About Us
AcroCats Gymnastics was founded by Leesa Berahovich and Sam Hunt who share a passion for disciplined, thoughtful gymnastics instruction rooted in kindness, structure, and consistent progress.
At AcroCats, we believe that strength and flexibility are key to long-term success in gymnastics. Our programs focus on proper technique and building strength from the start, with structured systems to track progress and develop skills at the right speed. We are proud to provide a gym where athletes feel respected, challenged, and supported.
Whether your child is just beginning or training toward competition, AcroCats offers a clear path and a committed team to help them grow.
Meet our Instructors
Leesa
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Leesa is a co-owner of AcroCats. She was born in Ann Arbor and grew up in Santa Barbara. She has a BA in Art and a BS in nutrition from UC Berkeley. Her hobbies include ballet, drawing and taking care of her 4 Maine Coon cats. She is married to Rob, a scientist, and has 3 sons.
“Let the passions of the one fill the hearts of the many.”
With over 40 years of coaching experience, Leesa enjoys helping athletes become stronger, achieve new skills, and gain confidence.
She is also a high-rated gymnastics judge and was recently selected to judge Level 10 Nationals in 2026.
Fun Fact: Leesa is an expert-level Scrabble player and cleans 4 litter boxes daily.
Favorite Quote: “You never know unless you try”.
Sam
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Sam is a co-owner of AcroCats. He grew up in Fullerton before moving to Albany in 2017.
Sam has 15 years of coaching experience and is a skilled spotter. He enjoys helping athletes overcome difficult and fearful skills and seeing them grow stronger.
His hobbies include video games (especially SSBM and Tetris), skateboarding, and practicing handstands.
Fun Fact: Sam was homeschooled K-12.
Favorite Quote: “You must show how much you care before they care how much you know”
Cisco
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Cisco is a coach at AcroCats. He’s from Los Angeles and is currently pursuing a B.A. in Legal Studies at UC Berkeley.
Cisco has 9 years of experience in calisthenics. He loves exercising and feeds off the energy and passion of his students. Outside of coaching, Cisco’s hobbies include running and hiking.
Fun Fact: Cisco loves Pokémon Cards!
Favorite Quote: “Just do it!” - Nike
Thanya
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Thanya is a coach at AcroCats. She grew up in El Centro, CA and is currently going to school at UC Berkeley.
Thanya has experience with assisting in youth gymnastics and cheer coaching, and she loves to work with kids. She especially enjoys being able to watch them learn and gain confidence. Her hobbies include going to the gym, reading, shopping, and spending time with friends.
Fun Fact: Coach Thanya loves going to the movie theater.
Favorite Quote: “You only live once, that’s the motto.”
Leo
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Leo is a coach at AcroCats. He’s from Berkeley and graduated from UC Davis with a bachelor’s degree in Plant Science.
Leo loves coaching and seeing the gymnasts improve and acquire new skills. Leo’s hobbies include gardening and gaming.
Fun Fact: Leo worked on a video game that has hundreds of thousands of players!
Favorite Quote: “It is what it is”.
Joscelin
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Joscelin is a coach at AcroCats. She’s from Bakersfield and is currently pursuing a degree in legal studies at UC Berkeley.
Joscelin enjoys building confidence in her students and seeing them develop their skills. She was the benefactor of many great coaches herself growing up, and now passes on the torch! Joscelin also works out and reads in her free time.
Fun fact: Joscelin is the oldest child of four!
Favorite Motto: Everything happens for a reason.
Stella
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Stella is a coach at AcroCats. Currently a high school senior in Alameda, she competed at the XCEL Diamond level in gymnastics and still practices. She also coached at her previous gym.
Stella enjoys sharing her love of gymnastics with her students and wants to help them become the best versions of themselves.
Her hobbies include dancing and keeping up her gymnastics skills.
Naima
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Naima is a coach at AcroCats. She’s from Berkeley and holds a bachelor’s degree in dance.
