Yorkshire & the Humber Enterprise Awards 2017

4 SME NEWS / Yorkshire &Humber Enterprise Awards 2017 , Ainsty Gymnastics and Trampoline Club began life as an idea which could solve the problem of no readily available gymnastics or trampoline classes for children in the York area. We spoke to Robert Loachwho tells us about the inspiration behind the club and why it is so great. Best Gymnastics Club 2017 Ainsty GTC has kick started gymnastics in York and has shown that people do not need large, expensive facilities to provide children with high quality gymnastics coaching. Robert explains how he set up the gymnastics club and how far the gym has expanded in the space of a year. “On 4th Sept 2016, we started offering gymnastics and trampoline classes to children age 5-16. We began with 10 staff, 40 classes, one school site and 600 registered members. One year on we now have 32 staff, 80+ classes, five school sites and 1300 registered members. For gymnastics, trampoline and parkour we offer both recreational and development classes. We also provide pre-school and adult classes.” Robert discusses some of the problems that he faced when setting up the gymnasium, but explained how he was able to develop the coaches, and is evidently proud of how much quality the company now possesses. Having expanded rapidly, there is still room for further growth, as Robert explains, outlining his vision for the gym, noting competitions as a future goal. “Finding coaches was a big obstacle but I knew, with my own extensive background in teaching and coaching, I just needed to find good people who were keen, enthusiastic, dedicated and committed and I could do the rest. I sought to draw on coaching experience from a range of backgrounds including gymnastics, cheerleading, dance, trampoline, parkour, believing that good coaches can coach any skill. We have developed staff and sent 20 of them on coaching courses this year. I have invested time, money and effort into a very young staff team, and already, we have a number of high quality coaches who may choose a future career in gymnastics or sports coaching. “In the future, I would like to have a large dedicated site with purpose built facilities and high quality equipment. I would like our children to be able to enter competitions and I would like all children to be able to access gymnastics when they want. I would like to create a franchise with an embedded programme of coaching, staff training within an effective business framework.” Company: Ainsty Gymnastics and Trampoline Club Contact: Robert Loach Contact Email: [email protected] Address: Hall Farm Court, York, YO26 7PE Phone: 07856 602199 Website: www.ainstygc.co.uk YOR17002