Tori Wilson
Co-Owner, CEO
Tori has owned and operated Firegem since March of 2021. She grew up in the gym, competing in both gymnastics (USAG) and power tumbling (USTA), at the national level. She cheered game day and competitively at the University of Northern Iowa. In addition to cheering for UNI, Tori also competed on a level 6 international open co-ed team for the Iowa All Stars. After graduating from Iowa State University, she head-coached college cheer for 7 years. She currently operates both the Greenville and Anderson locations remotely while coaching at the University of Kansas.
Highlights:
Head Cheer & STUNT Coach at the University of the Ozarks.
Head Cheer Coach at Missouri Valley College.
Won the 2018 NAIA National Collegiate Championship.
Won the 2018 NAIA National Collegiate Cheer Coach of the Year Award.
Received the 2018 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Achievement Award.
Head Cheer Coach at the University of South Carolina Upstate.
Head Cheer Coach at the University of Kansas.
Jaz Isom
Co-Owner, Tumbling Program Director- Year 6
Jaz found his love for tumbling in high school at the end of his sophomore year at Mount Pisgah Academy where he joined the Acrobatics team. After graduating in 2009, Jaz soon began coaching tumbling, bars, vault, and trampoline at Electric City Gymnastics. In late 2010, Jaz also began coaching tumbling at Palmetto Athletics, eventually becoming certified to coach all levels of tumbling through United States All-Star Federation. Jaz continued to coach at Palmetto Athletics until he graduated college from Clemson University in 2016. During that time Jaz increased his knowledge of the sport of All-Star Cheer by coaching stunting, tossing, choreography, jumps, strength, and flexibility. In addition to All-Star Cheer, Jaz also has experience coaching dance and tricking (which caters to martial artists).
Highlights:
Tumbling Program Coordinator & Head Tumbling Instructor at Steppin’ Out Dance Studio
Tumbling Instructor at High Power Elite
Tumbling Instructor for the TL Hanna Varsity Cheer Team
Destiny Johnson
Cheer Program Director- Year 5
Destiny fell in love with cheerleading at an early age. She has nearly 13 years of experience in tumbling, All-Star, recreational, and high school cheerleading. Born and raised in Columbia, SC she cheered at Dreher High School and Silverjax Allstars. She made Greenville, SC her home after graduating from Clemson University in 2017. After earning her bachelors in Biological Sciences, she went on to earn her master’s in Healthcare Administration from Liberty University. She prides herself on fostering a safe team environment that helps build each athlete's confidence, while helping them prepare for their next level goals. She would describe herself as an energetic and passionate cheerleading coach who believes in mentoring youth through athletics!
Maddie Bowser
Assistant Director of Operations- Year 6
Although not originally from the South, Maddie has been happy to call Greenville her home for the past four years! She was raised in Washington state and attended college at Cedarville University near Dayton, Ohio, where she received her bachelor's degree in Psychology. She has worked with kids and teenagers in many different jobs, including youth and children's ministry and even spent a year as "Movie Star Maddie" with Boosterthon School Fundraising. She first fell in love with cheerleading as an 8th grader when she attended her local high school's cheerleading tryouts on a whim. She ended up being on the varsity sideline and competition teams at her high school all 4 years, eventually as team captain. Her favorite part of cheer is stunting!
Highlights:
UCA All-American cheerleader 2 years in a row
2012 state champion with her high school competition team
Head Spirit Squad Coach at Converse University
Becca Owens
Head Coach - Year 4, Cheer
Rebecca is originally from Upstate New York where she graduated college from St. John Fisher in 2020 with a degree in Marketing and Communications. She grew up in the all star cheerleading gym at CNY Storm and continued her passion at the collegiate level where she was voted captain 2 of the 4 years on the team. Post-grad, Rebecca completed her Masters degree in Organizational Leadership and moved to Charlotte, NC where she took her cheer expertise to local homeschool and Junior Varsity high school cheerleading teams. Since being in Greenville for a little over a year, she has been eager to find a cheer home and is so excited to become a part of the Firegem Family!
Highlights:
New York State High School Section III Champions - 2013
CANAM Collegiate National Champions - 2019
North Carolina Bearcats Cheerleading Coach - 2021/2022
Charlotte Catholic Junior Varsity Coach - 2021
Demetrius Smith
Head Coach - Year 1, Tumbling
Bio coming soon!
Jenny Goetzmann
Head Coach- Year 1, Cheer
A native of the Upstate, Jenny grew up as a dancer, performing in all styles until 6th grade, when she was introduced to the world of cheer. From that point on, she was hooked. She served as captain or co-captain four out of six years on her school’s squad. She received MVP, Most Inspirational and All-Academic awards multiple times, and placed in the top 10 in the nation in an individual cheer competition. Jenny also cheered for an All-Star level 5 co-ed team at a local gym, where she really developed a love for competitive cheer and stunting, in particular. In addition, Jenny has experience running cheer camps for multiple age levels for children.
She is the mom to two Firegem cheerleaders, Aubrey Lee and Ella Kate and is excited to work with the next generation of leaders!
