October Gymformation
Welcome back to Term 4! And a special welcome to all new gymnasts and families joining PGA this term.
We're excited to announce that our club has now reached over 150 new members - it's wonderful to see so many smiling faces in our gymnastics centre each week! As we grow, we have also welcomed some amazing new coaches which have enabled us to add a number of new classes and increase available positions in many more. Further details are included below and bookings are now open via the iClass Pro parent portal.
To help us all get to know each other, this term we will be hosting two events; a fundraiser for our athletes and our annual Christmas Party - more details and Save the Dates below. We hope that you will all come along, support our club and get to know our wonderful gymnastics community.
Hollywood Calling...!
Congratulations to Squad 1 athlete Hannah Tarzan who has been cast in a new Netflix series that is part of the popular gymnastics film franchise A 2nd Chance! Pinnacle Films are filming in South Australia throughout October, November and December, and Hannah has relocated to Adelaide for the shoot. We look forward to hearing about Hannah's adventures!
New Classes for Term 4
GymFun-Pre
We are pleased to introduce GymFun-Pre, a 1-hour introductory program for children aged 4 – 5 years old that teaches children the Dominant Movement Patterns (DMPs) of gymnastics; static shapes, spring, landings, rotation, locomotion, swing, and hand apparatus. The program aims to increase your child’s strength, flexibility, coordination, agility, and confidence in a safe and fun environment.
From GymFun, children can progress into our GymSkills, GymReach or Development Programs.
These classes are on Saturdays: 12:30 – 1.30 pm and 1.30 – 2:30 pm. There are still some vacancies in these classes, so spread the word to family and school friends who may be interested! Click here to book.
More fun for boys!
We now have a boys-only class that is a high-energy combination of Free G and GymFun. We'd love to see more boys in the gym so please spread the word, you can find out more and sign up here.
Gym Reach
GymReach gives gymnasts the chance to train either 2, 3 or 5 hours a week. We now offer 42 positions in the program and will be expanding with new coaches and places available soon. GymReach gymnasts train on Saturdays 2pm - 5pm, Wednesdays 4.45pm - 6.45pm or both - book here.
Coach Updates
PGA is committed to offering our athletes a truly differentiated program and unrivalled development opportunities. As such, we are excited to welcome accomplished dancer, choreographer, and personal trainer Evelyn Roberts to the team. Evelyn is working with our Squad 1 and 2 athletes once a week to improve strength, coordination, flexibility and posture through ballet and dance.
Also joining PGA this term are Izzy Simillion and Kiki Magiid. Izzy has been involved in the gymnastics world for 16 years, as an athlete for 10 years and as a coach for the past 6. She has a degree in Exercise and Sports Science and is currently a 2nd-year physiotherapy student, with her studies being a great compliment to her coaching. Izzy has a huge passion for gymnastics and is motivated to bring out the best in her athletes and herself. Kiki joins us all the way from New Haven, Connecticut in the USA. Kiki moved to WA in June to study Psychology at UWA and brings many years of experience in competing and coaching gymnastics.
PGA is very excited to welcome Evelyn, Izzy and Kiki to the team! We are pleased to be attracting high-quality coaches to the club, including coaches with specific experience in specialist areas of gymnastics, and we look forward to sharing more about our team with you in future editions of Gymformation.
Did you know that PGA has 4 coaches that hold High-Performance coaching accreditations? Having an experienced senior coaching team with such depth of knowledge enables us to provide support, mentoring and development within our coaching team and provide the best possible experience for our athletes. Congratulations this month go to:
Kiki Magiid and Sophie Mahoney for achieving their beginner accreditations
Taya Lewis-Smith for achieving 2 new accreditations - Intermediate GFA and Intermediate WAG
We thank all our coaches for their continued dedication to our members and our club! If you are an experienced gymnastics coach and would like to find out more about opportunities with PGA, please visit our Careers Page.
