CLUB HOPES MEMBERS SPRING BACK INTO GYMNASTICS
VARSITY Lakes Trampoline and Gymnastics Club owners Paul and Jill Needham face a nervous wait to see if they can survive the devastation wrought by a flood and then COVID-19.
On Monday, the third school term begins and the Needhams will get the first indication of whether the same people who embraced their club last year will return.
Recreational students are the bread and butter of the
Burleigh-based club – competition students being the “icing on the cake” – and prior to Christmas they had hundreds of them.
Between 2014 and 2019 the club grew from 60 to 350 members, offering training for all ages and all levels.
However, when the couple were enjoying a break in Vanuatu in January – their first holiday in 15 years – they got the news their premises had been flooded. Heavy rains had caused water to run down the hill behind their gym causing more than $200,000 worth of damage to the floor and gym gear.
Mr and Mrs Needham then had to fight to get the insurance paid out so they could replace the equipment, including beams and uneven bars.
“It was mentally draining to the point of thinking: ‘is this even worth it’?”
Their insurer paid out most of their claim in March. However, a loan was needed to cover the shortfall to pay for things like thick matting around the landing areas.
When March rolled around the gym, still shut because of the flood, faced a new challenge in the COVID-19 pandemic.
A number of parents had asked for their fees to be refunded because of the gym closure and now, facing a more extended shut down, more parents asked to be reimbursed.
However, there have been silver linings to the crisis.
The first is they have been able to purchase secondhand Olympic-grade SPIETH equipment that means they will be able to host competitions. The second has come at the expense of the Southport Gymnastics Club closing down with its senior gymnasts moving to Varsity.
This has put the club into a strong position ahead of Monday. But their survival long-term still hangs on the recreational gymnasts from ages five through to 14. The students pay $20 an hour per lesson.