New member

[ben_347]

hey guys,

Ben here..

I am new to this site.

I have been involved in gymnastics for about 8 years...but had to stop due to multiple stress fractures...SUCKS. Coaching now...which is great fun.

I Live in Australia....anyone else from Australia????


Thanks guys,

Ben

 

[bogwoppit]

Welcome Ben, we have quite a few Aussie gymnasts and coaches on the Chalkbucket, but we are always thrilled to get more.

 

[coachinkal]

Hi Ben. Welcome to The Chalkbucket.

Certainly must be different coaching rather than being a gymnast. Where do you coach?

My oldest son who no longer does gym has been learning to coach. Unfortunately his football training clashed with the class time. He will only be able to coach in the off season.

My 11 year old is now training to be a coach but is not allowed to coach on his own until he is 12 yo. Initially he will only be coaching a lower level class, next year.

Having been a gymnast yourself it will be great for the kids you are coaching. Are you able to demonstrate some things or is this not possible with your injury.

 

[ben_347]

Thanks,

I love coaching... Its great fun. But yes it is a bit different. I have been coaching for about 3 or so years now. I coach at the Olympic Gymnastic Academy in Jandakot, WA, Aus.
Yes I can demonstrate pretty much anything now its just if I decided to have a full on workout/training session it would probably hurt for a while afterwards. I would love to 'try' and train fully again but you never know what could happen :S Doc says I should 'rest' for a year minimum cos I have a shifted vertibrae that could slip further and pinch a nerve.

 

[coachinkal]

I didn't realise there was Challenge Stadium as well as an Olympic Level Training facility at Jandacot. Be nice to have just one such beautiful equipped facility in Kalgoorlie!

One of my sons competed in the PCYC State finals last year at Challenge Stadium. It was so different to where we train in Kalgoorlie. We really have to rough it. No foam pits, no tumble track, no sprung floor, no adjustable rings. We are conducting the PCYC South West Regionals next year so we are trying to get some of this equipment before then.

 

[ben_347]

well I wouldn't call our gym an Olympic Level Training facility. We are called 'Olympic' because it is the home of a dual olympian.

How many kids do you have at your club doing 'competitive, levels' gym?
That must be great to look forward to (the south west regionals). Will this be MAG and WAG?
Is their funding that PCYC can put towards your gym to assist with running the comp? Are you able to get funding through Dept. Sport and Rec or Healthways?

 

[coachinkal]

Kalgoorlie club has 12 boys going to competition this year ranging from Level 3 to Level 6. We have approximately 28 girls ranging from Level 3 to Level 8. Not sure how many of the Level 3's will be going to comp this year. Badge testing is in June, and it depends how many are ready. So altogether this makes about 40 gymnasts.

The Regionals are MAG and WAG and are held at the end of August. There were about 90 competitors last year for the South West Regionals which were held in Bunbury. This year the South West Regionals are being held in Collie.

They add the scores from the South West Regionals, North West Regionals and the Perth Clubs and the top eight gymnasts in each level go onto the State Finals in September. There were around 190 gymnasts at the state finals last year and about 70 of these were at Level 5 and above and competed at Challenge Stadium. Levels are broken down into age groups normally and we also have optional gymnasts included in the above figures.

The Club manager is trying to raise funds from various sources, and as far as I know he has approached the Dept of Sport and Rec. The grant process for many of the Govt sources is very bureaucratic and takes a long time to finalise. What is Healthways?

 

[ben_347]

Healthway. I no they give either $5000 or less grants. and Sponsorship. Have you tried Lotterywest? They usually give out heaps of money. Woolworths have a grant running at the moment too. I am not too sure who else. But because PCYC Kalgoorlie is run under the PCYC banner it would be different getting funding I would imagine?

So the state Finals are for all PCYC's in WA and that is run at challenge? This year it might be held at the new state centre in Leederville.

 

[coachinkal]

Last year only Level 5 and above competed at Challenge Stadium. Not sure where they will compete this year.

What is the new state Centre at Leederville? What facilities are there? Is this Government or private?

