VRYHEID KZN: Gymnasts raise the ‘bar’ in preparation for competitions

On April 24, the gymnasts will be competing in Pietermaritzburg

The Vryheid Gymnastics Centre is in full swing after being unable to practice or participate during lockdown. Minette Booysen and Hardus Koekemoer took over the club at the beginning of last year (March) when the country was put under full lockdown. But they are pleased to be able to start up again, with close to 20 very eager and enthusiastic young gymnasts. Most of the gymnasts are on level 1, which is the entry-level to gymnastics. To be able to qualify for the next level, gymnasts have to compete at the SA’s competition and qualify before they can advance to the next level. Minette is trained to coach on level 1 to level 3 for girls and Hardus is also a qualified coach and judge for boys up to level 5. Every four years, the coaches have to renew their coaching ‘licenses’ and re-write their coaching examinations to have them on par with the new rules and regulations of the sport. Wellington Mgwaza is a level 2 national coach and judge for artistic gymnastics for both boys and girls, and this enables him to coach up to level 8. He is originally from Newcastle and assists the Vryheid club with coaching once a week. Wellington also works for the South African Gymnastics Federation (SAGF), where he is part of their development programme. Furthermore, Wellington is a Parkcore coach, which is a fairly new sport and a new gymnastics discipline. He is the only coach and judge in KwaZulu-Natal in the Parkcore discipline. On April 24, the gymnasts will be competing in Pietermaritzburg and in May they will be competing in Pinetown. This exposes the gymnasts to bigger competitions in order to prepare them for the SA Zone competition. Due to Covid-19 regulations, the competitions have been split up and for the gymnasts to be able to compete on provincial level, they have to compete in a local competition and a district competition. This will enable them to obtain their district colours (Zululand colours). Then they will compete on provincial level and then only will they be able to compete at the SA Zone competition. This was previously only one competition, but it has now been split into five different zone competitions due to the pandemic. The club was cleared by SAGF as a safe environment during Covid-19, and as a safe operating and practice environment for the gymnasts.