The Coastal Gym. A Local Success Story by Craig Jarvis
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t has been a while since I have cruised around the Industrial Area in St Francis Bay. A quick bounce around on the gravel roads soon reveals an area of St Francis Bay that has also undergone rapid and massive development. You can’t see most of it, as it all happens behind the more prominent buildings that front Tarragona. There are boats everywhere – either being built, stored or repaired. Some units are housing interior designing companies, cleaning companies, surfboard factories, shops, water purification companies, and more. In one of the new buildings stands Coastal Gym, a success story in the making. Currently based in a rectangular high-roof warehouse, the gym is on the move and expanding. In fact, the gym should now be housed in two such industrial buildings, with a mezzanine in the second and a small retail outlet and water station in the far corner. The rise and rise of The Coastal Gym is a remarkable success story to come from Sea
Vista. Enter Xolisilile Ngantweni. Wildside TIMES: So, how did it all begin? Xolisilile Ngantweni: I decided to start some gym training at home, so I began to do some gym work outside my house in Sea Vista. I didn’t have much equipment, but I started anyway. Two neighbours came over when I was training the next day and asked if I could join. So then there were three of us. Then, there were four of us, and we were training together. So, growing all the time. Yes, I took a photo of us, put it onto the St Francis Facebook Page, and asked for some help with some old equipment they might want to donate. They all started giving us some stuff, and then I found a shack in Sea Vista, a three-by-three, and we turned this into the gym with all the donated equipment. That became the gym? Yes, that was the new gym, and everyone came after work and trained in the gym. We grew to 16 people in one week. After a while, Marcus Attinger came into
the picture to see what Xolisisile was up to. He saw how the work was bettering the community and moved the gym into a small location in the Industrial Area next to Fresh. After that, they moved into a new location, and Marcus got us some new equipment. At that stage, the gym membership was up to 30 people. The membership just kept growing. More than 50 people, girls and boys of all races, are training at this stage. We have 13 ladies who train here, and some kids train here. We have three 14-year-olds who train here. They don’t go drinking and do drugs; they come here to train, to lift weights, and they keep their minds strong, and then they go to sleep. No time for drink and drugs because they are working hard in the gym, and then they are tired. Calibre also signed up their entire team of 20, with everyone getting a membership. “We’re excited to have secured gym memberships for our security response guards at the Coastal gym in Sea Vista,” “said Paul Middleton from Calibre. We believe prioritising their physical and mental
