By SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — For EJ Bennett, coaching cheerleading and gymnastics has always been about more than teaching athletes how to tumble, stunt or perform a routine.
The greater reward comes from watching young people become more confident, mentally stronger and willing to push beyond what they thought they could do.
That philosophy is now at the center of Legendz Xtreme Athletics, a new cheer, tumbling, gymnastics and dance facility Bennett recently opened with his wife, Sierra, at 722 E. Fourth Ave. in Hutchinson.
The husband-and-wife co-owners began offering classes July 1, turning a longtime dream into a family-operated business designed to serve athletes of nearly every age and experience level.
“We just want this to be a positive experience for everyone,” EJ Bennett said. “We want people to come here, have fun and have more awareness for cheer and competitive cheer.”
The Bennetts describe Legendz Xtreme Athletics as more than a gym. Their goal is to create a supportive community where children can stay active, build friendships, work toward individual goals and learn lessons that extend beyond athletics.
Its core values include confidence, commitment, character, community and excellence.
“You don’t know what kind of day these kids have had,” Sierra Bennett said. “You don’t know what’s going on in their home life. So when they come in here, we want to be supportive. We want to make things fun.”
EJ Bennett has spent about 15 years coaching cheerleading and gymnastics, although cheer was not initially part of his plan.
He attended Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, to play basketball. While there, Navarro’s cheer team needed someone to fill in. Bennett already knew how to perform flips, so he agreed to join the squad.
He competed for only about a year, but the experience changed his career path.
“That’s when I fell in love with cheer,” Bennett said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’”
He later traveled while working at tumbling camps and participated in halftime performances connected to the Denver Nuggets and Denver Broncos.
Bennett, who grew up in Wichita, eventually returned to Kansas. He coached Storm Cheer at the Northwest YMCA in Wichita before moving to Hutchinson to lead Cheer and Tumbling All Stars. He spent about 11 years there before he and Sierra decided to establish a gym of their own.
The decision was about more than becoming business owners. They wanted the opportunity to introduce additional programs and build a culture centered on mentorship.
“The more I coached, I developed stronger bonds with most of the athletes,” Bennett said. “It expanded past the sport and just making them better individuals.”
Competitive cheer teams can practice several times per week, often for multiple hours at a time. Bennett said that consistency allows coaches to form close relationships with athletes and help them through accomplishments, disappointments and challenges away from the gym.
“They kind of became like my stepchildren,” he said.
Sierra Bennett participated in school cheer during middle school and high school but gained a new appreciation for competitive cheer through the couple’s oldest daughter.
The Bennetts have three children. Their oldest daughter, now 13, began gymnastics and tumbling around age 3 and has competed in All-Star cheer since she was 5.
Watching her daughter grow through the sport showed Sierra how cheer, gymnastics and tumbling can help athletes in other areas of life.
Her daughter also participates in volleyball, wrestling and track, and Sierra said the strength and conditioning developed through cheer have carried into those sports.
“It’s not only about cheerleading,” she said. “It’s about all the skills and attributes that they acquire through the work and the practices.”
At Legendz, EJ oversees coaching and athlete development as the head cheer, tumbling and gymnastics coach. Sierra manages registrations, helps families with enrollment and is often the first person athletes and parents encounter at the front desk.
The Bennetts want athletes to become technically skilled, but they place equal importance on effort, discipline, resilience and teamwork.
Tumbling provides children with clear, measurable goals. One athlete may be working toward a roundoff back handspring, while another is trying to master a back tuck.
“There’s always something you can be working for,” Sierra Bennett said. “There’s a next skill you can be working toward, and then you feel that sense of accomplishment when you do it.”
EJ Bennett said physical ability is only part of becoming a successful athlete. He especially values mental toughness and the willingness to step outside one’s comfort zone.
“I think any sport is physically demanding, but the mental part is what we have the most control over,” he said. “Pushing them outside of their comfort zone, I want that to translate to real life.”
Legendz offers classes for children as young as 2, along with programs for teenagers, college-age athletes and adults.
Tiny Tots is a parent-assisted class for children ages 2 and 3. Preschool gymnastics introduces younger children to equipment and fundamentals such as bars and balance beam.
The gym also offers beginner, intermediate and advanced tumbling, along with hip-hop, contemporary and jazz dance instruction.
Recreational cheer classes are available for athletes who want to learn the sport without joining a competitive team. A pre-team program introduces athletes and parents to competitive cheer without requiring a full-year commitment.
Other offerings include flyer classes, sideline cheer preparation for school and college tryouts, adult tumbling and a parkour class geared toward boys.
“Boys that need to just burn off some energy, that’s a really good class for them,” Sierra Bennett said.
Legendz has also launched its first elite competitive cheer team.
Competitive team membership is based on tryouts, and the typical season runs from May to May. Practices are held twice per week, with competitions beginning in December and continuing into the spring.
Teams may travel to competitions in Kansas City, Oklahoma, Branson, Dallas and Houston. In future years, Bennett hopes athletes can earn invitations to events at destinations such as Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World.
For the first year, however, the focus is on building a strong foundation.
“We want the kids to just be excited for a regular season first,” Bennett said. “Then we’ll gear up for the bigger things.”
Bennett is joined by four other coaches, several of whom were once his athletes.
The staff includes coach Quincey, coach Karen, coach O, and coach Brooklynn. The entire staff has experience in school cheer, All-Star cheer, tumbling, dance and national cheer camps. Coach Brooklynn is a University of Kansas cheerleader who returns to Hutchinson to help teach Monday classes.
“I coached all of our coaches,” Bennett said, with the exception of the dance instructor.
The East Fourth Avenue facility includes a competition spring floor, tumbling equipment, gymnastics bars, a balance beam, an air track and a variety of mats.
A separate viewing area allows parents to watch classes on a television monitor without standing inside the gym and distracting athletes.
The facility also includes a children’s playroom with toys, books and a television for younger siblings who may accompany families to longer practices.
“That’s probably my favorite part of it,” Sierra Bennett said. “If you have an older child taking one of the tumbling classes and you’ve got to bring your 2- or 3-year-old with you, it’s nice to have something to entertain them.”
A kitchenette provides space for snacks, team bonding events and bake sales. The Bennetts also plan to host birthday parties and monthly open-gym events.
Another room remains undeveloped and could eventually become a dedicated dance studio or additional class area.
“There’s still space that we’re not using yet, but we have room to grow,” Sierra Bennett said.
In five to 10 years, EJ Bennett hopes Legendz is considered one of the top programs in Kansas and a recognizable part of the Hutchinson community.
He hopes the gym can eventually partner with organizations such as the YMCA, Hutchinson Recreation Commission and Boys & Girls Club of Hutchinson to offer camps, after-school activities and other programs.
Sierra Bennett said Hutchinson families interested in competitive cheer have often had to travel to Wichita. The couple hopes building a local program will make the sport accessible to more athletes.
“We’re open to all kinds of opportunities as things grow,” she said.
The gym’s name and imagery were chosen to represent strength, confidence and individuality. Its branding blends elements of princesses, gods, goddesses and warriors.
“We wanted something different,” EJ Bennett said. “We wanted it to be fierce, but also let them be their princesses.”
One of Bennett’s favorite sayings is, “Be phenomenal or be forgotten.”
To him, the message is not about being better than everyone else. It is about considering what kind of impact a person will leave behind.
“You don’t have to be the best on the team, but you have to be the best for your team,” he said. “We can go fast alone, or we can go far together.”
To learn more about Legendz Extreme Athletics, you can visit their website here, or their Facebook page here.