Recently, the completion of a training pit at the gymnastics club has made
a huge change in the training of tricks. The pit is a swimming pool-like structure
that is padded around the inside. The bottom layer is filled with inflated truck
inner tubes, then a layer of netting is bungeed around the 20 foot by 20 foot
perimeter. The remaining three feet of depth is filled with 8 inch cubes of
foam. The purpose of the pit is to allow athletes to learn new tricks without
the risk of injury. For example, the equipment is set up around the pit so that
the athletes are able to swing off the high bar into the pit; vault into the
pit; take off the trampoline into the pit; and finally to tumble on the strip
of sprung flooring into the pit! This soft landing allows for many repetitions
and a smart place to try twisting without injury to knees or ankles. The bonus
to the pit is that IT'S FUN!! All ages are enjoying the zunga and jumping into
this unique training structure.
Thanks to the following people and many others who made this dream a reality
for the Powell River Gymnastics Society
Pat Hull and Powell River Building Supply
Pelican Cleaning
Westcoast FishCulture
Dave Craigen
Ted and Brett Vizzutti
Dennis and Kyle Raimondo
Dan Glover
Gary Smith
David Percey
Kevin Young
Ernie Westgate
Ian Thompson
Jim Sepkowski
Ken Philips
And our funders:
Powell River Community Foundation
Catalyst Paper
Ladies of the Moose
The 2005-2006 Gymnastics Membership