New Gymnastics Year!
Term 1 starts on Saturday, 31st August and we look forward to seeing our returning members and welcoming new members over the coming week or so. Many of our new members joined us over the Summer for Camps so are somewhat familiar with the gym, although classes are quite different to Camps. Before the term begins, we would ask parents to please read the information below which will assist with the smooth running of the Club.
Please take a few moments to familiarise yourself with how we operate :-
- Only children who have been registered should attend for class as per the time slot on their form.
- If you have not registered your child or have not received confirmation of registration, please do not attend as we cannot accept anyone who is not registered on our system. You should check your email or check with us in advance if unsure.
- Children should be dropped at the main door not more than 5 minutes before their class time, where one of our staff will check them in. Parents are not required to wait or sign anything as all the information has already been provided to us on registration.
- Try to have your child on time so they’re not missing the warm up and important stretches.
- As our classes run back to back, children will be asked to wait in the foyer area of the gym, under our supervision. As our space is limited and we utilise it for gymnastics and equipment, we do not have a viewing area available.
- As we are very conscious of Child Protection regulations, only registered gymnasts and our staff are permitted in the gym during sessions.
- All our coaches are qualified under our NGB Gymnastics Ireland and all are fully compliant with Safeguarding requirements.
- Children should bring a bottle of water with their name on it and ensure they bring it home afterwards as any bottles left behind will be put in the bin. Also please make sure they take home hoodies, jackets, etc.
- As children will be asked to remove socks and shoes on arrival, crocs, sliders, etc., are the quickest and easiest option for children (please no laces!)
- Long hair should be tied back prior to arrival.
- No jewellery to be worn in the gym as this can get broken or lost during activities.
- Strictly no mobile phones or devices while in the gym, if a child needs a phone for after class, it must be powered off and left with their shoes for the duration of the class.
- Clothing suitable for sport to be worn – leotards are not necessary for recreational gymnastics but shorts, t-shirt, leggings, are all fine – please no skirts, dresses, tights, jeans, crop tops, etc.
- We also have a strict ‘No Nut Policy’ as we have some members with nut allergies.
- All children warm up and stretch together and are then split into small groups with a coach, this is a great opportunity to get to know other children in the group and make some new friends.
- Children are only permitted to use equipment under the direction of their coach. We know the equipment is very tempting to try out but using it without the proper instruction can lead to accidents!
- We ask gymnasts to always be nice to each other and to the coaches and we would ask parents to encourage this also as it fosters a nicer environment for everybody.
- We cannot accommodate any requests to join a different class for a week your child may be unable to attend. Once the registrations are complete for the term, we cannot move a child to a different day/time during the term as all other classes are also full.
- Please ensure children are collected on time as some children get very distressed when parents/grandparents are late collecting them. Please come to the door to collect your child so that they are not running out into a very busy car park.
- We would ask parents to please not interrupt classes and if a child has to leave early, please let us know beforehand so we can arrange it.
- If your child is going to be absent through injury, it will be necessary to get a clearance letter from the consultant before returning to gymnastics.
- For registration for the next term, a link will be sent out late October/early November with a deadline by which it has to be paid to secure the place and continue gymnastics.
- For any queries our email is administrator@athlonegymnasticsclub.ie and our phone number 083 8333171, please do not send emails to any other address. Please also note that our coaches are not involved in the club administration.
We realise that, after all the spaces and new classes we added, some children still did not manage to get a space such was the demand once they went live. We would love to be able to accommodate everybody who would like to join us but ultimately it comes down to the numbers we can safely take at any one time and the availability of coaches. We will continue to do our best to make more spaces available throughout the year so please bear with us.