I love gymnastics. I participated in gymnastics from the age of 6, and into my adult years. I have coached and judged. Some of my closest friends are due to this awesome sport, and I am always impressed with the professionalism, passion and dedication of my industry colleagues.
I believe that the sport has taught me so many important life skills, and that it should be a part of every child’s life, even if only for a little while.
1. Confidence
As your child progresses and learns new skills, they will feel a sense of achievement and pride, which can boost self-esteem. We believe at Reach that having positive experiences in gymnastics will build your child’s confidence to try new activities, which can carry over into other areas of their life.
2. Resilience and Grit
Gymnastics is not an easy sport. Your child will fall over and will not learn the skills you see at the Olympics on their first try! By falling over, getting back up again, and giving it another go, your child will learn to be more resilient. The structure of gymnastics classes teaches children that hard work and dedication do pay off.
3. Social Skills
Participating in a gymnastics class can teach children how to deal better with the physical and emotional challenges in life. They will learn how to listen, take turns, communicate with adults and children, and respect others. Children will also have fun, make friends and learn how to be more independent.
4. Motor Skills, Co-Ordination and Balance
Gymnastics develops a range of motor and co-ordination skills, and assists in building a good sense of body awareness. Gymnasts will learn how to move their bodies in different ways. Gymnastics training emphasises body weight strength to improve core strength, reflexes, whole body muscle extension and flexion, and balance.
5. Goal setting and how to do hard things
Gymnasts will learn how to set goals and do hard things. It takes time, effort and discipline to achieve harder skills. There is repetition of basics and building up of strength before a harder skill can be mastered safely. They may have goals for achieving skills, achieving results at a competition, or progressing to a new level.
6. Learn how to take feedback and constructive criticism
By participating in a gymnastics class, your child’s coach will give them feedback on how to improve a skill. At Reach Gymnastics, we believe that positive coaching will get the best out of children, so we aim to provide regular, useful, positive feedback for our gymnasts. Learning how to take this feedback is a skill that will be useful to children for a lifetime.
There are many more reasons to get your child involved in gymnastics, these are just a few!
You can book a free trial class at Reach Gymnastics (Emerald or Pakenham) by contacting us at 5943 0368 or at info@reachgymnastics.com
Hope to see you soon!
Rebecca Tilley, Director Reach Gymnastics