Spencer’s 17 yearlong pursuit of an Olympic dream began when he was 9. It included moving away from home at age 14, living with countless host families and attending 3 different high schools. He became an elite level athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Though Johnson’s pursuit didn’t end with a spot on the Olympic team, he retired from the sport ranked in the top 30 gymnasts in the U.S. Shortly after retiring, Spencer learned that his true gift was not in competing, but coaching. In 2013 he started a boy’s program that quickly became the fastest growing program in the state of Iowa. In 2014 Spencer was voted in as USA Gymnastics Iowa State Chairman. Since accepting the position, enrollment in boys’ gymnastics, for the state of Iowa, has tripled. In 2016 Johnson’s boys brought home several national medals including a gold medal national title. Spencer was awarded USAG Iowa Men’s Gymnastics Coach of the Year. He recently became an American Ninja Warrior and battled the course all the way to the Las Vegas Finals. Spencer attributes a big part of his success to his wife, Katie, who he met, when they were 12, attending the same gym. Katie has worked in early childhood education for over 10 years and was also a gymnast for several years. Spencer states that his wife’s surpassing knowledge in early childhood, rival determination and unparalleled skills as a mother continues to motivate and uplift him and people around her. Together they have proven to have created not only a strong educational curriculum but also a contagious environment.

Emma Heitz (Brown) fell in love with the sport of gymnastics from the moment she started at seven years old. She has never looked back– and has enjoyed many years of success and joy in the sport.

Emma attended Chow’s Gymnastics from age seven until she graduated. During her club career, Emma was a five-time Nationals qualifier (her highest finishes were 6th in the all-around (2018) and 4th on bars (2017), and won multiple state and regional titles. Emma earned a full athletic scholarship to the University of Denver where she competed and graduated. Her career highs were a 9.85 on floor and 9.9 on beam. Emma was a scholastic all-American and graduated with a 4.0 majoring in psychology and communications.

Throughout college, Emma coached at a local tumbling gym, at Denver gymnastics camps, and she also subbed as a compulsory team coach at Emerge. In addition to coaching gymnastics, Emma has a passion for encouraging and teaching youth and has many experiences working with youth of a wide range of ages and abilities.  She has worked as an infant and toddler teacher, has created lesson plans for children with Autism and other developmental disabilities, worked as a youth ministries intern, was a substitute paraeducator for preschool through high school, and taught English to Spanish speaking high schoolers.

After graduating, Emma desired to stay connected with the sport she has always loved and became the Women’s Developmental Team Coach at Emerge Academy in the 2022-23 season. Emma’s favorite part about coaching is building relationships with gymnasts and using the sport of gymnastics to build character traits that will outlast every gymnast’s gymnastics career.

Kami started as a dancer when she was 5. She switched from dance to gymnastics at the age of 9. She trained as a gymnast with the Michigan Academy of Gymnastics until she was 12 when she was injured. She continued to keep some of her gymnastics skills fresh as a swimmer and diver through high school and cheered for Missouri Western State college where she enlisted in the United States Army. She started coaching in the recreational program to help support her daughter’s time as a gymnast. In 2011 Kami started coaching an Xcel Team.

When Emerge Academy opened she was one of Spencer’s first hires as the Head coach of the Xcel Program. The Xcel Team has more than doubled since Emerge Academy opened and she hopes to continue to expand the program and support Spencer’s mission to “inspire, encourage and motivate” future athletes.