Gymnasts earn their stripes
New Zealand’s oldest gymnastics club has come away with a number of medals from the Midlands Gymnastics Competition.
The Hamilton club, formed in the 1950s, was recognised for their juniors individual and team performances.
Turn and Gymnastic Circle’s Step 1 team, comprised of Anastasia Tsatsas, Hope Schuster, Ava Ellison and OliveRose Hapuku, received first place.
Anastasia was also named the Step 1 Midlands Champion in the overs division, as the highest performing Step 1 gymnast.
Step 1 is the term given to the first level of competitive gymnastics.
Head coach Nicole Schuster said the club was ‘‘over the moon’’ with the results.
‘‘They’ve been to a few competitions this year, and the one they just had on the weekend was the big one for them.
‘‘All that hard work has paid off - they train five hours a week which is a lot for our little ones.’’
Additional results included Anastasia placing third in vault, Hope placing first in vault, first in bar and second in floor, Alice Whitehead placing second in bar and Ruby McCluskie placing first in beam.
‘‘Kids love to flip around, they love to get on the bars and jump on the trampoline.
‘‘It’s exciting. You can’t ask for a better sport,’’ Schuster said.
Anastasia and Ava, both 7, said their favourite thing about the gym was the bouncy floors and the bar equipment. Olive-Rose
‘‘It's exciting. You can't ask for a better sport.’’
said she liked her coaches.
Turn and Gymnastic Circle is run from an old church on Ridout St, Hamilton.
Schuster said they have outgrown the building, with classes full and kids on a waiting list. They hope to move to a new venue.
‘‘We want as many kids as possible because we know the benefits they get out of gymnastics.
‘‘It’s a foundational sport. Kids learn skills that they can transfer into other sports.’’
Gymnastics can help develop motor skills, safe landing, balance, co-ordination, spatial awareness, flexibility and strength, Schuster said. ‘‘The list goes on. ‘‘We want to cater for the demand... we have a committee working on making this happen.’’