I had a look at the Healthways website. Looks quite good. There are two categories of grants - under $25000 and over $25000. Because we come under the PCYC banner we have to make sure any grants we get for our local club do not clash with the organisation as a whole. Lotterywest support PCYC as an organisation so unable to use for local club.

 

[allaroundgirl]

Welcome to the Chalk Bucket

 

[ben_347]

The New state centre is where the Gymnastics WA offices are Located. It is a fully set up gymnasium within a Recreation Centre. It is a pretty good set up. They hold most competitions there.

 

[coachinkal]

What sort of viewing area is at the new centre?

Challenge stadium had virtually no viewing area. It was really hard for family members and team members not competing to watch.

PCYC may be looking for ideas for alternative venues.

 

[ben_347]

There is sort of step/stadium seating. There is plenty of room for anybody to watch. Seating along 2 walls. It is wood so i suggest to bring a cushion!!
The loftus centre is available for hire. GWA has information on their website about how to hire the venue. Do you know the dates of when you might be coming over to Perth. I can check if there would be any competitions on that date if you like?

 

[coachinkal]

Sounds good.

That would be great if you could check if available.

State finals are held on the weekend of 26/27/28 September.

This is the Footy grand final weekend at start of school holidays. Not sure which of these three dates the L5+ will be competing. Seems to change every year.

 

[ben_347]

I have just checked the GWA calendar and there seems to be nothing happening on that weekend of the 26/27/28 September. But don't quote on me that. You would be better to give Gymnastics WA a call and ask them just in case. If I pop up to GWA soon I will take a couple of photos for you so you can see the hall.
The link below is to the forms concerning the hire agreement and fees of the hall: Link Removed

Hope this helps

 

[mike121]

Hi,
I am Mike Astun from USA a student and a working man. I am new at this site and at the forum. This site seem very useful and informative. Pls say hello to me.

 

[ben_347]

Hey Mike....Welcome to the chalk bucket

 

[coachinkal]

I discussed using this venue with PCYC and apparently they did make enquiries last year about using this venue. Definately a great venue with much better public viewing area.

They were informed that PCYC could not hire the facilities unless they were affilliated and all coaches/judges accredited. The cost of doing this would be about $50,000.

Challenge stadium has no such rules.

I am surprised that the new venue which is Government run is so exclusive.

PCYC cannot afford to pay $50,000 just to hire the facility for 1 day. That is rediculous.

PCYC do not want to be affilliated with gym WA. We have out own routines, own annual coaching clinics, and own system of badging and accreditation.

There does not appear to be any benefit to affililiation and the cost is so huge that it really is not a viable option.

Pity this great facility it is not able to be used by all citizens of Western Australia.

 

[ben_347]

I can't believe that...That is outrageous. Sorry I didn't realise that only GWA people could hire the facilities.

Yes I agree with you about PCYC, I know a little about them but I understand that you have your own routines and clinics and I think PCYC's are great as there is not as much pressure to perform and they are doing so well without GWA. I have had a couple of girls I used to coach move to PCYC due to our gym owner being a ***** and they absolutely love it. They say there is no pressure, the coaches are great and they get to travel for comps. I have often thought about enquiring about coaching at a PCYC near me.

Sorry about that once again. I cannot think of any other places PCYC could hire near Perth as all I know are Challenge and the GWA loftus centre. With Challenge, do you use the already set up gym for your comp?

 

[coachinkal]

Yes. Last year we used the equipment already set up. We didn't have to change anything really, it was great.

I think you are right about there being less pressure with PCYC. We would not train as many hours as gym WA.

I have spoken to a few boys who have tried the gym WA system but they didn't like the amount of hours they had to train and the pressure.

PCYC boys program is called the Boys Challenge Program (BCP) and that is exactly what it aims to do, challenge them. We also have an optional system that enables kids who don't quite have all the skills of the next level to still move forward and learn as many skills of the next level as they are able, so they can still compete.

Once the kids get to around level 6 (equivalant of level 5 gym WA) the skills are pretty much identical.

Most of the boys I train do multiple sports, not just gymnastics. This often makes it difficult to fit the gymnastics training in. Some sports however to compliment each other so it is not all bad.