Whanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club rangatahi shine

Katy Harvey (left), Legacey Te Hore, Kaitlyn Dew and Shannon Hill of The Whanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club. Photo / Supplied

Offering new ways for our youth to get active, build confidence, and connect is important. It's not necessarily a case of inventing new but applying fresh thinking to existing activities.

That's what the Awhi te Rangatahi fund, a project led by youth from the YESS Council (Youth Empowerment Squad) and Whanganui District Council Youth Council sets out to do by encouraging "for youth, by youth" events.

Rangatahi from the Whanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club were the happy recipients of funding for two such events. The first, a free Parkour session, took place at the end of May.

The Whanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club's Operations Manager, Annette Cox, is rightly proud of rangatahi, Legacey and Kaitlin.

"This was the first event that our young coaches have ever organised and delivered, even though they were nervous they delivered the event to a very high standard on behalf of our gymnastics club, allowing rangatahi to enjoy the club's equipment and space in a safe environment.

"The Whanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club is very proud of Legacey Te Hore and Kaitlin Dew for the effort and time they both put in to organise the funding presentations, planning for the event and finally the delivery on May 27.

"Registration spaces were open to 27 rangatahi and all spaces were booked. They even had rangatahi attend on the evening asking to join in, which they agreed to."

The Whanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club's other successful Awhi te Rangatahi application is an event for rangatahi. The funding application, design and delivery, was in the capable hands of Shannon Hill and Katy Harvey, two rangatahi from the club.

Shannon describes the process of presenting the concept to the YESS Council and Youth Council. "My teammate Katy and I went to Sport Whanganui to promote our idea for a young women's only event at the gym club.

"The meeting went really well, and we were able to have a great discussion around the importance of women and girls participating in sport and the different life skills that gymnastics can offer.

"We were over the moon to find out that we had received the funding to make this event a reality. Our vision for this event is to see young women taking the opportunity to give gymnastics a go despite their age or ability and to have the courage to try something new."

Shannon is passionate about the benefits reaped from her involvement in gymnastics.
"There is something for everyone in gymnastics whether you prefer the strength, flexibility or performance aspect of it.

"I've pretty much grown up in the gym my whole life, and there is so much that it has taught me, such as how to be both mentally and physically strong, time management, self-motivation and determination.

"I am so excited to have the opportunity to give to other young women what this sport has taught me. Gymnastics is such a rewarding sport to be involved in, overcoming fears, gaining confidence and accomplishing things you never thought you had the ability to.

"The main reason for this being a young women-only event is because we know how hard it can be at times to try something new and set insecurities aside when doing so. The main focus of this event is to see young women empowering other young women, to develop a new level of encouragement and support for one another."

Support really is the key word, adults supporting youth by providing opportunities for their voices and ideas to be heard. Then providing space for those ideas to flourish.

The Whanganui Boys and Girls Gym Club, Shannon and Katy will be launching the dates and times for the young women's event soon. Keep an eye on the club's website and Facebook page!