in every class, every hour.”
As far as the technical curriculum, they have an extensive 10-level system for their recreational students, which allows them to be celebrated early and as often as possible.
“All our kids have the chance to compete and be on stage,” Wright says. “It’s good for their mindset to stay in something where they are continuously improving, and they don’t have to give up their entire life to a sport, which sometimes gymnastics can get a bad rap for.”
Alex Freeman appreciates how the coaches at Wright’s care about each child’s development and well-being.
“You can see how much they want the children to succeed, both on the gymnastics team and the fundamental/recreational teams,” says Freeman, who also likes the family-focus approach to gymnastics. “As a family of multiple children who are in different stages of their gymnastics careers, this is important to us.”
Because their mission is to keep kids moving for life, their facilities are built with lots of stations and training devices so that kids don’t have to spend half a class standing in line or sitting on a bench waiting to take their turn. This approach ensures that they are constantly moving and progressing.
Several years ago, Wright was recognized as a successful businesswoman by the Indianapolis Business Journal in their Forty Under 40 section. The acknowledgement was special to Wright because it showed how much her employees cared about her, as they were the ones who submitted the application.
“Seeing what my employees said about me is what mattered most,” says Wright, who attributes her success to her team. “All of my business growth has been driven by my want to grow my staff.”
Wright regularly gives back to the community by participating in toy drives and food drives every Christmas. She also lets her employees choose which nonprofits they want to give community volunteer service to. Plus, she donates to several different organizations, always trying to keep it as hyperlocal as possible.
“I look for women who have gone through struggles and help them,” she says. For instance, she just made a donation to a coach whose husband died from ALS.
She also supports other sports teams including baseball and soccer. Each year she’s a big supporter of Acton Academy’s Children’s Business Fair, which spotlights child entrepreneurs from all over the city.
She and her husband, Dr. Jeremy Ciano (owner of Little Eyes Pediatric Eye Care), have four children, Alex (18), Bella (17), Scarlet (14) and Leo (12), and two mini Bernedoodles, Dublin and Zuri. In her free time Wright likes to play tennis and pickleball. She also enjoys traveling with her family and is working on visiting all 50 states.
Check out one of their six locations around Indy. For more information and location details, call 317-888-4805.
