About Our Club

Aberystwyth Gymnastics Club was founded in 2000, and is currently located in Penglais Sports Hall. The club currently offers a wide range of gymnastic activities for infants, children, young people and adults of all abilities. The club is affiliated to British Gymnastics and Welsh Gymnastics. We have over 200 members in the club with the hope to continue to grow and have our own building in the future.

History of the Club

Welcome to our club's history! We are proud to have been in existence since January 2000, starting with just a handful of gymnasts training one hour a week. Over the years, we have grown in numbers and now have qualified coaches who were once our first gymnasts. Additional facilities were offered to us at Penglais Sports Hall in 2004, where we were able to create squads and train for competitions as well as run holiday sessions. We are excited to continue growing and improving our club, and a purpose-built centre is something that we are working towards to better serve our members.

The club has been looking for a suitable building to create a Gymnastics Centre but has made no progress.

A sporting facility is needed to promote gymnastics as well as fitness for young children, in a safe and constructive environment.

The idea for the project is to provide various activities to the community without discrimination. We would propose to offer classes, activities and physiotherapy through rebound, to people of all ages and abilities. During the day, classes would be available for “Fun4Baby”, “Parent and Toddlers” and “Pre-School gymnastics”. There would also be time made available for Special Needs in the community as well as local schools.

Looking for a suitable building to create a Gymnastics Centre has been a challenge for the club, and has been for many years. However, the club is still progressing and looking at ideas to provide various activities to the community without discrimination. We hope to one day have our own building where we propose to offer classes, activities and physiotherapy through rebound, to people of all ages and abilities. During the day, we hope to offer “Fun4Baby”, “Parent and Toddlers” and “Pre-School gymnastics” classes. There would also be time made available for Special Needs in the community as well as local schools.

The closest purpose build gymnastics facility is in Swansea which is a 2 hour journey. Therefore any children in Ceredigion with potential to take the sport of gymnastics to International level would have to travel a great distance. It is hoped that Aberystwyth could provide this facility for local talent and eventually host the Regional/National Development Squad training.

(2008 Display Team)

Our Current Project: Getting our own purpose built building

The proposed facility will be used for the following:-

1. To provide a facility with qualified coaches to promote the sport of gymnastics and trampolining at grass roots level.

2. To recognise local talent and develop this talent within the County.

3. To run Fun4Baby and Pre-School gymnastics sessions as well as Parent and Toddler groups.

4. To accommodate and teach persons with disabilities and provide rebound therapy where necessary throughout the day.

5. To assist schools with the provision of quality coaching and up to date equipment to enhance the education curriculum.

6. To hold after-school gymnastics club and holiday play schemes which would incorporate gymnastics and other associated activities including birthday parties etc.

7. To promote a training scheme for teenagers and young adults to gain recognised coaching qualifications.

8. To provide teacher training courses for the sport of gymnastics and trampolining with up to date equipment and provide a training centre for Welsh Gymnastics.

9. To provide a Centre of Excellence in the County to train both performers and coaches.

10. To provide a facility to be used by local schools who do not otherwise have the benefit of large halls or qualified coaches.

Competition Winners – January 2009

Brief Description of the Project

As well as providing everyday facilities to the whole community, we hope to be able to provide a variety of indoor activities as well as structured classes and funtime. The facility will be open throughout the day and in the evening and weekends. When structured classes are not in session, the funtime (soft play) can be open to all. Our main objective is to provide a safe environment for children and adults to learn and enjoy physical activities.

Time during the week will be set aside for schools to enable them to use purpose built facilities in the knowledge that the children will be taught by qualified and experienced coaches. The facilities could also provide the additional education for teachers to enable them to teach gymnastics in their school with confidence. With the backing of Welsh/British Gymnastics, we would also be able to provide coach education and competitions for Wales.

The proposed project would be innovative and unique. There are no other similar facilities in Ceredigion.

Gymnastics Factory in Guildford

Local Needs

There is a shortage of available venues for our proposed project. We have considered various venues but none have been suitable.

We currently have approximately 200 members of the gymnastics club and have further children on the waiting list. We are restricted with the amount of time and space available at Penglais Sportshall, where we currently train.

The gymnastics club has been running for 20 years and is steadily increasing, hence the need for a waiting list. News of our club has spread through “word of mouth” and if we were to advertise, we would be inundated. We are adding to our waiting list at an alarming rate and are unable to take on more classes.

The gymnasts at the club have won numerous medals in competitions throughout Wales. We have had gymnasts qualify for British NDP finals and four of our gymnasts entered their first international competition in Cardiff in 2013. One of our coaches, Chris Morgan, is now one of the highest qualified Tumble Coaches in Wales.

Two gymnasts entered the British Championships and as a result were invited into the GB squad. These gymnasts have also competed with the GB squad in the World Cup in Portugal in November 2015 and October 2016. We are still heavily involved in Welsh Squad and GB squad.

Having a dedicated centre would not only enable us to explore the potential of our gymnasts but also run Grass Roots sessions for health and fitness and run disability classes which again we are unable to do because of the lack of time/space available.

Several years ago, we introduced a training programme that enabled teenagers and young adults to become qualified coaches. As a result of this programme, we have currently produced some of the youngest qualified coaches in Wales. These teenage coaches have been able to assist and advise their school teachers during the P.E. lessons. Each one of these coaches gained excellent grades in their GCSE PE.

Tumble Team and Coaches

Representing Aberystwyth in Tyne and Wear – May 2009

Benefits for the Community

Not only will the project benefit locals of all ages, it will also benefit the local businesses in Aberystwyth and surrounding areas. As the Centre will be the only dedicated tumbling centre in Wales, it will be the venue of both Regional and National competitions. (such competitions run on a Sunday when there will be minimal traffic in the immediate area) With an expected entry level of between 200 to 400 competitors, the benefit to the community will be as follows:-

Business for local hotels and B&B’s

Influx of shoppers for local businesses

Tourism for Ceredigion increased (competitors arriving from outside Wales will more than likely stay to see some of the sights after the competition)

The creation of at least 4 full time jobs and 6/8 part time jobs with the prospect of more depending on growth.

GymMark Accreditation

We were the fifth club in Wales to be awarded with the GymMark Accreditation. We are assessed annually by Welsh Gymnastics and have successfully passed each time.

GymMark is a Quality Assurance scheme that is recognised by British Gymnastics, Welsh Gymnastics and Sports Council for Wales. Receiving the GymMark Award means that our club is a safe, effective and child friendly club and provides a service in the community that children, young people and their parents/carers, can trust. GymMark is the BG seal of approval, endorsed by both Welsh Gymnastics and Sports Council for Wales. Parents of children who are members of GymMark clubs can rest assured that their children are in a club committed to providing a safe, effective and child friendly environment.

We were the first club in Wales to have successfully passed GymMark for more than three consecutive years.