Meet the Staff
The Zone’s talented team of coaches, instructors, and admin support personnel are simply the very best! Every team member, including owners and support personnel, are Safe Sport certified and have passed a USAG background check, giving you the peace of mind that your children are protected while in our care. All coaches and instructors in addition to possessing the appropriate USAG teaching credentials have successfully completed the American Heart Association Basic Life Support (CPR ad AED) Program (certificates are on file).
Dan Howell
Owner
Dan purchased The Zone Athletics Center in August 2019. Dan has 30 years experience as a successful entrepreneur and small business owner in the Evansville Area. Dan’s love of gymnastics stems from his years as a “Gym Dad” watching his daughter, Kassidy, develop from a Pre-K gymnast to a senior on the University of Kentucky Women’s Gymnastics Team. His goal is to develop The Zone as a premier safe, family oriented training facility for boys and girls wanting to achieve basic skills or college scholarships in gymnastics, tumbling, trampoline or cheerleading.
Certifications
Jill Howell
Owner
Jill is an Evansville native who attended Harrison High School and USI where she earned both a bachelors degree in Business Administration and in Nursing. She has worked for the last 17 years as a Registered Nurse and is currently a PACU nurse at The Women’s Hospital. She shares Dan’s passion for gymnastics and although not involved in the day to day operations of the gym she manages the marketing side of the business. She and Dan are the proud parents of three children, Kassidy, Kane and Kyle.
Gennadii Samsanov
Head Coach
Girls Team Gymnastics
Gennadii Samsonov is a former USSR national champion (Master of Sport). As a gymnastics coach in Kyrgyzstan, Gennadii trained national and international athletes. He served as head coach of the Kyrgyzstan women’s team, preparing the team for the Youth Olympic Games and the World Cup in China. Since moving to the United States in 2003, Gennadii has trained Indiana State, Region 5 and National champions. Two of Gennadii’s former students are now on NCAA Division I gymnastics teams.
Svetlana Samsanov
Asst. Head Coach
Girls Team Gymnastics
Svetlana is a former USSR national champion (Master of Sports) and member of the Kyrgyzstan national gymnastics team. Her extensive background includes choreography, aerobics and gymnastics. She’s a former president of the Aerobics Federation in Kyrgyzstan. Since moving to the United States, Svetlana has trained Indiana State, Region 5 and National champions. Two of Svetlana’s former students are now on NCAA Division I gymnastics teams.
Roland Vera
Gym Manager
Head Coach
Cheer/Tumbling
Taylor Patterson
Social Media/Marketing Content Creator
Taylor first started working at The Zone back in Winter of 2021. She then started our summer camp program in Summer of 2021 and continued providing for our camp programs for the winter and summer up until Winter of 2022. She graduated from Murray State University in December 2022 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication with a minor in Sports Communication. She now is creating content for social media and the gym to provide important information and to celebrate our team’s successes.
Sasha Loerhrlein
XCel Silver and Level 3 & 4
Head Coach
Gymnastics
Tatiana Manuilova
Pre Team, XCel Bronze and Level 2
Head Coach
Gymnastics
Andy Brown
Dryland Diving
Coach Andy Brown has been working with divers for over 15 years. He has coached divers from the elementary school age to the NCAA D-1 level. Over those 15 years he has had:
4 Middle School Conference Champs
2 Middle School State Qualifiers
9 High School Conference Champs
13 High School State Qualifiers
2 AAU National Qualifier
2 NCAA Conference Champs
5 NCAA Zone Qualifiers
1 NCAA Conference Coach of the Year
10 School Records broken
Sarah Jones
Instructor
XCel/Compulsory Level Gymnastics
Sarah graduated from North High School with a 4.0 GPA in 2020. She started gymnastics at the age of 5 and competed through level 8 where she was Indiana State vault and floor champion. She qualified for Region 5 regionals every year she was eligible. In High School, she was a member of the Medical Professions Academy and was in the color guard and honors winter-guard program. Sarah plans to attend USI to study nursing and to continue her passion for gymnastics by coaching at The Zone.
Maggie Franz
Instructor
Dryland Diving/Recreational Gymnastics
Maggie Franz is a Division I diver at the University of Evansville and calls Chicago home. She was a competitive gymnast for 14 years and has been diving for 8 years. As a part time instructor she brings a wealth of experience to The Zone.
Name
Position
Name
Position
Barb Garrett
Office Manager
Barb started her gym career in 1994 at another gym in Evansville. At this gym she taught gymnastics, dance and drove the ever popular tumble bus. In 1999 Barb moved to The Cheer Zone (the forerunner to The Zone Athletics Center). In support of The Cheer Zone she purchased and again drove the tumble bus and started taking over administrative duties. In August 2019 Barb accepted the position of Office Manager, when we adopted a completely new gym management software package. She immediately dove into this system and we are now starting to trust it and produce meaningful reports. In her spare time, Barb loves gardening, working in the yard and spending time making gymnastics and cheer outfits for her own business “Too Flippin Cute”.
Jonna Wilmes
Pro Shop Manager