New coaches and programmes, a swelling membership and the potential to establish the largest indoor gym sports facility in Otago are raising the level of excitement for a local sports club looking ahead to 2022 and celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Aspiring Gymsports (AGS) is anticipating a bumper new year with more than 400 families accessing the facility and its wide ranging programmes regularly, from the pre-school Mini Muscles through to competitive gymnastics, trampolining and parkour.

“As we head into our 20th anniversary year [in] April 2022, exciting plans are underway ahead of our move into the new Mitre10 Youth and Community Centre in July 2022,” coach Rae Paterson said. 

And if New Year wishes come true, the club (which has 150 regular recreational gymnasts, 25 drop-in gymnasts and 50 competitive gymnasts) will be allocated the 800m2-1000m2 space requested in the new community hub in Anderson Heights.

With that sort of space, AGS will be able to host large scale events like the Otago Championships which usually attracts up to 500 competitors plus supporters over a weekend, Rae said.

As well as the new premises, AGS is also announcing a boost to its coaching team in 2022 with three additional adult coaches who will be introducing new pilot programs starting in term one at the Wānaka Recreation Centre, she said. 

Emily Feit, a senior trampoline coach, a presenter for the Gymnastics NZ coach education programme, and a highly ranked competitive men’s judge, will be developing a new recreational trampoline programme, as well as coaching double mini trampoline and tumbling classes.

Emily’s husband Ranan Feit will take over from Rae as men’s competitive coach. Like his wife, Ranan is also a presenter for the GNZ coach education programme, and a highly ranked judge and coach.

He will be taking the local men’s gymnastics team on the road, participating in competitions in Waimate, Timaru and Dunedin, while aiming for selection to the 2022 Otago team attending the national competition in Invercargill. 

Ranan will also be piloting a new parkour programme and is qualified to teach “dance acro“, a developing area within dance schools. 

The third new face is local ex rhythmic gymnast Charlotte Gardiner who will coach recreational rhythmic gymnastics. Charlotte represented Otago in rhythmic gymnastics at national competitions and she will start with a trial of classes once a week after school for children aged seven and older.

Rhythmic gymnastics is a combination of dance and acrobatic moves to music and can include the use of hand held equipment, rope, hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. 

While the new coaches and programmes are likely to encourage even more members, the Aspiring Gymsports volunteer committee is turning its focus to securing funding to ensure the club has adequate equipment for the new programmes and is ready to fit out the new premises.

“We're looking to raise close to $135k worth of new equipment including a full size sprung floor 14m x 14m. We're aiming to raise funds for the equipment from a combination of grants, corporate partnerships and donations,” Rae said. 

The committee is grateful for the tremendous support it has already received from the community groups, she said, including Rotary Wānaka, Central Lakes Trust and the Lion Foundation which together donated over $22,000 for a new trampoline and health and safety equipment.

The Otago Community Trust also granted $10,000 towards a new set of parallel bars, replacing a set which dated back to the 1960s, Rae said, and the Freemasons Lodge Wānaka has contributed $1000 towards classes for Mount Aspiring College students with additional needs. 

“For most [of these] students this is an essential part of their week, with huge developments in speech and physical strength and coordination amongst the whole class,” Rae said. 

The purchase of an airbag has also opened up further opportunities at the new premises, with talk of a “flying trapeze” and a new aerials programme in partnership with Abby Palmer and Uplift aerial fitness, she said.

With a lot of challenges ahead, the committee is encouraging anyone who is able to help with an upcoming event, fundraising or project work to get in touch with AGS here and any business which is keen to support the club to contact Colleen at [email protected].