Teen gymnast Riley Lee sets up academy in S’pore with world championship-winning coach

SINGAPORE – The idea of starting her own artistic gymnastics academy first came to Riley Lee three years ago when she was about 14.

Even then, she was clear on what she wanted – a safe environment where athletes could train, grow and feel supported.

The former gymnast began sketching out plans, running numbers and researching what it would take to turn that vision into reality.

When she first raised the idea, her parents did not take her seriously, but they threw their support behind her in mid-2023 after she presented a business plan to them.

However, more convincing was still needed. Early on, some people assumed it was a scam because of her age, but over time, through meetings and persistence, Riley slowly won their buy-in.

Three years on, the dream came to fruition when Mokara Gymnastics Academy – a facility of nearly 20,000 sq ft located in Perennial Business City in Jurong East – was launched on April 3.

Heading the training regimen will be competitive programme director Cleo Washington, who has over two decades of elite coaching experience in the US that has seen her work with top athletes, including 2017 all-around world champion Morgan Hurd.

Reflecting on the journey, Riley, showing maturity that belied her youth, said: “The biggest challenge was belief. Nobody I’ve talked to two years ago would’ve ever imagined this was possible for a then 15-year-old to do.

“I personally didn’t even think it was possible... It is my first experience in a working environment, and I learnt to be able to adapt and learn and not let my fear of failure hold me back from trying.”

Riley started gymnastics when she was three, while she was growing up in Hong Kong, before getting into the sport competitively at eight.

After moving to Singapore in 2020, she continued training while travelling frequently to the US, where she was exposed to a very different standard of facilities and coaching.

The 17-year-old said: “I saw the big disparity in the standard of gymnastics in America and Singapore, Hong Kong and the surrounding regions.”

Riley who completed her A levels as a private candidate at 15, believed there was untapped potential in the region if the right environment, facilities and coaching expertise were in place.

“There is a lot of demand for gymnastics here and it’s a really big sport, but it just hasn’t reached the level that I think it can reach.”

The seed to set up the academy was planted in 2023, when two friends told her they were considering quitting gymnastics despite loving the sport because they could not find an environment that supported their goals.

She would travel to the US and other countries to visit gyms and study their layouts, systems and training environments when planning the academy.

In Singapore, she needed six months to find a suitable unit – one with a high ceiling and enough open space to accommodate a full gymnastics set-up, considering a vault runway alone is 25m, while a standard spring floor measures about 12m by 12m.

Hundreds of hours were spent designing the facility, with nearly 100 iterations before the layout was finalised.

Attention to detail was key, particularly when it came to safety – the academy is equipped with every gymnastics apparatus, seven trampolines, as well as custom-built platforms to allow coaches to better assist athletes.

“We want to make sure athletes are safe, not just when they’re trying an advanced skill but in terms of injuries, long-term wear and tear of the body, we want to make sure they have landing surfaces and equipment that is forgiving on the body.

“Gymnastics skills are scary and they’re also really complex, so having set-ups that allow coaches to easily assist the athletes and allow us to break down the big skill into many different parts and have intermediate progressions was also important,” said Riley, who is a co-founder of the centre with her father Roger.

Her own experiences shaped that approach. While Riley, who quit competitive gymnastics at 14, did not have any major injuries, she estimated that about 30 per cent of her time in the sport was spent dealing with matters such as tendonitis in her knee, and nerve and back issues.

Beyond the facility, building the right team was just as important.

Washington’s name stood out not just for her impressive track record but also her athlete-first approach during Riley’s travels in the US in 2024.

The 41-year-old was eventually convinced to leave Airborne Gymnastics in California to join Mokara full time.

Washington said: “I’m excited to bring that expertise to Singapore. Singapore gymnastics has had a lot of recent success, especially with Amanda Yap at the world championships, so we’re hoping to add to that momentum.

“We’re doing it through three things – having a facility that is world-class and can rival just about anybody in the world. We also want to have expert coaches and we also really care about how we do it, and we want to make sure these athletes come out of gymnastics as whole, healthy, happy, thriving people.”

Central to the academy’s philosophy is creating a positive environment where coaches listen to athletes and athletes are given a voice.

Riley said: “We want to make it a safe environment for them to fail, and gymnastics is scary, and they’re going to feel afraid sometimes, and we want to make sure they feel supported in that process.”

Washington added: “It’s been really encouraging to see just how passionate families here are about gymnastics.

“With that passion, coupled with us trying to build a world-class facility with great coaching in a really holistic way, it really will produce the magic that we’re looking for to help build the momentum here.”