Caitlin Rooskrantz appeals to public to help her club send her to the Olympics
NEWLANDS – The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed but what worries Caitlin Rooskrantz more is whether her home gymnastics centre stays open.
Caitlin Rooskrantz (18) has suffered a double setback in her training for the Tokyo Olympics.
First, the Olympics was postponed until next year in light of the coronavirus pandemic and now, her home gymnastics club faces closure as paying parents are pulling their children from the club as they lose their sources of income.
If the centre closes, Rooskrantz will not be able to train there and the financial and technical support it would have offered her for the Olympics will be unavailable to her.
In a video published on the backabuddy website, Rooskrantz appealed to the public to support Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre (JGC) by sponsoring people doing handstands in their handstand challenge, in the hope that R100 000 will be raised to keep the centre from closing.
Rooskrantz has trained at the centre for over 10 years and in that time it has helped send her to various international competitions while representing South Africa, including the Youth Commonwealth Games and World Cup, where she won silver and gold medals respectively.
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“As much as pausing my Olympic dream is sad, what worries me more is my amazing gymnastics club,” Rooskrantz said in the video.
“We need your support in order to keep standing. JGC is a small club with a lot of responsibilities. We are trying to raise funds for parents who have lost their jobs and source of income to try and keep send their children to JGC.”
On top of this, coaches and monthly expenses need to be paid.
Rooskrantz challenged the public to do a handstand every day for 100 days and find a sponsor to help keep the centre’s doors open. As of 7 April, R27 000 has been raised toward the running of the centre.
The centre has asked for R100 000, with any additional money raised to go to their international training fund, to help gymnasts who can’t afford travel and accommodation to international gymnastics events.
Details: Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre jgcgymnastics@absamail.co.za; 083 634 6164.
