As we countdown to the Commonwealth Games, we’ve been really impressed by the work of Welsh Gymnastics to get all the clubs into the winning spirit. Welcome to guest blogger Simon Price of Welsh Gymnastics who tells us more about what they’ve been up to…
Background
Elite sport is a listless animal. With the amount of preparation that goes in to pre-planning, participation, and post-competitions, one might be forgiven for thinking that at the end of all the hard work, all involved (crew, support, athletes) might enjoy basking in the glow of the respective medal haul. But this is patently not the case.
The world of top sporting competition moves as fast as the athletes that participate, and there is no such thing as ‘time off’. The 2012 London Olympics was perhaps the world’s first true-multimedia Olympics, with access available to virtually anyone with a modern media device and decent signal. The stats don’t lie: across the entire British Isles, sports in general enjoyed a resurgence of interest, especially those that may be considered ‘fringe’, when compared, say, to the established main stream sports such as football or professional tennis. Gymnastics was one of these.
When Francesca Jones stepped on to the sprung floor for the first time as an Olympian in 2012, she couldn’t have anticipated the impact her lone performance as the first British gymnast to compete in the Rhythmic discipline would have. With parental Welsh heritage, Frankie (as she likes to be called) was not merely competing as a British gymnast, but also a Welsh one, and her success at the Olympics ushered in a new era for the discipline, especially in Wales. The Olympics shone a spotlight on the sport, and Welsh Gymnastics, the governing body based in Cardiff, knew that they had a prime opportunity to maintain the new wave of enthusiasm.
Coming hot on the heels of the Olympics is the Commonwealth. Similar in size, but markedly different in that smaller individual countries, rather than joint nations and republics, get the opportunity to showcase their talent on a world-wide stage. As the dying flames of the Olympic torch licked and breathed their last, Welsh Gymnastics began serious preparation for the Glasgow games almost immediately. Keen to capitalise on the increased public and media awareness of the sport, it implemented a nation-wide club infrastructure, providing better support, training, and facilities for a great many clubs across Wales.
Commonwealth Games build up
Keen to ride upon the crest of the popularity wave from the Olympics, Welsh Gymnastics attempted to encourage affiliated clubs and gymnasts to maintain their enthusiasm for the Commonwealth Games, and to get ‘in to the spirit’ of the competition by supporting Team Gymnastics and Team Wales.
To that end, the build-up plans ‘hatched’ an idea that would prove extremely successful:
1. A ‘Club Relay’ with a new Welsh Gymnastics Mascot, GymBach the Dragon.
2. A Club Commonwealth Games Resource Pack
The idea behind this campaign was simple: to engage with as many children as possible during the run up to the Glasgow Games. Welsh Gymnastics organised the mascot to visit as many gymnastic clubs as possible via a written invitation, to galvanise support and stoke up an interest of the Games in to the minds of the younger gymnasts, some of whom may have been too young to fully appreciate the 2012 Olympics.
Additionally to this, GymBach would bring along a large Welsh flag for the young gymnasts to sign, as well as a ‘good luck’ scrap book, both of which were to be presented to Team Wales as they set off for Glasgow. As a little reminder of his visit, GymBach would present each club on the relay with a small, stuffed dragon toy.
The hope was to encourage the clubs, coaches and younger gymnasts to have their photos with the Dragon, to be submitted to the Welsh Gymnastics website. As an additional, modern aside, a ‘GymBach Blog’ was developed, with reports of his travels written from a Dragon’s perspective, all of which were posted on the Welsh Gymnastics website.
As an additional attraction, Welsh Gymnastics also supplied every club that participated in the club relay with a ‘Commonwealth Resource Pack’, consisting of bunting in the Welsh colours, to adorn the clubs, as well as flags and window stickers. It was hoped that this campaign would bring about more cohesion within the Welsh Gymnastic community, with an A1 size calendar presented to each club, highlighting major events running from January to December 2014.
GymBach Club Relay
The dragon made his scaly debut at the 2013 Annual Awards Evening, held on the 3rd January 2014.
And from that moment forward, the campaign began in earnest. The response from clubs to participate in the club relay was overwhelming. Gymbach was booked out solidly, travelling the entire length and breadth of Wales, from Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth, Caernarfon, Bangor and Wrexham.
The tour commenced on the 6th of January 2014, and lasted some four months in total, visiting over 50 clubs.
Word soon got out about the his popularity, and it wasn’t long before clubs and younger gymnasts were holding ‘dragon drawing’ and ‘cake-baking’ competitions in anticipation of GymBach’s visit!
Sarah Jones, Chief Development Officer for Welsh Gymnastics, knew they’d cracked it with GymBach: “When the children were making their own dragon art mementos, and giving it to GymBach when he arrived, we knew we had a hit on our hands,” she says.
She continues: “Gymbach was developed to galvanise international and community spirit within Welsh Gymnastics clubs, and boost the sport at the Games. The whole campaign was quickly embraced by the children at the clubs, and we’re proud to say the entire project has been a ‘roaring success!”
Additional GymBach Participation
Due to the rapid rise in his popularity, GymBach was guest at a number of other high profile gymnastic events in the 2014 calendar. The friendly dragon attended the Rotary Disability Gymnastic Championships, and was swamped by eager dragon fans as they queued up in turn to have their photo with him.
And the same was equally true when GymBach visited Rhondda Cynon Taf’s Queen’s Baton Relay towards the end of May; such is the dragon’s popularity with children.
For a campaign that was entirely funded by Welsh Gymnastics, the £500 spent on the mascot, club resource packs and stuffed toys, was clearly money well deployed. Gymbach even raised this same amount during a ‘Sports Relief Mile Challenge’, which was of course donated to the charity.
Highlights
Dependant on the skills of the operator on the day, Gymbach would often limber up with the children, and sometimes even participate in gymnastics! One club that seemed to completely embrace the entire ethos of the GymBach Relay was Camarthen’s Gymnastics club. Head Coach Sharon Evans actually persuaded the dragon to participate on the rings apparatus, awarding GymBach with his own medal at the end, much to the delight of the children!
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