Tom Koll
Owner | Tom has been with Premier since 1981. Tom graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a BS in Physical Education and French. He is greatly involved in the sport of gymnastics for the country. He is currently the National Junior Olympic Committee Chairman, Women’s Program Committee Chairman, and the Women’s Program Representative on the Board of Directors for USA Gymnastics. He has been coaching and judging gymnastics for over 30 years, and has a USAG Brevet judge’s rating. He has been one of the authors of the USA Gymnastics’ national compulsory routines since 1997. Tom enjoys teaching all levels of gymnastics. Along with his teaching responsibilities here at Premier, he travels often doing State, Regional, and National clinics and congresses throughout the country. He has two children, Blake and Lauren. |
Jody Newman
Owner | Jody has been with Premier since 1997. Marketing and Advertising are his primary responsibilities at Premier in addition to normal day-to-day business responsibilities. Jody graduated from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Communication. He has been involved in gymnastics since the age of 5. His gymnastics experience includes: being a member of the U.S. National Team, getting the opportunity to compete in Romania, competing for Arizona State University, and obtaining NCAA All-American status on the floor exercise, pommel horse, and in all-around. Jody is married to Karli (Urban) and has three children, Bailey, Spencer, and Zoey. |
Celeste Olson
Administrative Director | Celeste has been with Premier since August 1996. As the Administrative Director Celeste manages, class registrations, handles accounts receivables, accounts payable, and human resources.
Celeste attended both the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Omaha, with studies in Early Elementary Education, Business, and Accounting. Celeste has worked in the field of accounting since 1979.
Celeste married Douglas Olson, in August 2005. Children/stepchildren include Bruce and Maryanne Olson, Faye and Peter Olson, Megan Duster, Rachel, Chris Emerson, and Justin Duster. Her hobbies include reading, sewing, needlework, spending time with her husband, and visiting granddaughter Parker Emerson and grandson Gunner Olson. |
Stephanie Wacker
Pro Shop Director | Stephanie has been working at Premier since 2000 but has been a part of the program since 1984 starting out as a gymnast. Over the years she has coached the competitive team levels from Top Tots to currently coaching the Optional Team. She enjoys traveling around the country during our competition season and has coached State, Regional and National Champions.
Stephanie attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a degree in Psychology. She is married to her husband, Justin and they have a son, Bennett. |
Gerry Matsunami
Dance / Camp Director | Gerry has been with Premier since 2001. She has been coaching and teaching gymnastics since 1977. Gerry competed in gymnastics in high school and was a gymnastics judge for the Nebraska School Activities Association for 27 years. Gerry has been teaching dance for over 20 years. She began her teaching career with Mary Waugh Taylor and danced with Visions Unlimited and the MWT dancers. Gerry also taught for Ballet Omaha and ADA. Her expertise is in young children’s dance education, with a specialization in pre-ballet and pre-school dancers. She and her husband Rick along with their three children Merrit, Ryley, and M’rcy have been very active in the Omaha Dance and gymnastics community for many years. |
Bob Matthews
J.O. Gymnastics Team Director | Bob has been with Premier since 2011. Bob has been active in sports his whole life. After lettering in 5 sports throughout High School, he began working at Disneyland, dancing, and performing in shows. During college, Bob played Baseball and Basketball while studying Dance, Psychology, and Architecture. Events happened to turn him toward coaching gymnastics in 1989. With his background and wide range of abilities, he has advanced his gymnasts to high levels of accomplishment. Bob has been involved with the developmental program, TOPs, since its inception in 1992. He has coached numerous National TOP members, National Level 10 Event Champions, Athletic College Scholarships, and Regional and State Champions every year since 1989. Bob has taken teams to England and Ireland to compete and coached the Irish National Team in 2004.
In his spare time, Bob enjoys training and competing in Ironman Triathlons and Ultra events. Believing, “The only way of finding the limits of possible is going beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke
Bob’s mantra is, “Building Champions to Succeed in Life”. Everything he has done since 2004 has been in an effort to conform to this phrase. |
Rob Godfrey
J.O. T&T Team Director | Rob has been with Premier since 2010. Rob studied Exercise Science in college with an emphasis in Kinesiology (the study of the mechanics of body movements). After graduation, life took Rob in a different career direction than he had originally planned. Many years later, Rob enrolled his girls at Premier in the Artistic and T&T programs and watched every one of his girls’ practices from the stands, studying the sport. After some time, an opportunity to step into a coaching role arose and he joined the Premier staff. Rob initially served as an assistant coach and eventually moved into the role of head coach for the T&T program. In his time at Premier, Rob has coached several athletes to become Regional and National Champions including a National Champion synchronized trampoline pair (who happen to be his girls, Jenna and Rachel). Rob has also produced the current top-ranked elite on trampoline in the state of Nebraska. Rob serves as the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling Nebraska State Chair, he is a USA Gymnastics certified National Coach and a certified trampoline judge. |
Lauren Welsh
Recreational Gymnastics and Trampoline & Tumbling Director | Lauren has been involved with Premier since 2003. She has been involved with several programs throughout the years. Her responsibilities have included Birthday Party Instructor, Camp Counselor, and Preschool Gymnastics/ Dance Instructor. Lauren graduated from Omaha North High School in 2005 where she received a scholarship to Iowa Western Community College. She majored in acting and technical theatre. She was the assistant choreographer for productions and was heavily involved in the construction of building scenery for shows as well as performing in those shows. Lauren has had a passion for performing since she was 3 years old. She was a student here at our Program for both Dance and Gymnastics starting at the age of four.
Lauren is beyond excited to be the Director of the Recreational Gymnastics and Trampoline & Tumbling Programs. Lauren is the daughter of one of the owners “Mr. Tom”. She is married to her husband Nick, and they have a wonderful Siberian Husky named Blue. |
Taylor Gunnels
Birthday Party Director | Taylor has been working for Premier since 2014. She attended the University of Denver and graduated with a degree in Personal Communications. Taylor’s gymnastics experience includes being a past Premier/TNT gymnast from 1996-2007, JO Women’s National appearances, and competed for the University of Denver 2007-2011.
Over the years at Premier Taylor has coached in multiple departments and currently working with the competitive program. On top of directing birthday parties, she also runs Premier’s social media platforms. |
