Bouncing back after lockdown barred gym

“Let’s bounce back into gymnastics.”

That’s the message from the Karratha Gymnastics Club who are excited to be back on the bars, trampolines and mats after taking a break due to COVID-19.

The students returned to training this month on a casual basis with classes running on a modified timetable.

KGC vice-president Donna Stace said it was great the sport was able to return and they had stringent hygiene policies to keep the students safe.

“For a long time there we didn’t know what was going to happen. The WA government has obviously done a great job in getting us back to a position where they can open up, and we are just really pleased to to be back, even in a modified way,” she said.

“Gymnastics in the North West has been fairly significantly impacted by it, so it’s just great that we have been able to work with Leisureplex to get back.

“We are covering off on our requirements in regards to our sanitising and cleaning of equipment, and the staggered sessions so that we have got that time in between sessions to be able to manage that.”

Ms Stace said the modified timetable suited students well, as they didn’t want to bring them back to their regular intense training following a big break.

“We can’t go from nothing to their full training because we’ve got gymnasts that were doing eight hours a week, and you can’t just bring them back to doing those hours,” she said.

“So this way all the sessions are shorter than what they would normally be, but this is getting them used to it so when we do go back hopefully in term three we can go back to the hours that they were doing.”

KGC president Lee Tattam said the students loved being back.

“It’s been awesome,” he said.

“At the moment there is nothing on the horizon competition-wise, but we will see how we go as further restrictions get lifted — we might be able to bring in some of our own local comps just to get the kids ready for the bigger contests.”