Moser School of Dance & Gymnastic not only about sport

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Moser School of Dance & Gymnastics teaches not only dance and gymnastics but also “life lessons that will last a lifetime.”

“We don’t go out there and say let's try to beat so and so. We are like let’s improve ourselves. How can we do a better job ourselves?” Debbie Moser said.

Moser runs the school along with her sister, Carmen Moser Payne.

Lessons such as this helped them place fourth in the National Championship at the United States Trampoline and Tumbling Association.

“It is really an honor and such an exciting moment because we have all worked for this. It is very exciting to see that hard work pay off,” Megan Pierschbacher, recent graduate of Edgewood-Colesburg High School, said.

Pierschbacher just finished year 12 with the Moser School of Dance & Gymnastics.

Isabel Lutgen, a 14 -year member of the Moser school, talked similarly about their placing in the national championships.

“It was really fun because we were all able to contribute to the score. It was a team effort, so it felt really accomplishing,” Lutgen said.

Their “team effort” felt like a big accomplishment because of the relationship they have built as a team.

“It’s really fun to compete with people I’m best friends with,” Lutgen said.

“We always support each other. It is such a great environment to work and progress in,” Pierschbacher said/

Their relationship also is why goodbyes are so hard. This was Lutgen and Pierschbacher’s final year on the team.

“Nationals were very emotional, knowing it was my last one,” Lutgen said.

Even though leaving is emotional, the two do not regret joining.

“I couldn’t imagine my life not doing it,” Pierschbacher said.

Like Pierschbacher, many athletes couldn’t imagine their life without The Moser School of Dance & Gymnastics. It is a home to so many from all over northeast Iowa and it all started with the late Bernita Moser, Debbie and Carmen’s mother who created the school out of her love of dance and gymnastics.

“She made sure we got to all our classes and had the best tools to continue with what we loved. To this day we continue to train to be the best we can be for our students,” Debbie said.

Today the school welcomes different athletes from everywhere. Studios are located in Guttenberg, Edgewood, Dyersville, Strawberry Point, Manchester, Clermont, Independence and Monticello.

There are no tryouts needed to join.

“Our school is open to anyone and everyone,” Moser said.