South African Gymnastics Federation (SAGF) has taken a look back after the first quarter of 2020, which posed a challenge for them going forward.
The Covid-19 pandemic presents one of the greatest challenges the entire world has ever faced.
Every single member of the gymnastics fraternity is affected in some way or the other, especially after the proclamations issued by the South African National Government.
Since the lockdown period posed numerous challenges, SAGF Federation came up with a few innovative ways to keep South Africans active during the isolation period.
Innovation born from Covid-19:
Home Gym Challenge
The Home Gym Challenge saw SAGF share daily, easy-to-do exercise videos across all its social media platforms.
Those who tuned in could learn a new skill, keep fit and challenge body and mind.
Club Connect and Business Accelerator
SAGF introduced two online offerings, free of charge to its entire registered gymnastics clubs in South Africa.
Gymnastics SA Club Connect is an online group, hosted on Facebook, where all registered clubs can access useful resources and information during this time of crisis.
Together with Club Connect, SAGF also introduced Business Accelerator, an online portal where all registered clubs can access learning tools which aim to help clubs design a business plan, manage risk, safeguard their finances, and grow their club.
There are more than 36 mini courses available on the Business Accelerator portal, each covering a specific topic of interest to Gymnastics Club Owners.
SAGF Capacity Building
The Capacity Building projects funded by the Department of Sport, Art and Cultural grant’s primary purpose is to increase awareness of the various disciplines run by SAGF to enhance the public’s knowledge of gymnastics.
Courses and workshops conducted in quarter one were held across the nine provinces and have attracted more potential gymnasts and coaches with the goal of becoming a greater gymnastics community throughout the country.
Artistic Gymnastics African Championships Trials
The trials were held at the Centurion Gymnastics Centre from February 21 to 22, where the team to represent South Africa at the Artistic Gymnastics African Championship was selected.
The Artistic Gymnastics African Championship was scheduled to take place in the first week of April, in Pretoria, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. No official date has since been selected.
Trampoline and Tumbling African Championships Trials
The tumbling trials took place at the Matsport Centre on March 13, while the trampoline trials were held at the Sports Centre of the University of Pretoria on March 14.
The upcoming African Championships was scheduled to take place in Swakopmund, Namibia, in May, but was also postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. With that, the SAGF Management decided to only announce the team once there is clarity on the way forward.
FIG Baku World Cup
The Artistic Gymnastics World Cup was held in Baku, Azerbajan, from March 9 to 14. SA Gymnastics top two Women Artistic gymnasts did the country proud, with both Naveen Daries and Caitlin Rooskrantz competing on Bar. Rooskrantz qualified for the finals on Bar, placing seventh, while Daries additionally competed on Beam which placed her 13th.
Rooskrantz also competed on Beam and Floor; her new floor routine was quite popular amongst the judges, and she improved her international score from the World Championships in Baku (11.633 to 11.966).
Both gymnasts’ general execution has improved tremendously, and the entire Federation is proud of their achievements.
Due to the pandemic, the finals were cancelled, and all gymnasts were instructed to return home earlier than expected.
Training courses and workshops
During quarter one, SAGF empowered its coaches, technical officers and facilitators through workshops held across the country.
The SAGF GL Coaches Training Course took place at the University of Pretoria in February and was well attended by all coaches in Gauteng. Coaches had the opportunity to demonstrate newly trained skills with a group of gymnasts and other coaches.
The SAGF Technical Workshop was held in Gauteng on February 8 and was headed up by Cornel van der Westhuizen and Sonja Greig.
Participants had the opportunity to voice challenges encountered while learning the important theoretical and practical components on how to effectively manage the system independently.
The National Elementary Facilitators Training was a workshop funded by the National Lotto, and SAGF could host two courses for elementary facilitators in order to train more facilitators in the elementary education programs.
These programmes include Fun Move, Safeguarding Coach workshops and Gymnastics Leaders Courses, which were further funded by Sports and Recreation South Africa. A total of 34 candidates from the nine provinces attended the project.
South Africa, and the world, faces a different challenge. SAGF urges its gymnasts and the general public to stay home, stay safe and keep fit.
Credit: SAGF
