WHY GYMNASTICS?

Every child will benefit from participating in gymnastics.

Gymnastics is regarded as an essential foundation sport, providing superb physical and mental building blocks for progression into other sports, furthermore gymnastics provides developmental areas that improve cognitive function producing better students and young adults.

Gymnastics programmes are not solely about creating elite level gymnasts. There are many physiological & psychological benefits that are derived from participation in gymnastics and we have highlighted a number of them here.

Health

It is no shock that child obesity rates are climbing at an alarming rate, the NZ Ministry of Health’s 2016/17 Survey reported that 12% of children aged 2 to 14 years are obese. The majority of children are stuck in front of the screens of their devices and our mission is to encourage children to spend some of this time participating in Gymnastics in order to get fit and healthy.

Self Confidence

Through the challenge of learning gymnastics skills, children students will gain confidence with each step that they take. Performing skills on apparatus helps them gain confidence in their own abilities. This improved self-confidence will transfer to other areas of their lives including their education.

Coordination

For the young children, a great deal of their self-confidence comes from how coordinated they are because their “world” is so physical rather than mental. Participation in Gymnastics greatly improves a child’s coordination.

Non-“Elite” Athletes

Every single child can benefit from gymnastics. Not all children will desire or have the full range of attributes to become an elite level athlete. Our aim is to help all children participating in gymnastics to become the best they can be irrespective of size, weight, physical or mental disability. Our caring gymnastics coaches will get the best out of every participant.

Work Ethic

Gymnastics is one the toughest all round sports there is. The sport is a progressive one and participants have to earn their skills through hard work, perseverance and dedication, this takes a certain ‘mental toughness’ in so far the more effort they put in, the more rewarding they will find it.

Flexibility

Participation in gymnastics greatly improves flexibility. Many leading sports teams incorporate gymnastics skills into their training to improve performance and held reduce injuries through improved flexibility.

Social Skills

For young children, such as our pre-school groups, gymnastics provides a chance to teach children about important social skills such as listening and following directions, taking turns, being quiet, respecting others. Our coaches work hard to build social skills with their students based on the importance in other aspects of their lives.

Discipline

There are many hazards in the gym and the teaching of discipline is really important in order to ensure that participants are aware and respect the dangers that exist. Gymnasts have to obey to the rules of the gym to avoid harm to themselves and others around them. The gym is a controlled environment and the discipline that each child will learn will help them in their adult lives.

Etiquette

We ask that all gymnasts are polite and listen to their coach. Gymnasts are expected to line up before classes commence and after classes end to be addressed by their coach. All gymnasts are expected to present and say thank you for their coaching session and acknowledge all senior coaches in the gym prior to leaving.

Overcoming Fears

Many areas of gymnastics can present a real challenge and this can in itself help a child’s development. Our coaches will help participants overcome their challenges by providing progressions and attainable achievements so they feel their improvement and succeed. Facing a challenge, with trepidation and a little fear, and the feeling of overcoming that challenge is at the core of gymnastics and helps build confidence in our children.

Overcoming Shyness

Often overlooked, a tremendous life skill that is learned from gymnastics is the ability to perform under the spotlight and in front of peers. During sessions each gymnasts will perform in front of their coach and fellow gymnasts which helps them overcome shyness and also teaches them to encourage others. As a gymnast progresses through levels they grow in confidence and feel at home performing in front of large crowds of spectators.  We find that often gymnasts apply this life skill to all aspects of life and will often volunteer to undertake tasks in front of others.

Determination

Gymnastics builds determination. As skills gymnasts progress, skills become much harder to master and each gymnast will need to display grit and determination in order to persevere and succeed.

Strength and Conditioning

Gymnastics is an anaerobic acyclic sport that subjects the body to various stimuli and combines whole body strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and power. Gymnasts have been proven to be the strongest, pound for pound, and most flexible of all Olympic athletes.