Exciting News :)

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marie83

Coach
Judge
For the last 15 years our club has trained in a school. Luckily for us we've had the luxury of being able to leave our equipment set up, but on the down side, the gym is very small - just enough room for the equipment but we've had to make some compromises such as a very short vault run up, no run up for beam mounts so we are limited as to what to choose and no run up for bars so again, limited to kips pretty much! You also have to pause before you dismount on bars in case someone is running up the vault run - there have been collisions if the coach/gymnasts aren't paying attention!

HOWEVER...

We are moving to our own venue in 2-3 weeks!!!! We've been looking to move for around 5 years now but to no avail. We found an amazing new build which we could have afforded, but sadly the council wouldn't grant us change of use from industrial to leisure.
We have persevered and in August we had a meeting with a councillor who informed us that our district council had changed their policy and were now more concerned with empty units being let, rather than them being let to industrial businesses. We still wouldn't have got change of use on the one we wanted, but we found another - its not quite as large as we'd have hoped, width wise, but it had everything else going for it, so we signed the lease in September and work has begun!!!

There are so many advantages, but I think the thing the gymnasts and coaches are most looking forward to is having a pit! We are having a Gymnova suspended pit, rather than your usual foam pit and we'll have room for a proper vault run up, a tumble track and our full floor area! We'll even be able to have the boys equipment out constantly whereas they usually have to get theirs out every session.
The pit is being dug tomorrow so fingers crossed everything goes well!

Am going to try and attach some pics for you to see!

The Entrance and Parents Waiting Room

We hope to have a second storey extension put on eventually (When we finally have some money again) So that the parents can have a viewing gallery and we can have a toilet, kitchen and party room up there!
WAITINGROOM.jpg


The Bars and Pit Area

The big heater is going and we are having nice heating put in and air con!!!

THEPITAREA.jpg


The Beam and Floor Area
- The Pile of panels in the corner are insulation for the ceiling so it is going to be nice and warm in there - you can see some of it on the pic above

BEAMANDFLOORAREA.jpg


Exciting times ahead!! Might put some pics of the pit being dug on tomorrow!
 
hmm sorry about the massive pics I did try and re-size them, but they came out huge still!
 
That's awesome!!!!! How exciting to watch it all happen from scratch!!!! I am so psyched for you guys!!! Keep us posted with pics of the progress!!!
 
That is fantastic news. Is it pretty close in location to the school gym you use? Just hoping its not to far off the beaten path that some kids can no longer go and wont be able to enjoy this new gym. Looks like things are really skipping along there. No more than a months time and you guys are getting the ceiling panels up and such. Looking good. Def will have to post pictures as the progression continues. Are the children excited or do they know yet?
 
Wonderful news. I can still remember the day we mobbed into our permanent gym three years ago. We had been in a high school and took down after every practice. You will love your new gym. Keep us updated with pics!
 
That is fantastic news. More and more clubs in the uK are getting their own facilities. I think there will be a huge upsurge in gymnastics in the next 5 years here.
 
That's so exciting! I coach in both a fantastic full time facility and a put up-put down leisure centre so I know the difference it can make . I think all the spoilt UK and US coaches should have to coach in a part time or very small facility so they really appreciate what they have!
The bars and vault thing seems to be common. I took a coaching exam in a gym where the strap bar was literally over the vault run!
I agree with gymnut - especially with the olympics coming too!
Keep the pictures coming.
 
Yeah! All your little gymmies are going to be so excited!

I'm very greatful for the gym I coach in. For our small community market we have a HUGE facility. I've coached in a school setting also where we had to set up and tear down every practice. Really puts a crunch on your training time. As a gymnast I've practiced in all sorts of gyms: schools while we waited for our new building to be renovated, gyms without pits, gyms with just resipits, gyms with both, gyms with built up pits. A lot of my first time hard skills were with a pit, but my hardest skills I learned in a gym without. It sounds like I gym hopped, but really I only trained with two organizations. Both gyms moved locations at least three times while I was with them.

Good luck and post more pics as the gym makes it's transformation. Did I hear 2 - 3 weeks! You guys have a lot of hustle!
 
What a great story! Your gymnast are going to blossom in their new environment. What a wonderful thing you have done to make this possible for them.

I, too, can't wait to see the finished product.
 
Thanks all!
We made the announcement that we were moving at our annual award ceremony! It was a big surprise for some but others knew - We had told our competitive girls and their families previously.

All our families have been really supportive and have offered all sorts of help which is great.

We have set the date(s) to move as 23rd, 24th and 25th October - slightly bad timing as some of our gymnasts have a comp on 24th!!! Their last session before the comp would have been on the 22nd anyway so its no biggie, just means no extra practice!

The pit is being dug now - pics below
The pit in full - as you can see it won't be huge but it will suit us nicely!


THEPIT.jpg



The first deep hole is dug!
THEFIRSTDEEPDIG.jpg


The builder thinks it will be done by Saturday!
 
That is fantastic news. Is it pretty close in location to the school gym you use? Just hoping its not to far off the beaten path that some kids can no longer go and wont be able to enjoy this new gym. Looks like things are really skipping along there. No more than a months time and you guys are getting the ceiling panels up and such. Looking good. Def will have to post pictures as the progression continues. Are the children excited or do they know yet?

Hi, yes the new gym is just 5 mins (if that) from the current location. For most of our gymnasts it is better located - it's also on a bus route. I have a friend who is going to bring her pre-schooler now because she can get to the new gym on the bus - she doesn't drive so couldn't get to the current gym.

It's better located for me and the other HC so we are happy!
The new gym is located on an industrial estate so during the day there will be plenty of people to keep an eye on the building and in the evenings, we will be there. We are hoping to have the gym used during the day too though by local schools - I guess we'll have to see how things go!
 
That is wonderful news. How exciting for everyone! I am sure it will be great for everyone involved.
 
Almost time to move!!!!

Our final session in the current gym is this Thursday!!
First Session in New Gym? Friday Evening!

Link to a slideshow of photos

The New Gym From Start To Finish slideshow by wfgsphotos - Photobucket


Lots to do still but we have moved a lot of equipment over already, it's all in the waiting room at the mo!!

It's such a hectic time, fingers crossed everything will go smoothly this week!!

The pit won't be ready for a couple of weeks as a) the cement has to 'go off' and gymnova can't come over til then anyway to fill it with foam, so we are going to have to put a big barrier around the pit and have a strict policy on not going near it!

Off to do some work on it at 8 in the morning so going to bed now!!
 
Very nice. It's looking good. I bet you ALL are excited and can't wait to get to work in the new gym. What an acomplishment. Can't wait to see the final pictures
 

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