The assistant coaches that we have in our club are the foundations of the future. They are fun, enthusiastic, loyal, hardworking and such a pleasure to work with. I feel in an extremely privileged position to have such dedicated coaches enjoying being part of our team. Most coaches start off volunteering for hours on end observing and assisting with grass roots gymnastics. This is not always the most exciting gymnastics but the dedication to caring for the children and encouraging them to love the sport is admirable.
I asked one of our fantastic gymnastics coaches to write about her experience from gymnast to coach and why after 6 years she has hardly ever missed a session.
‘I started gymnastics coaching when I was 11 years old and 6 years later I still love coaching as much as the very first lesson I helped out in. Coaching for Head Over Heels is incredible, there is always such a friendly and relaxed atmosphere which means the gymnasts are always having fun and achieving the best they can. One of the best things I find about gymnastics coaching is seeing the reactions on the gymnasts face and the sense of pride they have when they achieve something they have been working on for a long time, whether that be mastering a forward roll, walking on the beam without support or handspringing alone.
No two gymnastics lessons are ever the same and that’s another one of the things I love about it. Gemma works extremely hard to ensure that the gymnasts are always having fun using different apparatus and trying out new skills every week, this is also what makes it such an incredible and supportive gymnastics company to work for as I’m sure all of the coaches will agree.
I began gymnastics aged 4 with Gemma, in the same class as I now coach. I remember lining up at the end of the mats, and although I was not the best gymnasts in the room, there was never a sense of competition. I used to set myself realistic targets, for example, squatting onto the vault and landing on my feet instead of my knees or straddling over, and even though there were other gymnasts who were able to handspring over the vault I never felt pressured to be like them. Personally, I feel that this is why Head Over Heels is such an incredible gymnastics club, it allows each and every gymnast to be themselves and have fun whilst doing exercise, learning new skills and achieving their own personal goals.’
Thank you for finding the time to write this!