Our 'Achievement Bell' was hung in our gym at the end of 2021 as a way of recognising those who had been working towards longer term goals in our gym. Once a goal has been achieved, the gymnast gets to ring the 'Achievement Bell' and everyone in the gym stops and gives them a round of applause.
Here are some examples of the wonderful stories emerging from our community in Term 1 and 2.
WAG
There have been some great achievements made in the WAG program during Term 1 & 2 which has seen many athletes ring the WVGC 'Achievement Bell'. There is no better feeling than finally hitting a skills for the first time unassisted. One of our club values is 'Progress, Not Perfection', and the progress that the gymnasts make each and every training is what supports them as they move through the WAG Australian Levels Program. Some of the notable achievements this term include:
Gymnasts from Squad E - Back Hip Circles
A Back Hip Circle on Bars is a compulsory ALP Level 3 skill that the gymnasts in Squad E have been working towards for over two terms now. This can be a scary skill for many gymnasts as they move not only backwards around the bar, but also upside down through the movement.
The Squad E coaches have supported the gymnasts learning of this skill with a series of strength, shaping activities and drills. The strength and drills practiced paired with the hard work of the gymnasts paid off as many of these gymnasts have achieved this skill by them self for the very first time.
The smiles on their faces when they showed these to each other and their parents was heartwarming to see!
Awesome work girls!!
Gymnasts from Squad C: First Kips
A 'Kip' is one of the hardest skills in gymnastics to learn as it takes many years of strength and skill development for a gymnast to achieve. Not only does this skill require a great amount of abdominal and arm strength, it also requires an intrinsic understanding of the correct technique and timing.
These gymnasts have been working very hard over many months to improve their strength, technique and timing for this skill. Their hard work is finally paying off with both of the gymnasts getting their first Kips on the loop bar. There is nothing quite like the feeling of finally getting your Kip on bars!
Well done girls, your smiles at the end say it all!
Gymnasts from Squad E - Handstand on Beam
A Handstand is vital to gymnastics and is a skill that is widely used across all apparatus. Perhaps one of the scariest places take your Handstand is up high on the Beam. Not only does a gymnast need to think about the correct shapes to put their body into - they also have to place their hands much closer together than they would on the floor which makes it more challenging to balance and hold the handstand.
It is understandable that this is a skill that many gymnasts experience fear over. Three of our Squad E gymnasts have been working hard to put their fear aside and have been striving to correct their shapes in their Handstands on the Beam.
It was understandable how excited they all were to finally be able to ring the Achievement Bell after finally hitting their first Handstands on the low Beam that had both quality shapes and made it all the way up to handstand!
Sensational handstands, girls!
ENABLE
Enable Gym is our program for children and young adults with additional needs.
One of our long term Enable gymnasts achieved the skill of forward roll over the bar for the very first time in Term 1. This skill can be daunting for many as the eyes leave the ground while the gymnast turns upside down.
We are so proud that you were able to achieve the skill after working towards it for such a long time, a big WELL DONE!!
Such an amazing achievement that was very worthy of ringing the Achievement Bell!
ACRO
Acrobatics is a floor-based Gymsport where the athletes use each other as the apparatus! Because it is a team sport, most skills that are achieved are done in teams of 2 or 3 and require trust, patience and a great deal of tenacity!
This is this pairs very first Straddle on Hands!
The girls have been working this skill for roughly 3 months and being able to achieve this skill is such a great achievement as it combines strength, flexibility and teamwork.
What an awesome work from our Level 4 pair!
Congratulations to our two Level 4 Acrobats for getting their Roundoff to Back-Somersault on Trampoline!
Both girls started learning the skill together and achieved it on the same day! ACRO teamwork always makes the dream work!
This skill takes years to accomplish as the roundoff itself is a difficult and technical skill and is a foundation skill for Acrobatic Gymnastics Tumbling.
The girls have been working on their standing Back Saults separately to help with connecting the skills together.
Look out for the girls getting them on floor some time very soon!!
Gymnasts that train together and achieve the same skills on the same day ring the Achievement Bell together!!
Here is the very first Stack Skill for our little ACRO Trio. The girls have bee working on this difficult skill since they formed this Trio in March.
It takes so much team work, timing, strength, body tension and balance to achieve.
Amazing work girls!
Our last ACRO gymnast in this Achievement Bell series is this powerful first Front Sault!
This is a very advanced skill for such a young gymnast but she has been so determined to land it and wants to practice it at every opportunity.
Fantastic perseverance!!
MAG
Level 2's Side Dismount Progressions on P-Bars
Our Level 2 MAG gymnasts have been working hard this year to achieve their Side Dismounts on P-Bars.
The first skill progression to achieve this is working on their P-Bar swings to ensuring their swings are at, or very near to horizontal, to ensure that they have enough height to clear the bar to dismount.
Well done boys!
Level 3 MAG Gymnasts achieving their Pommel personal circle goals set by coaches - specific to gymnast
The gymnasts below achieved their own personal circle goals...
MAG Gymnast 1 got over 40 circles!
And then they got to ring the bell to celebrate!
One of our Senior MAG gymnasts landed his Double Back dismount from High Bar for the first time - in competition AND he stuck the landing.
Amazing achievement... check out his reaction!
Open Levels
With our Open Levels gymnasts entering competition season, these athletes have shown a lot of progress in attaining their skills ready for competition. Some have re-attained skills they previously had and mental blocks needed to be passed; or re-learnt the skill due to a growth spurt, they then needed to regain the strength and confidence to complete the skills they could do when they were younger.
This Open Blue gymnast achieved her Back Walkover on high Beam.
Reaching backwards on this narrow apparatus up high can be very daunting.
Well done on achieving this skill!
This Open Blue gymnast transferred her giants from loop bar, to wooden bar - a big step in any gymnasts Uneven Bar skill journey!
Awesome work!
This gymnast from Open Blue achieved her Fly-Away from swings on the Uneven Bars:
Keep it up!
This Open Blue gymnast connected her Front Tuck to Front Tuck on Floor:
Amazing work!
Our Open Purple gymnast achieved a swing to Pullover on the High Bar:
Well done!
Three of our Open Teal gymnasts achieved their Bridge Kick-over's independently:
Amazing effort girls!
And then got to ring the bell!
Our Open Pink athlete achieved her Pullover on the bar for the first time:
Great job!
Gymnastics is lots of fun, great exercise and a great way to channel energy, but there are tons of other lasting benefits and life skills that can be achieved.
Self-confidence, self-discipline, work ethic, patience and resilience are among the words that come to mind when thinking about what is gained from our sport asides from the skills themselves.
We can't wait to see the next Achievement Bell stories from all of our diverse programs in Term 3!