History & Timeline

On September 20, 1993, the Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center opened its doors to the Amherst community and surrounding areas. After years of overcoming obstacles, a now triumphant Hirsch Family continues to appreciate the reality of their dreams.

The Beginnings: A Family

Torey Hirsch and Sharon DePeters met in an 8th-grade gymnastics talent show at Heim Middle School and have been involved in the sport ever since. Throughout high school, they competed for Williamsville North. And although they attended separate colleges, their love for gymnastics and their love for each other continued to grow. Sharon graduated from Canisius College and Sisters Hospital School of Nursing with an RN degree. Torey graduated from Ohio State with a Psychology degree.

After graduation, he returned to Amherst, NY and the two married in 1980. They continued to coach gymnastics in the area and their family started with the arrival of son TJ, then daughter Jacquie. Both Torey and Sharon worked nights at the Buffalo General Hospital in their respective fields, instructed gymnastics during the day, continued to raise a family, and at times, even held additional jobs.

The dream of providing gymnastics instruction and building the self-confidence of children on their own terms and in their own facility was a vision Torey and Sharon always shared together. After years of searching, they found the perfect spot. But the struggle had just begun.

A Dream is Born: Greater Buffalo Gymnastics

In 1988 after negotiating the land purchase, the first of many proposals was presented to the Town of Amherst planning board. This first one was denied as it was felt that the land parcel was not big enough for their proposed facility and it may also be archeologically sensitive. The Hirsch family battled through the town of Amherst rezoning process, uncooperative weather conditions, clearing acres of property by hand, and multiple other obstacles. However, these challenges were overcome and Torey took on the general contracting himself. With enlisted help of his father, Earl, brother Tracy, and the rest of the family, everyone got to work and construction ensued.

Over the next 2 decades, Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center developed thousands of student-athletes and produced 9 National Qualifiers, 4 Regional Champions, 29 State Champions, and multiple scholarship recipients. Numerous exhibitions and public appearance requests were performed by the many school-age children and competitive team gymnasts of the Center at Artpark, Buffalo Bisons Baseball, Williamsville Old Home Days, and many more. All this and more led to Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center becoming a household name in the Western New York Community, and beyond.

Also, it was during this time that the Hirsch children grew up and attended the same high school as their parents. TJ graduated college with a degree in business management from Geneseo State University where he holds 2 school records in diving, was a 3-time state champion, and an NCAA National All-American. Using his degree, he served as project manager for the facility’s initial $1.7 million-dollar expansion in 2005, and simultaneously started his own company located at the same complex.

Following in her big brother’s footsteps, Jacquie also attended Geneseo State University. She kept up the family’s traditions of college sports and education. Her first year was spent learning the ropes of the diving team from her senior year brother where she placed in the top 5 at the conference championships. She worked at Greater Buffalo whenever she was home from school, teaching classes, summer camps and running the Pro Shop. Jacquie was well on her way to graduating with a degree in early childhood education, and was very excited to return home and work with children in the family business.

Devastating News: Picking up the Pieces

Jacquie was only 2 months away from finishing her student teaching and graduating when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia on September 28, 2007.

The next 11 months and 2 weeks that followed had a profound effect on the family, the gymnastics center and the entire community. With her mother, father, and brother continuously by her side, she endured countless hospital stays at Roswell Park & Memorial Sloan Kettering, several treatments of chemotherapy and radiation, and 2 bone marrow transplants. Sadly, Jacquie was taken from us on September 6, 2008, at the young age of 23, following her battle with this cruel cancer.

Jacquie had big plans for her future that involved the education of children, both in the classroom and at Greater Buffalo. Although she will never have her own classroom, the life lessons she taught will live on in each one of us as we continue to teach children and enrich lives, both at Greater Buffalo Gymnastics and through The Jacquie Hirsch for A.L.L. Foundation.

Greater Buffalo Gymnastics 2nd Generation: The Legacy Continues

In 2023, after years of preparation, Torey and Sharon Hirsch officially completed their succession transition to son TJ, and his business partner (one of Jacquie’s best friends from high school) Kristen Fahnestock. Both Hirsch Jr. & Fahnestock worked side-by-side with Torey and Sharon throughout the years on the organizations vision, mission, values and growth.

The opportunity TJ & Kristen had to work so closely with the founders proved to be invaluable, as only 1 year later in 2024, Torey was also taken from us by cancer. We miss him everyday and appreciate his lifelong dedication to the sport, to his employees, and especially to the members of our community that he cherished working with, teaching and mentoring. TJ and Kristen are honored to carry the torch for Greater Buffalo Gymnastics, and have vowed to carry it onward and upward into the future, while simultaneously preserving its history and legacy. 

Today, The Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center is now part of a family-friendly complex, unique to New York State. As the anchor tenant, this once thought “too small parcel of land” has grown into a 5-acre complex with more than almost 50,000 square feet that serves over 1,500 families each week.

Continued expansions, improvements and strategic innovations to the complex ensure the most up-to-date instructional settings for all programs and the best atmosphere for families. The most recent of which in 2025 added 6,000 square feet and included a variety of additional features and equipment for each gym department plus an expanded viewing area for family and friends.

The Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center complex was built because of the Hirsch Family’s driving ideals. This specially designed complex allows for activities the whole family can enjoy and a place the whole community can be proud of. These are the principles held by Torey, Sharon, TJ, and Jacquie that opened the doors over 30 years ago.

“Through our Doors Pass Champions.”

Welcome.

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