Iron Cross Gymnastics

We have a Plan:
To keep adding services to our business that can benefit our community and have a powerful impact through being able to reach as many families as possible. Gymnastics was our first tool, then came Tumbling, Birthday Parties, Open Gyms, Clinics, First Aid and CPR training, Parents Night Out, and Summer Camps. Currently we just started Dance now offering Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Contemporary styles. In the Future we plan on adding After School Programs, Martial Arts, and Music!
Our Story
Iron Cross Gymnastics began as nothing more than a dream in 2005 by owners Jeremy Alspaugh and Grant Qualls. Jeremy and Grant at that time had been coaching gymnastics and tumbling in the Fort Bend County area for the last ten years. Both men had built strong reputations with their students, friends, and families, as men of faith, trusting God’s plans for their lives. Neither, at the time could have fathomed what God had in store. In August of 2005 Hurricane Katrina came and left parts of our beloved country torn apart. In the story of Iron Cross, this is how it played its part. Katrina came and destroyed homes and lives in the town of Beaumont Texas where a good friend of both Grant and Jeremy owned a gym. Though Katrina didn’t destroy the gym, it did destroy their friends business. People lost their homes; they certainly couldn’t afford to keep their children in gymnastics. Some time after, their friend called Grant and Jeremy knowing that they were planning their dream and offered to sell them all his gyms equipment for pennies on the dollar. It was an opportunity that the men couldn’t pass up. Grant and Jeremy with the help of a couple friends went up to Beaumont after work one night and completely tore down their friend’s facility. Everything was loaded up in a U-Haul and transported back to their home of Richmond Texas. Two trips were actually made that night from Richmond to Beaumont back and forth till the sun came up. After a night of complete exhaustion, they finally got all the equipment home and stored away in a couple of storage unites they had rented for this event. That night was a KEY part to their dreams starting to materialize into a real concept. After that, they knew it was time to start working on the business plan and get serious about the future. One thing about starting a business both men learned very quickly was no bank likes a high-risk deal. They were rejected over and over and over again until finally they met a banker at New First National Bank of Rosenberg that was willing to pull some strings and give the men a chance! This was really exciting and within a couple months of paperwork, meetings, and signing their life away, they finally got approved for a $150,000.00 loan to get Iron Cross off the ground. At this point they had no specific location but knew in their hearts Richmond was the community they wanted to be in, it was after all their home! Grants wife Ginger is an OBGYN nurse at a local hospital in Sugar Land and it was through one of her patients that she came to hear about a women’s husband who owned some property in Richmond who was looking to build a building and lease it for rent. Ginger immediately recognized this was no coincidence and called Grant. A few days later Grant and Jeremy had their first meeting with Brian Kennedy, the original owner of the real estate that Iron Cross is still located on today. It was a scary venture but something in Brian knew he was going to take this risk with the men and so it began. Brian went to the bank and got a loan to build the building and worked out a lease deal that seemed fair with risk; yet still affordable. The story moved forward into 2007 months away from the opening of the doors, Grant and Jeremy still awe to this day of how smooth things went. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears went into this project and after much anticipation the first day of business came and Iron Cross opened its doors for the first time December 3rd, 2007. The first several years Grant and Jeremy worked extremely hard answering the phone, to emails, to maintenance, and of course they coached every class, every hour, of every day. They were learning at same time how to run a business and how to grow as leaders. It has taken many years and they are still learning, improving, and growing. Both men find time each day to reflect and be grateful and thank God for all the blessings he has poured over their lives. A few years down the road in 2011 their landlord Brian Kennedy came to them with an opportunity to purchase the commercial property. Once again, both men went in to prayer and soon realized this one move would be the KEY to everything else they dreamed of doing with the company in the future. We found a way to finance it with our strong partnership with the bank and in December of 2011 officially purchased the real estate. A year later in 2012, they were able to expand the company adding another 5,000 sq. ft. of space so that our kids would have more room and opportunity to thrive. Lets move forward to present day and here Iron Cross is in 2016 and expanding again. This time doing a full renovation on another commercial building located on the property which ads another 10,000 sq. Ft. to the business. This move is paving the way for new services such as Dance and Martial Arts. Over the years many things have changed but the mission of Grant and Jeremy and their company has not! They are there to serve their guest, love the kids, and create strong and impactful relationships with the families of the gym and the community. Grant and Jeremy and the Iron Cross Staff look at each new day as opportunity to appreciate someone, mentor someone, and make a lasting impact in someone’s life!
“We are so thankful for our staff and our customers whom make our company amazing and our lives so special!”