2019 Presidents Report
This has been another successful and yet challenging year for the Club.
Our numbers remain similar to previous years, but we are gaining in the junior age groups and losing out in the older children (intermediate and beyond). This is something both the incoming Committee and the coaching team will need to explore and work to improve. Retention in the older age groups is important for any future growth of our Club.
We are looking to add two new classes for 2020 – another pre-school session on a Tuesday morning and hopefully a Kangaroo class on Wednesday mornings. We still have capacity, space and equipment to provide further classes but unfortunately not at a time to suit coach availability.
Term Two saw another successful Schools Festival with great support from parents and coach volunteers. This is currently under review due to increased costs associated with hire of the Events Centre. We are hoping to offset this with grants income for 2020.
Our competitive squads are going strong and we had one attendee to NZ National Championships this year. These squads will be limited to the current numbers – 10 boys and 18 girls - reflecting both coaching and hall time availability.
The recreational competition group shrunk dramatically over the past year – this is a specific group where there is a need to explore the reasons behind the drop off. Those that continued have had great fun and success at their competitions. I would like to take the opportunity now to thank those coaches and parents for supporting these children to enjoy the sport of gymnastics.
Our pre-school groups are enthusiastic and well-liked by children and parents alike. We are adding another pre-school session on a Tuesday morning. We would love to offer a Saturday class for those parents that do have to work through the week……. We just need to find the coach. Once again, thank you to the parents and coaches that are giving teaching and supporting these young ones to develop essential physical skills and building blocks for future sporting endeavours.
As with all youth sports we are facing the challenges of accessing coaches and parental support for the day to day running of the Club. This is the first full year that has seen a significant component of our coaching being ‘contracted’ alongside a contracted Administrator and starting shortly (following approval further on in this meeting) a small contracted component of Head Coach responsibilities. Our finances are stretched and consequently fees are set to rise for 2020 – our first in 2 years – alongside a concerted effort to increase both fundraising and grant applications to support costs.
I would like to thank the coaching team, in particular Alannah Caldon, whom without we would not have a recreational class programme at all, and Leanne Robinson who continues to share her wealth of knowledge, skills, and planning mastery with the Committee and coaching team. I would like to acknowledge the time and commitment both our adult and teenage coaches give to Te Awamutu GymSports in planning and providing classes. And finally thank you to the Committee who took on their roles last year with little knowledge of what they were letting themselves in for – we got there!
Tracy Chisholm
President
Te Awamutu GymSports.