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A team of 21 gymnasts from Tembaletu Special School in Gugulethu who took part in the SAGF National Gymnastics Games two Sundays ago walked away with a silver medal for their performance.
The team, coached by Flairs Sports Academy, took part in the National Gym for Life Challenge where they competed against nine other teams from around the country.
The Flairs @ Tembaletu School team was the only team competing in the challenge with gymnasts with disabilities (both physical and mental) and they completely grabbed the hearts of the audience.
The aim of the Gym for Life Challenge is to tell a story or have a theme for your routine, utilising gymnastics apparatus and activities in the performance.
The Tembaletu Team used the music “Rock Around the Clock” and had the audience clapping along the way as they used colourful hoola-hoops and rope skipping to capture the groove of Rock n Roll.
There is only one open section, so every team competes against each other, regardless of age or ability.
This is the first time the gymnasts from Tembaeltu School have taken part in a National Gymnastics Competition, so to walk away with a silver medal was a fantastic achievement.
Flairs Sports Academy has been teaching gymnastics at the school for the past two years at the school and the gymnasts have come along in leaps and bounds.
The gymnastics program is headed by Terrence Tshamlambo and Masixole Felani, who use their years of experience as top South African Rope Skippers, as well as internationally qualified coaches to give the learners a wonderful activity to take part in week in and week out.
Flairs’s motto is “fun, fitness and friendship” and that gymnastics is for everyone regardless of ability (taking the “dis” out of disability).
The gymnasts at Tembaletu School are able to achieve a great deal in the sport, regardless of what challenges they may face.
“A program like this is never successful without a fantastic partnership between the school and Flairs Sports Academy,” said Tembaletu school principal, Mr Pather.
Pather has been hailed as an inspiring leader, helping to form the partnership with the gymnastics club.
The group is also supported by a construction company and other private concerns, including the Ukuphumelela Trust.
The achievement of Tembaeltu School is proof that with hard work, dedication and great leadership, a lot can be achieved if people applied their minds to the task at hand.
