Gymnastics

Ascot Park offers three pathways in gymnastics.

1. Beginner Gymnastics

Run by Andrew Cordery, owner and coach of Alpha Gymnastics, for students who want to improve their coordination, balance and movement in a fun and safe setting.

One hour a week, for 32 weeks of the school year, Friday mornings 7:30am to 8:30am.

2. Gymnastics, Strength and Conditioning

Open to students from this school and others. Girls and boys of any level can trial, and those selected go into the program that suits them — Advanced, Intermediate or Development. Groups are capped at ten so every athlete gets individual planning and coaching.

Trainings are run by Andrew Cordery twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 7:00am to 8:30am.

Enquiries: gfa@kooranagym.com.au

All programs are run by qualified professional coaches, aligned to the Australian Curriculum and designed to support progression through the Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Australian Levels Programs.

3. School Gymnastics for All

Every student at Ascot Park has one 50-minute gymnastics lesson a week, run by our school gymnastics coach and qualified teacher, Andrew Cordery, as part of their Physical Education curriculum.

Our head coach: Andrew Cordery

Andrew took up gymnastics at a small recreational club outside Brisbane, and knew it was his sport when the 1994 World Championships came to his home town. As a competitor he represented Queensland at five National Championships and Australia in the Trans-Tasman Challenge against New Zealand, before finishing his competitive career for a full-time teaching position.

He began coaching and judging in the late 1990s to give back to the sport, and has presented gymnastics courses in Queensland and South Australia, working with teachers and clubs to widen who gets to try it.

Andrew's view is that physical activity should be something you enjoy, and that everybody benefits from gymnastics — children who start young are more likely to stay active as adults, and adults get back things they thought they had lost.

He holds Bachelor degrees in Education and Applied Science, is an Advanced Silver Gymnastics Coach, and is an internationally accredited MAG judge who has attended the World Championships (2013) and the Youth Olympic Games (2014).

What the Strength and Conditioning program builds

The program develops the physical qualities behind acrobatic sports — artistic gymnastics, trampolining, diving. It is designed to complement a club program, though club membership is not required, particularly at development level. Students compete at the Gymnastics SA Schools Challenge in Term 3 each year.

Five areas of development:

• Core strength
• Arm strength
• Leg strength
• Handstand
• Flexibility

Athletes are grouped by physical ability rather than competition level, with the difficulty rising at each step.

Development — basic body shapes, with a focus on coordination, static strength and basic flexibility.

Intermediate — strength movements such as chin-ups, dips and squats; balance in handstand; static flexibility such as bridge.

Advanced — advanced handstand work including press to handstand; power development; dynamic flexibility such as bridge and recover, and walkovers.

Progress is measured each term with a profile test, which tracks personal improvement and shapes what comes next.

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