Genevieve
Genevieve Ruvald is a native Californian, who grew up in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma, and went to Justin Siena High School in Napa from 1993-97. She is a true athlete, having played basketball and volleyball year round while in high school, and developed a love for teaching at a young age. During those four years, she played both for her alma mater, the Braves, then played club volleyball and summer basketball. Genevieve earned All League and All County honors in both sports for her high school, and was recruited by a number of schools in the Bay Area to continue her career. She ended up moving down to San Diego to join the UCSD Women’s Basketball team where she earned 4 year Varsity honors, was a co-captain and starter for the Tritons her last 2 years, and was a co-MVP her senior year. Genevieve graduated from UCSD with a BA in Human Development in 2001, and worked at RIMAC, the amazing athletic facility on campus for the Sports Facilities Department. Her background in teaching started with being a counselor and coach at many summer basketball and volleyball camps, including LAVIN, Superstar Camps, and at different schools, Justin Siena, UCSD, and St. Mary’s College Summer Camps. She worked with boys and girls ranging from age 5-18, teaching them fundamentals of the game, teamwork and having fun. After her career ended in 2002, she then took on the position of head JV Basketball Coach and Assistant Varsity Coach at La Jolla Country Day School, here in San Diego. She helped coach the Varsity team to a Division V State Championship in 2001, and helped the team reach the Division IV State Championship, 3 years in a row. Her JV team had outstanding years as well, with one being an undefeated season, and her passion for the game filtered into these girls’ lives as they used basketball as a form of stress relief, fun, and exercise. Genevieve also worked at Torah High School, an all girls Orthodox Jewish High school, from 2001-2004, teaching the PE class, and coaching their first and only basketball team in 2003. Genevieve was drawn to Pilates in the summer of 2002, thanks to the Winsor Pilates infomercials. Having finished her basketball career the year before, she found herself in need of something new and because Pilates was said to increase muscle tone and flexibility, focus on mental control, awareness and understanding of the body, and seemed like fun, it was a natural step in the right direction. By the end of her second session, she was hooked! Her instructor, Sarah Gereghty, taught her how amazing the work was, and by teaching the fundamentals so effectively, literally changed her body! 6 months into taking just the mat classes, Sarah had to travel for 2 weeks, and asked for Genevieve to sub her classes. Having an avid love for teaching, she took on the challenge and unbeknownst to her, had found her calling. She pursued her STOTT Pilates Certification through the Pilates Training Center of San Diego (PTCSD) under Marshall Eklund, and after taking all the Certification classes, started teaching full time. Her path brought her to many different studios, including Synergy Pilates under Cathie Murakami, (Long Beach Dance Conditioning) and having so many different influences, she developed a very unique training and teaching style, which makes her even more versatile. She acquired her NASM Performance Enhancement Specialization in 2006 and wants to fuse her passion for teaching, Pilates and athletics into a distinctive style of instruction.