We take great pride in the experience and qualification of our coaches
A high performance British Gymnastics coach with 25 years of coaching experience, Chris is also a sport and exercise scientist who has conducted research projects of motor skills development in children and provided guidance to local schools and teachers.
Chris has used his expertise to install training programmes at many gymnastics clubs throughout the UK. He was presented with an Outstanding Contribution Award by British Gymnastics in 2017. In 2019 he was award the prestigious Malcolm Taylor Award in recognition of his commitment to the development of gymnastics in the South East region.
One of the most experienced circus coaches in the UK, Chris has been a Head Coach for Cirque du Soleil including on touring shows Amaluna and Totem, taking lead responsibility for all aspects of the acrobatics performances. He also worked on the creation of Toruk – The First Flight by Cirque du Soleil in collaboration with the film producer James Cameron.
After a very successful and memorable four years on the road Chris was extremely excited to return to the UK to found Prime Acrobatics. Chris has also worked in other aspects of media, creating tour shows for popstars and been an acrobatic consultant for TV and film productions.
Matte is also a high performance British Gymnastics coach and was appointed Head Coach for the British Gymnastics women’s teams at the 2016 European TeamGym Championships.
He has a strong experience in club development, having previously founded his own centre, 1066 Gymnastics. The club’s facility included a highly successful gym that blended gymnastics and parkour and received national acclaim.
Matte served as Head Coach for Cirque du Soleil’s touring show Corteo. Upon returning to the UK, Matte worked with clubs and clients across the country to support coach development before ultimately deciding to dedicate himself to Prime Acrobatics. He also worked as acrobatics consultant on the 2022 movie Matilda The Musical.
Matte has been a tutor and assessor for British Gymnastics for several years. He delivers training courses to hundreds of coaches across the country. Matte oversees the club’s operations to support the development of both our staff and our programme of classes.
Aida originally studied and graduated from the University of Porto (Portugal) in 2011 as a qualified nurse. She then moved to live in Northern Ireland in 2012 where she worked for Season Healthcare for several years. This then led Aida to move to England in 2014 for further new opportunities, where she worked across multiple care homes, managing large teams of nurses and coordinating all patient care. She later joined independence Assessment Services.
Aida met Chris in 2019 and immediately developed a love for the environment and the service Prime Acrobatics provides the community. She soon started to support the office part-time and worked towards her first coaching qualification. As she was having a lot of fun and felt involved in something unique, Aida decided to leave nursing and make a career change by joining Prime full-time from February 2022. She progressed to heading up the office and now, to support Prime’s expansion into a second facility, Aida has moved into a larger role; managing the entire administration team and our members’ overall experience
Prime Acrobatics is supported by a strong set of Managers that cover key areas of our operations and development.
We pride ourselves on supporting young people. Our class helpers can start their coaching journey from age 14. We hold an annual intake of new class helpers which includes an induction process to prepare them for their duties supporting the coaches in classes.
Once a class helper turns 16 they can attend a British Gymnastics level 1 coaching course. Our Coach Education team allocates them a mentor and supports them through the course, post-course work and assessment process.
Coaches are then encouraged and guided through further qualifications. Many of our coaches have British Gymnastics level 2 and level 3 qualifications as well as add-on-modules in Preschool activities and Freestyle Gymnastics.
We ensure the professional development of the full team through annual appraisals and regular in-house staff training days. There are plenty of opportunities to thrive as a coach at Prime!
Click here for details of our current classes and timetable