Kendall Sims
Head Coach- Year 3, Cheer
Kendall was born and raised in Greenville, SC. She is currently a teacher at Mauldin Elementary and loves working out with her Burn Boot camp family. She was a cheerleader for 5 years and was a former high school competitive cheer coach for the past 6 years. She loves all things competition cheer! She is a dog mom to her sweet boy Silo, a miniature Australian shepherd. In her free time, she loves hanging out with friends, being outside by the lake or the pool, and spending time with family!
Madison Jenkins
Head Coach- Year 3, Cheer and Tumbling
Madison “MT” recently graduated from Newberry College, where she was a competitive cheerleader! She grew up in a well-known, highly competitive all-star program, was a 5-year Blue Ridge High School cheerleader where she won multiple region titles and was voted by her team as an all-region athlete, and then a college MVP during her freshmen year at Erskine College!
This is where she found her love for the competitive side of the sport and developed her heart for shaping young athletes throughout the cheer experience, especially once she began coaching!
She has coached levels 1-5 at two other gyms in the state, as well as worked with college cheerleaders before finding her home at Firegem!
Melanie Grooms
Head Coach- Year 5, Cheer
Melanie cheered at Clemson University (Go Tigers!) for 4 years where she was also the assistant cheer coach for 4 years. She has coached tumbling in Greenville, Anderson, and Powdersville, was on staff for NCA/CCA, was a choreographer for CheerSport Staff, and was a judge for CheerSport Nationals. Melanie has been a cardio dance fitness instructor at the YMCA in Greenville for the past 14 years and is a pediatric nurse with her BSN from Clemson University. She is wife to Brian (her high school sweetheart) and mom to four children: Bennett, Madison, Callie, and Emma. She loves spending time with her family and investing in the next generation!
Michael Nail
Head Coach- Year 1, Firegem Fit
Bio coming soon!
Robert Williams
Tumbling Coach- Year 5, Tumbling
Bio coming soon!
Shannon Guerra
Head Coach- Year 5, Cheer
Shannon is a Greenville, SC native and fell in love with cheer while at Greenville High School where her team was Upper State Champ and State Championship Runner-up in 2006. She continued to cheer for Spartanburg Methodist College from 2007-2009 while earning her Associate’s Degree and captaining the cheer team her sophomore year. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State University. As a cheer coach and cheer mom to Laila, Shannon hopes to use her love for the sport to provide a fun learning environment for all athletes.
Shen Canada
Head Coach- Year 5, Cheer and Tumbling
Shen was on the Greenville High School competitive cheer team at the SC state runner up in 2006. She has prior All Star Cheer coaching experience with Firecats Cheerleading prior to coaching at Firegem.
Her daughter Cambree and sister Malarie are Firegem alumna and Shen now shares her love of Firegem with her baby boy, Omari.
Tayler McDaniel
Head Coach- Year 5, Cheer
Tayler is currently a senior graduating from USC Upstate, studying Early Childhood Education. She has been cheering since the age of 10 with ACX cheer. She also cheered at Hartsville High-school for three years and USC upstate for four years where she served as team captain her senior year. She enjoys expressing herself through cheer and finds cheer a safe place for everyone to encourage one another, no matter their skill level. She loves encouraging each athlete and helping them feel comfortable in a fun and safe environment. She has previously coached tumbling at Middle Tyger YMCA & Spartanburg Gymnastics.
Tracy Penland
Head Coach- Year 1, Firegem Fit
Bio coming soon!
Adrienne Mason
Front Desk- Year 1
Bio coming soon!
Tracy Britto
Front Desk- Year 1
Bio coming soon!
Abby Tilley
Junior Coach- Year 1, Front Desk
Bio coming soon!
Bailey Whitmire
Junior Coach- Year 1, Cheer
Bio coming soon!
Brandon Young
Junior Coach- Year 1, Tumbling
Brandon has been training under Coach Jaz since the age of seven and has been a proud member of Firegem Cheer Academy since its opening in 2021. Brandon began training in martial arts at just three years old with taekwondo, and by age six had begun training in tricking.
At 8 years old, Brandon won the World Championship title in Extreme Martial Arts, followed by years of consistently placing top three for the title. In addition to this accomplishments in tricking, Brandon is a 3rd Degree Black Belt at Black Belt Attitude in Simpsonville, SC, and serves as a ATA Brand Ambassador.
While he is originally from Wilkes-Barre, PA, Brandon has lived most of his life in Simpsonsville, SC with his parents and their dog, Gracie. He is currently a junior at Fountain Inn High School, where he is active in several academic and social clubs and competes on both the Varsity Football and Varsity Lacrosse teams. After graduation, Brandon plans to pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree to become a licensed physical therapist.
“I am excited and honored to join the Firegem coaching staff and I look forward to sharing my passion, discipline, and championship experience with the next generation of athletes.”
Danvers Harling
Junior Coach- Year 1, Cheer
Bio coming soon!
Gabby Lindsley
Junior Cheer Coach- Year 1
Bio coming soon!
Hailey Grosso
Junior Coach- Year 2, Front Desk
Hailey is a 5th year Firegem athlete, currently competing on two of our all-star teams: Invincible Inferno and Elite Ember. She has been a dedicated and loyal member of our program since the day our business opened its doors.
Hailey also is a Varsity sideline and competitive cheerleader at Fountain Inn high school
** All coaches over the age of 18 undergo annual background screening on a federal, state, and county level.