Zina Fudge didn’t know she was opening a gym in Columbia until her husband phoned her one morning to tell her he’d found a great deal on a 100-by-125-foot pre-fabricated steel building - and he’d bought it.

"We didn’t even have a piece of land to put it on," she recalled. But the former University of Missouri-Columbia gymnast was used to leaping, and this time she jumped in with both feet.

Over the next several months, the couple purchased land and hired a contractor, and a 15,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art gymnastics facility took shape under Fudge’s careful choreography.

Features include recessed trampolines that stand at floor level so gymnasts can rehearse maneuvers without the worry of falling off and injuring themselves.

The gym also boasts an Olympic regulation 45-by-45-foot spring floor, a 2,500-square-foot observation mezzanine, vaulting apparatuses, uneven bars, balance beams and a 60 foot, sponge pit so gymnasts can practice stunts safely.

Located just off I-70 Drive S.E. on Hillsdale Road, the gym opened in September 2002 under the name Flipz USA. It offers both recreational and competitive gymnastics classes, as well as cheerleading, tumbling and birthday parties. Students may start at 18 months and stay through their teens.

Fudge takes particular pride in the immaculate blue-and-white facility with splashes of red. "It’s great to walk in every morning, to see this place, and know it’s all yours."

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Fudge grew up in Jenks, Okla., and trained at Tulsa World of Gymnastics. She was a standout on the Jenks High School gymnastics team, earning a full scholarship to MU.

From 1981 to 1985, Fudge competed for the Tigers while earning a degree in commercial recreation. As a collegiate gymnast, she made the All-Big 8 team, and one year tumbled her way to a first-place finish in the floor competition at the Cat Classic. She also met her future husband, MU wrestler Carl Fudge, while training at Hearnes.

Fudge returned to MU in 1986 to work on a master’s degree in travel and tourism research. To support herself, she taught gymnastics at Tiger Academy and later worked for Columbia Gymnastics Club.

Fudge finished her degree in 1988, and in 1990 she started her first gym, Flipz USA Gymnastics, in Jefferson City.

By the mid-1990s, Fudge was living in Sedalia with her husband, and in 1996 she opened a second gym there. She continued to commute to Jefferson City to operate that gym, too. In 2001, her husband, at the time working for UPS, was transferred to Columbia and Fudge was facing commutes to both Jefferson City and Sedalia. Since opening Flipz in Columbia, Fudge has sold the Jefferson City and Sedalia facilities.

Picking a name for her gym was easy. Early on, Fudge had earned the nickname "Flipsey" or "Flip Z" for Zina, which later became "Flipz."

"It’s been on my license plate as long as I can remember," she said.

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For the past year, Jennifer Hartwick’s 4-year-old daughter, Devon, has been taking classes at Flipz.

"She stays home with me, and I wanted to give her experience being with other kids and listening to other adults," Hartwick said one recent morning as she watched her daughter from the observation deck overlooking the gym.

Devon is enrolled in the "Teddy Bears" class for boys and girls ages 3½ to 6½. The kids train by following each other through a circuit of activities, including swinging on a rope suspended from the ceiling, walking on a fat, low-to-the-ground balance beam, swinging like a monkey from bars and doing back flips over a bar with Fudge’s help.

Fudge supervises and gently nurtures each, keeping tabs on all six students at once. When a child gets lost, Fudge redirects. "Walk on the beam, then visit me," she calls out as she simultaneously helps a child flip on the bars.

A second later, she calls across the gym to a daydreamer frozen on the bars. "Devon, are you swinging? Let’s see you swing," Fudge says, tenderly reminding the child of her task.

One of the reasons Hartwick enrolled Devon in the class was to get her moving. But Hartwick has found additional benefits: "Devon has gained a lot of confidence in herself, which is what every little girl needs."

The confidence-building comes from Fudge, who peppers the kids with encouragement as they scamper across the balance beam or attempt cartwheels on a special mat stamped with foot and handprints to show kids where to put their limbs.

Originally from Jefferson City, MU student Lauren Schuette now coaches at Flipz. Schuette began her gymnastics career at Fudge’s Jefferson City gym nearly 15 years ago. Schuette grew up with Fudge as a coach and mentor and now a boss. Schuette said it’s not just Fudge’s skill but also her personality that drives the business.

"She greets everyone by name who walks through the door," Schuette explained. "I think that makes parents feel good about sending their kids here."

Schuette said parents also see Fudge out there on the floor, actively engaging the kids, and her enthusiasm shines through.

"I love doing something that encourages kids to have an active lifestyle," Fudge said, noting that gymnastics is a good training for any sport because it helps kids gain strength, balance, agility, coordination and flexibility.

Some of Fudge’s former gymnasts are now the stars of their high school track and volleyball teams. Fudge also trained a couple of the current female MU pole-vaulters.

Fudge’s gymnasts make more than just physical gains. By the time the girls enter the competitive team level, they’re putting in four-hour practices several nights a week.

"It takes a big chunk of their time," Fudge said. "They have to learn time-management skills as well, which will help them for the rest of their lives."

Practices at this level are lengthy, Fudge explained, because the girls do stretching and conditioning and must also train for four events each practice: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

"Every event is like its own sport," Fudge said.

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Flipz hosts several major competitions each year, including this past year the Show-Me State Games, the Judges Cup and the Level 5 state championships, which drew more than 390 athletes from 50 teams across the state.

Kim Fuchs, state chair for the Missouri USA Gymnastics board, said Fudge did a fantastic job of organizing the Level 5 state meet and made it nice for the athletes. She has operated Eagles Gymnastics in Kansas City for about 20 years and has traveled to hundreds of facilities.

Fuchs said Fudge’s squeaky-clean gym sure stands out.

"There are a lot of really dirty gyms across this country," Fuchs said, drawing a contrast with Flipz.

"It’s a beautiful facility - and really safe," agrees Jessica Kirchhofer, whose daughters Rachel, 7, and Katie, 4, both attend Flipz.

Although her daughters have been enrolled for only six months, Kirchhofer says she sees improvements in each one’s physical body control and confidence.

"I don’t expect her to become a top-notch gymnast," Kirchhofer said of her daughter, Rachel. "But we’re building in her young body a lifetime of flexibility, strength, balance and coordination. We’re building a foundation for anything she wants to do in life."

Kirchhofer hopes that by working on flexibility and body control early on, her daughters will be less prone to injury later if they take up other sports.

Gregory Kirchhofer called the coaches "super encouraging" and said they take an interest in each child individually.

"Miss Jackie, she teaches me lots of cool things," Rachel said of her coach.

The individual attention is paying off. "They’re both cartwheeling and flipping through the house," Gregory Kirchhofer of his daughters, "which is kind of exciting."

Overall, Fudge is satisfied with how Flipz has evolved since opening.

Though Columbia has several gymnastics clubs, Fudge says, there are plenty of students to go around. "We’ve hit the numbers we wanted to hit," Fudge said of enrollment.

Flipz coaches work with about 370 kids each week. On any given day, 80 to 90 budding athletes walk through the doors - including Fudge’s first-grade daughter - hoping to tumble, twist, pirouette and handspring their way