EMMA GROSS

In 2019 when Dexterity Depot first opened, Emma finally got her chance to try out Ninja/Parkour. Emma and her sisters attended one of the first ever open gyms at The Depot and they instantly all fell in love with it. They began regularly taking classes and attending open gyms. This began Emma’s deep love and passion for Parkour and Ninja, and finally gave her an outlet for all of her athleticism and energy. 

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Emma lived at The Depot. She would come to every class that she could and would stay for as long as possible each night that the gym was open. She spent more time at The Depot than any other student at that time. Emma was truly obsessed with her training. Her hard work and dedication paid off as she quickly became one of our most talented students. She attended our first Ninja Team tryouts and effortlessly made the team. Her skills continued to grow as she fell more and more in love with both Ninja and Parkour.

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Unfortunately, Emma was forced to put her journey on hold when, in January 2020, she had to have spinal fusion surgery to attempt to fix her worsening Scoliosis. She was unsure if she would ever be able to return to the sports that she so deeply loved. This was a huge mental obstacle for Emma to overcome. With support from her family and coaches, Emma became determined to bounce back from this major setback.

 

Through hard work, patience, and lots of perseverance, she was able to not only make a full recovery from her surgery, but come back stronger than ever. Emma was able to continue with the sports she loved, but would tragically be faced with another major setback. 
 
Emma was back to regularly competing in Ninja competitions and was performing very well just as she had done prior to her surgery. Her skills in Parkour were quickly developing as well. In November of 2021, Emma attended her first Parkour competition. She won the Speed competition for her age group and was looking very strong. She was set up to win the next portion of the competition: the style round. This round of the competition was one of Emma’s strengths, and she had spent a lot of time preparing for it.

 

During warm-ups, Emma had a bad landing on a trick. She instantly felt pain in her knee and was unable to compete in the rest of competition. Emma would later discover that she had torn her ACL. Needless to say, this was a huge blow to Emma. She had just overcome her battle with recovery from her Scoliosis surgery and was now faced with another battle with a soon to be ACL reconstruction surgery. Reconstruction of her ACL was performed on December 1, 2021.
 
Faced with another major setback, Emma struggled. She knew she would be able to recover physically, but the mental toll was difficult to say the least. Emma was depressed and had many negative thoughts. She thought she might never be able to return to where she was with the sports she loved. She had put in so much work to recover from her first surgery, and wondered if she could do it all again. She wondered if she wanted to do it all again.

 

Despite these obstacles, Emma refused to give up. Once again, with the support of her family and coaches, and with much resilience and determination, Emma was able to make another full recovery and continue pursuing her passion for Ninja and Parkour. 
 
Major setbacks like these, would easily stop many others. Emma showed true resolve and courage. Her ability to come back after not one, but two major surgeries speak volumes about her character. When Emma was recovering, she was still at The Depot almost every day. She would support her teammates and the other students at our facility. This once again shows the kind of person Emma is. It’s no wonder that she was approached with a coaching position at The Depot. 

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Emma brings this same spirit to coaching. She teaches her students resilience, perseverance, courage, and much more. Emma hopes to encourage and support others just like her coaches and peers did for her. Emma’s story is a powerful reminder that setbacks can lead to comebacks. Emma is passionate about helping others discover their strength through Ninja and Parkour. 

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Additionally, when The Depot first installed The Quad, Emma became very involved in World Chase Tag. She began competing alongside pro athletes and quickly became a skilled athlete. She is a founding member of the Dexterity Depot Women’s WCT Team, Dexterity Vortex. Emma is a very talented athlete and coach for all three disciplines that we offer at The Depot. We’re thrilled to have Emma on our team; her experience, positivity, and perseverance make her an incredible coach and role model.