Gymnastics and Acro

Established in 2013, the Georgian Bay Phoenix Gymnastics and Acro (GBPGA) have spent the past seven years expanding their program offerings, making equipment and facility changes, and growing their staff to a team of ten coaches and two judges. Last season, the facility had over 50 local athletes who represented the club at meets all over Ontario and 200 recreational athletes participating in programs and camps.

Like so many other businesses, COVID-19 had other plans for the GBPGA team and their athletes. On March 13th, the club closed their doors. The winter recreational program was cut short and March break camp and the spring recreational session were cancelled. The athletes were not able to complete their season, missing all championships and most competitions.

With so many restrictions in place, the facility’s reopening for competitive and recreational programs was very uncertain and required significant changes. A lot of modifications were put into place prior to re-opening on June 1st. This included the purchase of cleaning machines, training of staff, adding of essential buckets and hand sanitizers all around the facility, the removal of some equipment, lobby and change room changes, athlete screening, mandatory participation forms, and more. When GBPGA were finally able to open safely, it was on a modified basis with much smaller participation numbers.

“The biggest challenges have been trying to plan and then re-plan constantly. Not only are we to follow all the government protocols, we are also part of the Gymnastics Ontario federation and follow their set of rules.”

Thanks to the many changes they implemented, they were one of the few businesses able to provide summer camps for youth. GBPGA has a great video on Facebook of all the changes the participants can expect. “We are adapting and changing with the current climate and are hopeful we can have a full year of participation with everyone staying safe and healthy. We are very grateful for all of the community support and on-going patience during these uncertain times.”

For more information, visit georgianbayphoenixgymnastics.ca, find them on Facebook, or call Petra Ballantyne, owner and coach, at 226-668-3243.