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Elk Valley Gymnastics Club launches in new location

The Elk Valley Gymnastics Club has moved into a new location, and held it’s first classes this past Monday.
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The Elk Valley Gymnastics Club held its first classes in its new location, Monday. Phil Mclachlan/The Free Press

The Elk Valley Gymnastics Club has moved into a new location, and held it’s first classes this past Monday.

They are now located at 902 6th Avenue, where the CrossFit studio previously resided, behind the Fernie Community Centre.

The gymnastics club was located in the Max Turyk Elementary School library, ever since their start up three years ago.

The previous training area was approximately 50 feet by 20 feet with a 10 foot ceiling. Now, they have quadrupled this. Club founder and president, Ronan Mac Con, was happy to make the move.

“We were a victim of our success, we were bursting at the seams there,” he said.

“This opportunity came up, and we jumped on it.”

Their space at Max Turyk, although it was a stepping stone for the club, didn’t allow them to train on things such as a trampoline because of the low ceiling height. Now, that is a non-issue.

The clubs biggest restraint in the past was a lack of space and equipment, and now, they have the space and are building their equipment.

The club has switched its business model to accompany a more diversified group of people. They plan to offer increased parkour training, competitive training, adult classes and special needs programming.

The club has three full-time coaches, and are always looking for more local coaches.

Ronan’s goal for the club, is to make gymnastics a foundational sport, for all sports. He hopes that one day they can partner with Fernie Freestyle.

“We want to change the traditional mindset of gymnastics, as a very specialized thing, and bring the training to everyone to benefit everyone’s sports,” he said.

He admitted that Fernie is a very athletic community, with many sports and activities for all ages. He wants gymnastics to complement this. He believes their accommodation of multi-sport training has contributed to their success, and need for the move.



Phil McLachlan

About the Author: Phil McLachlan

Phil McLachlan is the editor at the Penticton Western News. He served as the reporter, and eventually editor of The Free Press newspaper in Fernie.
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