Introducing Tetherow Sport: Welcoming, High-Energy and Authentic

Fitness Manager Dominic Gatto is focusing on creating the right atmosphere for Tetherow Sport

By Yoko Minoura

Currently, the future office for Tetherow Fitness Manager Dominic Gatto is an empty room with a window.

But Gatto said he doesn’t plan to see his desk much even once his office is finished.

“I’m going to be walking the floor every day, answering questions,” he said. “We want (the fitness center) to be as comfortable and as open as possible.”

Gatto said creating the right atmosphere – welcoming, high-energy and authentic – is a key part of his vision for Tetherow’s new fitness center. He wants the facility to become another community gathering spot, where members can attend a class or work out, soothe sore muscles afterward in a sauna or steam room, then grab a smoothie from the café and relax poolside.

“It’s going to be a place where people want to go and be a part of,” Gatto said. “There’s going to be a culture, a community.”

Most importantly, he wants members to feel connected to instructors, trainers and other staff. To feel motivated, but not intimidated.

Accordingly enough, hiring group fitness instructors and personal trainers is one of the top priorities on a to-do list nine pages long. In some respects, the hires will influence the programs offered, depending upon their specialties, Gatto said.

For instance, yoga classes will be offered in an upstairs studio dedicated to that purpose, but which specific discipline (or disciplines) has not been decided. Likewise, the group exercise room next door will likely hold strength and cardiovascular conditioning classes, but the exact offerings are undecided. Lap swim will continue in the pool, but one or more conditioning classes might also be offered in the water.

The largest room will be most like a typical gym; cardio machines, including treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes facing the windows will line one wall, while weight machines and free weights will take up the rest of the space.

Gatto said the hiring process for instructors and trainers will follow industry standard, where candidates submit a resume and a 15-minute video showing them running a class or working with a client. He said an “audition” will follow, where each candidate will hold an abbreviated fitness class, with the other applicants standing in as class members.

In his mind, though, even the staff who run the front desk or clean equipment are vital to creating the fitness facility he wants.

“When a member walks in the door, it’s the first person they see and the last person they see,” he said, and that interaction can set the tone for the entire experience.

“If you want to just hop on a treadmill, you can do that, but there’s going to be a whole lot more,” Gatto said. “It’s a culture. It’s not a fast food, in-and-out kind of thing. There’s plenty of that in town.”