SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS SKILLS That pretty much sums up what’s been happening in the gym lately for our Aspire gymnasts.  I love this time of year, after a fantastic competition season, we now see lots of excited gymnasts learning and achieving new skills!  This time of year can also bring out some fears and frustrations as we upskill and try new things.  It's very important gymnasts realise it is normal to sometimes feel apprehensive, however we are committed to ensuring gymnasts are not pushed into skills they are not ready for - and with time and practice, overcoming these fears is part of the sense of accomplishment! At the moment we are having a big push on STRENGTH and CONDITIONING! This is a major part of training in gymnastics - without any strength or conditioning it makes nearly impossible to perform skills with safety and good technique.  I am looking forward to seeing how our Aspire gymnasts have improved at the upcoming PAD tests! Sometimes during skill season, we go back to basics for a couple of weeks to work on our technique. The gym is full of energy and loads of drills are being done for some new skills for next year!!! We have just launched our WOW WALL, which will be run at both Southport & St Hilda’s. The gymnasts will be awarded a STAR to add to the wall whenever they perform a new skill. At the end of the year we will take all the stars off the wall and the gymnasts will count up how many new skills they have completed this term! I look forward to seeing loads of stars on our WOW WALLS! We have a lot of gymnasts with sore, tight muscles at the moment.  It is really important we roll out and stretch when feeling this way.  We are continuing to educate the girls on the difference between a sore muscle from hard work and sore muscles from an injury, to prevent the latter wherever possible. I am so proud of how hard our Southport gymnasts are working in the gym!  Go Team Southport! Miss Kim