Class Updates & Notable Mentions
Squad 1 Notables
Alex - Progress being shown in Yurchenko twisting work off soft vault, and giant half work and blind change connection progressing well on bars, which she is ready to do on her own
Chloe - Working really hard to get back to full program after injury
Hannah - Regained flip salto connection on high beam, double pike salto progressing nicely on rod floor to soft standard matting
Olena - Improved consistency of shap work on bars with spot, double pike dismount at pit beam to low soft matting, and flip layout layout consistently being shown on low beam, which we’ll look forward to seeing on high beam soon
Summa - Regaining toe on toe off to handstand on bars, aerial front salto (front toss) on high beam, and good progress in Yurchenko twisting work off soft vault
Ursula - Improved consistency of shap work on bars and catching by herself at times, progress being shown in Yurchenko twisting work off soft vault, and flip flip layout coming along consistently on low beam
Congratulations to Olena who has been selected to attend the Senior National Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra next month. The purpose of this camp is to prepare athletes for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
Congratulations also to Ursula, Summa and Chloe who have been invited to attend the B4B Camp at the AIS in December. Well done girls!
Squad 2 Notables
Addy – Yurchenko tucked into the pit off the soft vault, double tuck dismount off bars into the pit and front giants on strap bar
Amber – Double back in open tuck position in bungee, back tuck on high beam and double front tuck into the pit
Charlotte – Yurchenko tucked into the pit off the soft vault and giant to flyaway on wooden bar with spot
Indigo - Toe on toe-off to handstand and front giants on strap bar, 5 Whips in a row on trampoline
Jasmin – Front layout front tuck off rod floor, back tuck on high beam and double front tuck into the pit
Development 1 Notables
Our Level 4 and Level 5 athletes competed at the WA Junior Championships. We are very proud of all the girls, who performed some beautiful quality routines and delivered great improvements. Special congratulations to:
Allegra - placed 6th on vault
Grace - placed 1st on bars, 2nd on beam, 5th on floor and 3rd overall
Sunny - placed 5th on bars
Well done to all the girls - great job. With competition season now over for our Juniors, we are looking forward to working on some new skills!
GymReach Notables
Our GymReach athletes have been on a well-deserved break over the holidays. We are looking forward to seeing your smiling faces back at the gym and welcoming some new ones!
Athlete Services
Envision kindly supports Perth Gymnastics Academy athletes by providing Medicare rebated scans with no out of pocket cost when referred by a specialist sports doctor, such as Dr Duncan Sullivan or Dr Carmel Sullivan.
Urgent scans and Sunday appointments are offered with a reduced gap payment of $195.
Please Note: Medicare does not rebate scans when the patient is referred by a physio, so any physio referred scans are a $350 out of pocket fee. Unfortunately, Envision can no longer offer the previous $195 scans for athletes referred by physios.
Bogan Bingo Fundraiser
Get out the flannel shirts and desert boots and get ready to support PGAs first major fundraiser! The night will include awesome silent auctions, raffles, and prizes for best dressed, best air guitar and more. The night will finish with a Dodgy Disco DJ.
Get your family, friends and work colleagues involved to help raise funds for PGA athlete services and functions.
Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for 2-3 volunteers who have a Responsible Service of Alcohol certificate and 1 person who is an approved Restricted Manager to be in attendance on the night. If you or someone you know can help on the night and currently holds these certificates or are willing to undertake the training, please let us know!
Keen to support us but short on time?
We would greatly appreciate any donations of prizes for our raffles, auctions and competitions. Donations may include alcohol. If you are able to donate your time or a prize, please contact Suzie Williams for more information.
Community Subcommittee
We are seeking expressions of interest to join our new PGA Community Subcommittee. Similar to a school parents and friends association, our PGA Community Subcommittee will nurture a strong community spirit, encouraging parental involvement in social, educational and fundraising activities to support athletes attending Perth Gymnastics Academy.
Some exciting general fundraising activities have already been planned for 2021 including Bogan Bingo and our 2nd Hand Shop, and we are keen to develop a calendar of club events and fundraising activities for 2021 and beyond.
The responsibilities of the proposed Subcommittee include:
General fundraising to:
Generate financial support for the club
Provide Athlete Services that support the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of our gymnasts, including physiotherapy, psychology, dieticians, strength and conditioning, sports science, dance/ballet,
Cover the cost of community events
Subsidise club community events, including Christmas parties, BBQ’s etc.,
Travel Fundraising to:
Subsidise coach and athlete travel
Provide family support
Assist the club run camps, competitions and clinics
If you are interested in getting involved and giving back to our club community please email Natasha Ogonowski.
Containers for Change
PGA now have a Containers for Change account. We encourage all families to collect their used containers and bring them to the gym regularly – we’ll have a bin just inside the gym entry and would love to see it nice and full!
All funds raised from donated containers will be returned to PGA to support events and activities for our athletes.