Naima is very passionate about teaching kids and enjoys seeing them grow. She also finds that there is a lot to learn herself from working with athletes. For her hobbies, Naima practices dance, and engages in music, traveling, cooking and drawing!
Fun fact: Naima loves to dance!
Bella
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Bella is a coach at AcroCats. She’s from Virginia and is currently a student at UC Berkeley.
Bella has 13 years of experience in dance, include 9 years at the Stage Door Dance Studio and 4 years on the high school varsity dance team.
Bella loves helping gymnasts improve their skills and fostering their love for gymnastics. Her hobbies include dancing and running.
Favorite Quote: “Try your best!”
Mariana
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Mariana is a coach at AcroCats. She’s from Oakland, and is currently a senior in high school.
Mariana is very proficient and eager to work with kids, as it comes like second nature to her as an oldest child. She loves celebrating her athlete’s milestones. Mariana reads, journals, listens to music and thrifts in her free time.
Fun fact: Mariana has read over 300 books!
Jason
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Jason is a coach at AcroCats. He has a certificate in teaching, a master’s degree in applied math and a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Jason has a very growth-oriented coaching style. He prioritizes safety and wants to teach life skills through his coaching; he does not believe everything is about winning. Jason likes seeing the growth of the athletes he teaches. His hobbies are fishing, pickleball, coding and playing board games.
Fun fact: Jason does not like listening to music.
Jonas
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Jonas holds down the front desk at AcroCats. He is a college student pursuing a degree in mathematics.
He is quite proficient with computers and enjoys sending out the progress reports of what the kids at AcroCats accomplished. In his free time, Jonas plays video games and produces music.
Fun fact: Jonas came up with the name for AcroCats!
Favorite quote: “Instead of clicking on different tabs, you can hold control (or command) and press a number key to switch tabs on Google. I’ve saved years of my life with this.”
Sadie
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Sadie is a coach at AcroCats and has experience teaching parkour and rec gymnastics. She grew up in Petaluma, CA and is currently pursuing bachelor’s degrees in neuroscience and molecular cell biology at UC Berkeley.
Sadie enjoys coaching because she loves to help others achieve their goals while also being able to improve her own teaching and communication skills. She loves being around motivated athletes and getting to watch them work hard and improve their skills. Outside of coaching, Sadie likes to hike, travel, read, and stay active.
Fun Fact: Coach Sadie has never broken a bone!
Caitlin
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Caitlin is a coach at AcroCats. She grew up in San Diego and has 1.5 years of gymnastics coaching experience at the Cameron Family YMCA. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley.
Caitlin is grateful for the opportunity to pass the same positive experiences she had with gymnastics onto her students. She loves to celebrate their wins and see them grow. Outside of gymnastics, her hobbies include art, drawing, painting, and pastels.
Fun Fact: Coach Caitlin did gymnastics for 11 years.
Emily
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Emily is a coach at AcroCats and has experience as a dancer. She is from Los Angeles, California and is currently a student at UC Berkeley majoring in Legal Studies.
Emily enjoys coaching because she loves to work with kids and see them grow confidence in themselves. Emily's favorite hobbies are reading, swimming, cooking, and making floral arrangments.
Fun Facts: Emily can name every county in the world.
Favorite quote: Don't reject yourself!
Jazzy
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Jazzy is a coach at AcroCats. She’s from Turlock, California and is currently pursuing a B.A. in Political Science at UC Berkeley.
Jazzy has former experience coaching cheer. She loves helping shape young minds, and one of her favorite parts about working with athletes is how everyone's energy is positive. Jazzy loves to listen to music and read.
Fun Fact: Jazzy’s favorite color is blue!
Caralyn
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Caralyn is a coach at AcroCats. She’s from Simi Valley and is currently pursuing a degree in microbial biology at UC Berkeley.
