Some local gymnasts have already improved remarkably, thanks to the amount of time they've been able to practise in the Olds Gymnastics Club's new location, head coach Michelle Jaffray says.
“Just this year, Canada Gymnastics switched to a new program called Junior Olympics. So now it's levels one to 10 and right now we have athletes (in) level six and seven, and that is just in the one month we've been in the new building,” Jaffray says.
Until they moved into their new quarters in the old Sears building in Mountain View Plaza last month, the club used to meet in the Olds Elementary School gym.
“(They've gone from) four-and-a-half to six hours a week, to in here over 12 hours a week,” Jaffray says.
“We just did not have the time to allow them to be in the gym that much in the other gym so now, they're in here all the time. It's like their home away from home.”
The club held its grand opening on June 12 at its new location. About 150 people attended.
Members of the gym club demonstrated the skills they've learned. Adults and other members of the public were invited to try out the equipment. A couple did.
Outside, a street hockey game was held in the parking lot. Food was available as well.
“We had food and prizes and hockey games and gymnastics and lots of registrations, which is great, so it's been perfect,” Jaffray says.
During that open house, the club accepted registrations for summer and fall programming
Jaffray says the new location provides much more room for the club. As a result, they're able to take in more members – and more kids are being signed up.
“We had been at 150 athletes for the past four years, which is the maximum that we could hold in the Olds Elementary School,” Jaffray says.
“We got just over 150 just for a spring session, which was amazing, because we only had two weeks from the day we got the building to advertise and get registrations for May 1. So we couldn't have been happier with (that).”
She says they could accommodate far more than that.
“The sky's the limit,” Jaffray says. “We could accommodate easily 400 athletes.”
The Olds Gymnastics Club was one of four organizations to receive money via the second annual Spring Fling fundraiser in April. They garnered $6,300, which went toward acquiring a spring floor.
Jaffray says that floor would make a huge difference for their athletes.
“Right now they have about a one-inch tumbling surface and when we get the new spring floor it will be 11 inches of spring foam and it's bouncy – very, very bouncy.”
Unfortunately, they're a bit short of their fundraising goal.
“We are $5,000 short so we have some fundraisers on the go,” Jaffray says. “We're going to do a bottle drive and a bunch of different stuff for the summer and hopefully reach our goal and can order that for the fall.”
"We just did not have the time to allow them to be in the gym that much in the other gym so now, they're in here all the time. It's like their home away from home."MICHELLE JAFFRAYHEAD COACH OLDS GYMNASTICS CLUB
