SPONSORED: Kilkenny Gymnastics Academy – banish summer blues with bars, beams and flipping good fun

SEARCHING for summer recreation with a difference? Then take a look at what the Kilkenny Gymnastics Academy has to offer.

This wonderful facility at Springhill, on Kilkenny’s Waterford Road, has summer camps and workshops that cater for children from three to 15 years, from beginners to experienced gymnasts.

And why should children have all the fun? Kilkenny Gymnastics Academy has specially tailored courses to get people of all ages started on the exciting sport of gymnastics or to take your gymnastic skills to a higher level.

For beginners, the camps are a great way to have fun and to try out this great sport.

For experienced gymnasts, they are the perfect way to get in that extra bit of training, improve skill levels and achieve your gymnastics goals.

All classes are held in a safe and well-equipped gymnastics environment, under the guidance of qualified coaches who are Garda vetted and registered with Gymnastics Ireland, the sport’s national governing body.

Kilkenny Gymnastics Academy (KGA) was founded by Sharon Doyle, James Doyle and Jamie Mullen and is a sister club to their Sugarloaf Gymnastics in Co Wicklow.

They have brought skill, know-how and dedication to their academy – plus a huge love of gymnastics. “We offer every gymnast the best professional instruction, in a fun-filled and safe environment, where they are treated as an individual,” explains Sharon.

“We strive to build on their character with patience and focus and instil confidence, self-motivation, fitness knowledge, leadership, and sportsmanship.”

Kilkenny Gymnastics Academy is a full-time gymnastics training centre with a complete range of Olympic-standard equipment.

It caters for both women’s and men’s artistic gymnastics and has a broad range of classes for both children and adults.

Here’s a quick overview of the summer programme:
*51 WORKSHOPS;
*46 WEEKLY CLASSES;
*4 MINI GYM CAMPS (AGE 4 and 5);
*6 TEEN FITNESS CLASSES;
*7 GYMABLE ADDITIONAL NEEDS CLASSES;
*8 CAMPS (AGE 5+);

GymAble Classes are held weekly during the summer for children with additional needs (ages 5-12) where the coaches will work on confidence, strength, and co-ordination skills – and always with lots of fun!

For the teens, there is a Teen Fitness class, their chance to keep fit in a fun gymnastics environment, combining cardio, strength, conditioning and flexibility training.

The most popular floor skills are covered in weekly workshops with handstand, cartwheel, walkover and flip workshops to help you learn new skills and improve your floor work throughout the summer.

Beam can be a scary place for many young children, but KGA’s Beam Confidence class helps them build self-confidence and reduces fear of working on the beam. For gymnasts ready to move to the next phase there are workshops to cover beam basics and advanced beam workshop to progress walkovers from floor to beam.

Bars is often the apparatus gymnasts struggle most with, due to the huge amount of upper body strength required. KGA has workshops to develop bar skills such as uphip circles, casts, upstarts and more.

Jamie explains the philosophy: “We use gymnastics as a medium for physical fitness and strive to create an environment where all gymnasts are shown respect, feel safe, are challenged physically, and develop ownership of physical skills. This approach is empowering and enables gymnasts to explore beyond their normal comfort level, resulting in independent, confident, and self-assurance.”

All booking for Kilkenny Gymnastic Academy is made online. Go to http://www.kilkennygymnastics.ie select Book Now – Book Camps, then use the drop-down arrow to find the class that suits you.

And then … have fun. Because that’s what it’s all about.