James Jones All-Black Boys Gymnastics Team needs a new location

When He pack James Jones is stressed on his floor mats and gymnastics equipment.

Since 2019, Jones Black Boys invited to Clayton County in Georgia to become a member of his James Jones Gymnastics Academy, an operation that he mainly runs solo.

Now the gymnastics coach is looking for answers, because the lease for his current Metro Atlanta Gym is going this week. Some guys he is currently training, have outgrown the current space, a former office within a shopping square.

“The ceiling is only 13 feet high. And when we came here for the first time, the boys were small. These guys are teenagers, and most of them are almost 6 feet,” says Jones, who also works as a lawyer while he packs his things. “They literally kick the ceiling.”

Stringent destination restrictions prevent him from going elsewhere in the province, he explains.

“For a year I did my best to move to another location in Clayton County because this is one of the cheaper provinces for commercial real estate,” says Jones, who operates the completely black boy gymnastics club. “There are so many warehouses and buildings that are empty and empty, but we cannot go there. And at the moment I am constructively forced to close because I cannot move the gym anywhere else.”

Although it has only been in action for only six years, the Gymnastics team has become a pillar of his community. About 600 boys and teenagers participated in his academy for free or reduced rates, he says. The Clayton County Board of Commissioners Eerde Jones and his gymnastics team with a proclamation During the July meeting, the recent victory of the team at the Louisiana State Championships celebrated.

“We really want to keep this program for the community,” Kecia Blackmon, whose child participates in the Academy, told WSB TV. “It means a lot to us. It means a lot for the community. So please help us if you can.”

Jones works with families with a low income, which means that parents cannot bring their children to other areas of Georgia to participate in gymnastics programs due to the costs of travel and traffic. “If you go to the city of Sandy Springs, if you go to Cartersville, if you go to Roswell, they will have fully funded gymnastics programs paid by their citizens through parks and REC programs,” he says, those cities in nearby provinces.

Jones called for help on social media. Donations started to flow inAnd even celebrities such as actor Viola Davis and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles Share the trouble. Chiles sent a donation of $ 1,000 to the program.

But Jones says that finance is not necessarily the problem – although donations are appreciated because of the high costs related to gymnastics.

“This is not a problem about money. It is a problem about zoning plans. A proponent of gym placed an old fundraising campaign from a competition that took place a few months ago. And people started donating,” Jones explains. “That was just the new fundraising to get us at a new location.”

A spokesperson for Clayton County said on Tuesday that the properties that suggested James did not meet their destination requirements. Warehouses, which are preferred locations because of space and size, are largely zoned for heavy industrial use in areasWhich means that, for example, they are indicated for production or throwing away mess, for example – no sports activity.

“The province is dedicated to working with coach James or an applicant to find solutions in accordance with the province’s destination policy,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

However, since his first post on social media, the gymnastics coach says that he feels hopeful. Jones is currently in conversation with local leaders and is encouraged by the outpouring of support.

He is still looking for a home that will house his team. Jones hopes that the support will encourage more parents to consider placing their young black boys in gymnastics.

“I think there is a huge misconception among parents that their sons would not like gymnastics,” he says. “I think that many parents suffocate the interest of their sons because they don’t even give them the chance to develop interest in sport.”

“When black boys see other black guys doing gymnastics, or boys in general, if it is interested, they will want to do it. They will also want to participate.”