ENERGETIC Gymnastics club became the first Victorian sporting ‘LaunchPad’ for kids in Gippsland last week, when the new initiative was introduced at Lavalla College’s Champagnat Centre.
The Traralgon based gym jumped at the chance to deliver ‘LaunchPad’, a nationally certified initiative from Gymnastics Australia which teaches fundamental movement skills to help children develop physically, socially and cognitively.
Energetic Gymnastics business development manager Alistair Edgar said the program was about reinforcing healthy lifestyle messages and promoted an holistic enjoyment of sport.
“For us it’s about highlighting the good stuff we’re already doing and through that, creating more opportunities for more children to do more gymnastics,” he said.
“We’re big on instilling healthy lifestyle habits in children and this is a good opportunity to do that.”
With three age specific programs for zero to 12 year olds, ‘LaunchPad’ focuses on fostering a passion for health, fitness and lifelong skills that act as a pathway into all sports.
“The contribution gymnastics can make to the lives of Latrobe kids is simply huge,” Energetic Gymnastics head coach Elise Edgar said.
“I see gymnastics as the nursery of Australian sport; it’s where kids can learn to experience and love movement.”
The three programs cater to all stages of development, with the recreational Kindergym and GymFun components unveiled at Energetic’s new Tuesday night session last week.
“It’s really exciting to be one of the first to be part of it and get it up and running,” Alistair Edgar said.
“We’re really hoping we can be positioned as a club in Gippsland that helps other Gippsland clubs get involved on a wider level; it’s quite exciting for us to be in a position to mentor other clubs through the process.”
Energetic gymnastics will provide ‘LaunchPad’ to Latrobe Valley and its schools as an introduction to gymnastics and a pathway for ongoing sporting involvement for juniors.
The club recently finished up its competitive season at the Victorian titles, where Tatum Cotterell qualified for the national finals in Geelong.
For further information visit www.launch-pad.org.au or phone Energetic Gymnastics on
0421 721 737.
