Gymnastics is one of the oldest Olympic sports and largest sports in the World.
The World Gymnastics Championships is broadcast to a global TV audience of around 200 million people and at every Olympic Games, gymnastics is one of the first sports to sell out.
In Ireland Gymnastics Ireland is one of the largest Olympic sports in the country, while also being one of the most inclusive so male or female, young or old, able bodied or disabled there is something for you.
Physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance are the sports core components however participation in gymnastics activity also develops confidence, creativity & leadership, not to mention a healthy body and mind. Gymnastics also promotes an active, physical lifestyle and develops key motor skills.
There are 8 disciplines that fall under the umbrella of gymnastics, four Olympic & four Non-Olympic…
Olympic Disciplines
Men’s Artistic, Women’s Artistic, Rhythmic gymnastics & Trampoline Gymnastics
Non-Olympic Disciplines
Tumbling, Acrobatics, Aerobics and Gymnastics for All
Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by FIG – the International Gymnastics Federation. There are also 4 continental gymnastics unions, including the European Gymnastics Union – UEG.
Gymnastics Ireland is the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Ireland. We are affiliated to both FIG & UEG in addition to the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and are recognised as such by the Irish Sports Council (ISC).
It remains the aim of Gymnastics Ireland to firmly establish Gymnastics as a core Irish sport and provide opportunities for all members of Irish society to participate in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest sports in the world.
Gymnastics Ireland 2015 and beyond…
2015 is a particularly busy year – both on our national competition side and for our international gymnasts.
On the national competition front we kicked off the New Year with the WAG Level 1 in DCU where approx. 350 gymnasts competed in the first competition of the 2015 season.
In February we took delivery of around €340,000 worth of equipment from Janssen Fritsen/Eurotramp and the busy events schedule continued with over 300 gymnasts taking part in the Trampoline/Tumbling Grand Prix, Rhythmic Novice & MAG Levels 1-3 and over 650 gymnasts participating in the WAG Level 2-5.
March also saw us host the first of our two internationals of 2015, the Acrobatics Celtic Cup. With visiting delegations from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Scotland prevailed as the overall winner, while both Team Ireland & Wales were joint runners up. There were some standout performances from the Irish team however the 11-16 FIG Team finishing in 1st place was a particular highlight. Following the success of this event we now look forward to hosting the 2015 Northern European Championships in UL Sport Arena in September.
On the international circuit Ellis O’Reilly & Andrew Smith stepped out at the WAG/MAG World Cup in Cottbus, the highlight being Andrew’s 10th place finish on Floor. Kieran Behan also competed in the World Challenge Cup in Slovenia placing 19th on both Floor & Rings. Gymnastics also will be one of the largest Irish teams that will compete in June at the European Games in Baku, while our Olympic Qualification starts in late October at the 2015 World Championship in Glasgow.
The next quarter will be just as busy on the national event front with May in particular shaping up as a month of National Championships.
2015 will also see us introduce our new annual flagship participation based event – ‘The Floor’. This event will provide member clubs with the opportunity to put on an entertainment spectacle in front of an enthusiastic crowd of gymnastics fans. The aim of this event is to create an annual showcase where our member clubs pull together a performance to show everyone just how skilful, fun, entertaining & exciting our sport is.
Finally 2015 marks a key milestone in the development of our organisation and sport in Ireland as construction has commenced on the National Gymnastics Training Centre within the new National Indoor Arena at the National Sports Campus in Dublin. This state-of-the-art facility will provide gymnastics Ireland with a world class base of operations for everything from our education system through to our participation & performance programmes in addition to providing a home for our national & international events programme.
Email: ask@gymnasticsireland.com
Telephone: 01 – 625 1125
Website: www.gymnasticsireland.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/GymnasticsIreland
Twitter: @GymnasticsIre