Meet The Thrive Coaches and Staff
Taylor Mcclure
Competitive Beam and Floor Lead
Originally from Ft.Smith Arkansas, Coach Taylor attended Flame Gymnastics and has coached at various gyms over the years. After some time in Texas, Taylor and her husband settled in NWA to grow their family. Coach Taylor is passionate about creating a positive environment where young athletes can grow in their passion for the sport.
Hope Pace
Competitive Bar and Vault Lead
Hope started gymnastics young and fell in love quickly. After Graduating high school she began her coaching journey and hasn’t looked back. She was inspired to pursue sports performance and recovery therapy while enjoying her job as both a recreational and competitive coach. After graduating with her massage therapy license she began to shift focus to that as a career, and focuses on enhancing performance and supporting recovery. Combining the two worlds of gymnastics and sports therapy has always been a dream of hers and she is excited to guide athletes towards confidence and excellence within a positive environment at Thrive.
Heather Norris (Elswick)
Advanced skills specialist
Heather Norris (Elswick) is a former NCAA Division I gymnast at the University of Arkansas, where she competed from 2012–2017 before continuing with the program as team manager from 2017–2018. She is also an Orthopedic Certified Physical Therapist with a passion for helping athletes perform at their highest level safely and confidently. Heather brings a unique combination of elite gymnastics experience and medical expertise to Northwest Arkansas through advanced skill development, biomechanics, injury prevention, rehabilitation, and return-to-sport training.
As an Advanced Skills Specialist, Heather is passionate about growing the gymnastics community in Northwest Arkansas and helping athletes pursue their athletic goals through safe progressions, strong technique, and long-term athlete development. Heather lives in Farmington with her husband, Brendon, and their two dogs, Ryker and Ellie. Outside of the gym and clinic, she loves health and wellness, trying new restaurants, making sourdough, spending time with family and friends, going to the lake, and teaching Pilates at PLNK.
Kevin Crow
Recreation Director
An Arkansas native, Kevin joins Thrive with years of experience in leading people and developing programs. With a Bachelor’s of Science in Parks and Recreation and a Master’s of Arts in Christian Education, he moved to NWA to launch and develop Camp War Eagle’s challenge courses and school year ministries. Following, he spent several years with the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Benton County as their Director of Operations, specializing in staff development, and program development across the four club county. More recently Kevin works at Mount Olive Farms, a cut flower farm that he and his wife started. They have three children, whom they love dearly, one of which is a gymnast at Thrive.
Kyla Bryant
Choreographer and Performance Consultant
Kyla joins Thrive with over 20 years of gymnastics experience. Graduating from Stanford University, she is an NCAA All American on floor exercise with over 80 individual titles in her college career, a former collegiate coach, and choreographer. Her joyous spirit brings tons of fun and energy to the sport. Kyla’s years in the gymnastics world have deeply shaped who she is as a person and she desires to encourage others as they discover who they will become. She has a passion for assisting in the development of confidence and consistency for athletes that will translate even beyond the gym.
