Junior Gymnastics

Gymnastics at The Park Club has tended to be gender biased, but we are keen to develop this to incorporate both boys and girls. There are many benefits that both boys and girls can take from gymnastics that will help them within a sporting context within any field of participation. Gymnastics activities are broadly divided in to two categories; Term Time activities and Holiday Camps.

Gymnastics activities are offered throughout the year to cater specifically for boys and girls. Our gymnastics facilities are constantly improving, our most recent addition being the asymetric bars, and this combined with excellent gymnastics coaches and our association to BAGA allow us provide an excellent platform from which to participate in Gymnastics.

Gymnastics is one of the most popular classes offered at The Park Club so please do not be disheartened when you find there is a waiting list for classes.

Term Time Gymnastics Activities

These six week courses are designed to run within Spring, Summer and Autumn school terms divided by half term holidays. The following activities are available during these times.

Term Time Gymnastics Courses for Children Aged 3 to 4

Our courses for our Pre-school children focus very much on the fun that can be had in gymnastics. Our pre-school classes are the perfect spring board into our beginner classes. We currently have 2 afternoon classes for our pre-school budding gymnasts.

Term Time Gymnastics Courses for Children Aged 4 to 15

Courses for the younger children, aged 4 and 5 years of age, focus on the early development of the core skills which are inherent to Gymnastics, this will result in a long and enjoyable involvement in gymnastics. It will also help to develop their coordination and balance generally. Children are introduced to the BAGA proficiency awards at this early stage to help motivate them as well as monitor their progress.

Courses for the elder children, aged 6 to 10 years of age, offer a chance to further develop the skills learned in the earlier course to a more accomplished level. Greater emphasis is placed on more complicated skills, and children will continue to progress through the BAGA proficiency awards.

Courses for children, aged 11 to 15 years of age, although The Park Club are able to offer tuition for children of these ages we find that, if still involved in gymnastics, they are already competing elsewhere, where facilities are more suited to an advanced gymnast. We can however cater for the older child that wishes to get involved in Gymnastics at this fairly late stage.

Holiday Camp Gymnastics Activities for Children Aged 4 to 15

During school holidays, week long Multi-Sport Camps are available for all young members to enjoy. The Club’s Multi-Sports camps incorporate gymnastics into its day’s activities. These camps are staffed by our usual gymnastics coaches ensuring the consistency of coaching offered to children taking part in them.

All of the coaches are fully qualified and they offer a wonderfully fun and professional style to ensure that all children taking part in the all – day camps go home totally fulfilled with their days activity.

Multi-Sports and Gymnastics Camps are available for boys and girls of all ages and can be booked on a daily basis or for the whole week. An early drop-off and late collection service is also available.

When Are Gymnastics Courses and Multi-Sports Camps Available?

Details of when the Term Time Gymnastics Courses and Holiday Multi-Sport Camps are run and the associated costs may be found in the Sports and Activity Timetable. These are available from the main reception, by the noticeboards located in the main corridor on the lower ground floor.

Gymnastics Coaches

Our gymnastics coaches have years of experience in the field of gymnastics, competing for many years in the sport before becoming coaches themselves. With years of coaching experience as well as their previous participation in gymnastics our in house coaches ensure that there is always plenty of experience available on our coaching staff.

Stephanie Smith (BAGA Club Coach, HSE Child First Aid)

Stephanie took over as senior coach after our long standing club coach Judit returned to Hungary. Stephanie has a long history of participation in gymnastics as well as coaching. As well as Gymnastics Stephanie can coach Athletics, and does so here, and cheer leading. Stephanie also takes our pre-school gymnastics classes which have proved very popular since their introduction during the summer term. Stephanie is also a nationally ranked pole-vaulter and is currently ranked 7th in the country. Stephanie is an extremely motivated and professional athlete and we are very pleased to have her heading up our gymnastics team.

Jenny Truelove (BAGA Club Coach)

Jenny was employed to replace Kirst whom we unfortunately lost at the same time as Judit. Jenny has taken our multi-sports camps for us in the past as well as providing cover on the odd occasion and so in no stranger to the club. Also a fantastic coach with a wealth of gymnastics experience we are very pleased to have secured Jenny as an extremely knowledgeable assistant to Stephanie. We are sure that Jenny will prove very popular as a regular in our gymnastics team.

Rachel Browne (BAGA Club Coach)

Rachel trained and competed as a gymnast in Australia for ten years. Rachel became a qualified gymnastics coach in 2004 and has 4 years experience coaching children of various ages and levels. Her focus was mainly on core-skill development, working with teams of 5 year olds. She has a comprehensive knowledge of the sport and is a confident coach and mentor.

Portfolios of all of the Club’s Gymnastics Coaches may be found on the Gymnastics notice board located in the main corridor on the lower ground floor.

Frequently Asked Questions about Multi-Sports Courses and Camps

What equipment do children need to bring?

All equipment is provided by the Club.

What should they wear?

Children should wear clothing suitable for Gymnastics and ideally a leotard, Boys can wear t-shirts and shorts. All Gymnastics class are bare foot, so there is no need for any footwear for these courses. Members must remember that some activities on multi-sports are taken outside so warm as well as wet weather clothing is a requirement also.

What other activities are covered?

The activities for Multi-sports change through the year and depending on what other camps are on. We generally try to include Gymnastics whenever we have a Multi-sports camps but you could expect to find any of these activities also, Football, Cricket, Tennis, Karate, Aikido, Boxwise, Rounders and Netball. It may be necessary to focus on fun games rather than team sports in some multi-sports sessions, childrens' ages will dictate this necessity.

For the safety of children all long hair must be tied up.

Course Outline

Unlike other courses we can not offer a course outline as this is just not possible, but below is the structure of the awards scheme that the children follow whilst taking part in gymnastics at The Park Club.

Pre School ABC Bronze, Silver, and Gold

The pre school ABC awards are an introduction into the world of gymnastics. They are designed give children the opportunity to become involved in gymnastics in a safe and progressive manner, ensuring that their involvement is fun and long lasting.

Proficiency awards 7 to 1

The Awards cover six sets of 10 exercises, graded from the simplest level – Award 7 and working up towards a more advanced level – Award 2. Children start with Award 7 and work through to Award 2 to ensure the correct progression as approved by the National Technical Committees. On each level six out of the ten moves must be completed in order to progress to the next level. Each set of ten exercises is clearly displayed on a wall chart for easy use in the gym.

Floor Routine Bronze, Silver, and Gold

The floor routine awards are specific to the floor discipline of gymnastics. Children are able to progress through the awards in turn improving their ability at this specific discipline. The main differences between the awards at this stage are the difficulty of the exercises that each consist of.

Vault Bronze, Silver, and Gold

The vault awards follow exactly the same format as the floor routine awards, in that they are specific to the vault and progress in difficulty through each stage.

New Members

020 8740 4599