Caralyn finds it rewarding to be part of the journey in which young gymnasts pursue their passion. She also enjoys seeing athletes’ daily dedication, effort, and working with diverse personalities. For her hobbies Caralyn reads, watches sports/shows, and studies with music and candles on!
Fun fact: Caralyn collects Bath and Body Works candles and was a competitive gymnast.
Kayla
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Kayla is a coach at AcroCats and has 5 years of competitive gymnastics experience. She’s from Stockton and is currently a student at UC Berkeley.
Kayla is passionate about helping young kids become excited to exercise and build new skills. She believes gymnastics is a great way to build both physical strength and mental resilience, and she enjoys seeing her students’ progress in their skills and their excitement to improve. For her hobbies, Kayla likes finding new places to eat, golfing, and going on sunset hikes and walks.
Fun Fact: Kayla was a competitive gymnast for 5 years with Gymstars Gymnastics.
Natalie
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Natalie is a coach at AcroCats and has experience as a dancer. She is from Los Angeles, California and is currently a student at UC Berkeley majoring in Media Studies.
Natalie is passionate about coaching because she enjoys encouraging young athletes to try their best and loves seeing them progress. Natalie's favorite hobbies are watching movies and going to the beach.
Fun Fact: Natalie loves documentaries.
Favorite Quote: If it costs you your peace, it’s too expensive.
Taylor
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Taylor is a coach at AcroCats. She grew up in Wildomar, CA and has an AA-T in English. Her previous experience includes competitive gymnastics at Twist’N U and 3 years of Tae Kwon Do.
Taylor sees coaching as an opportunity to not only teach, but also grow her own skills and abilities. She enjoys working with athletes to identify and fill gaps in both their knowledge and her own. Her hobbies include reading, writing, drawing, and analysing books and movies with her friends.
Fun Fact: Coach Taylor once had 9 cats at once!
Jada
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Jada is a coach at AcroCats. She grew up in Gilroy and is currently pursuing a degree in architecture.
Jada has 4 years of experience coaching team and recreational gymnastics, and she enjoys seeing her students achieve their goals and aspire to work even harder. She is passionate not only about teaching gymnastics, but also teaching the fundamentals of goal setting, dedication, persistence, and resilience. Her hobbies include drawing, photography, and writing.
Fun Fact: Coach Jada is good at making pretty charcuterie boards.
Favorite Quote/Motto: “Live for the love of the game 🩷”
Chase
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Chase is a coach at AcroCats. He is from Clovis, California and is pursuing a degree in math and computer science at UC Berkeley.
Chase has 2 years of experience coaching gymnastics and 6 years of competitive gymnastics experience. He believes that his knowledge in gymnastics will help other gymnasts grow and build their confidence. He also enjoys being a voice of encouragement to the youth. For hobbies, Chase enjoys climbing, singing, puzzles, and learning new things.
Fun Fact: Chase sings bass for a vocal jazz acappella group.
Favorite motto/quote: What matters most isn’t how many times you fall down, but how many times you stand back up.
Laura
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Laura is a coach at AcroCats and has years experience as both a gymnast and cheerleader. She grew up in San Francisco and Fresno, California and is a current student at UC Berkeley majoring in English and Legal Studies, as well as CPR and FirstAid certified.
Laura coaches because she loves the sport and seeing the progress and improvement in the athletes. Laura's favorite hobbies are reading, hiking, yoga, and pilates.
Fun Fact: Laura is allergic to cats but has two of them anyway!
Sadiqua
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Coach Sadiqua Bynum has recently joined our staff and is already a fantastic addition to our team program. As a former gymnast, she represented UCLA as a four-time All-American and PAC-12 Champion, and she was also one of Leesa’s former students! Sadiqua also holds high honor in her work as an actress and stunt woman, filling a top acting role in the show Warrior Nun (2022), playing Dora Milaje in Black Panther (2019), and also stunt-doubling for Regina King in HBO’s Watchmen (2019) and the Netflix film The Harder They Fall (2021).