1066 gym opens

The 1066 Gymnastic Academy opened on Wednesday April 1 at 3A Brett Drive and boasts 10,500 square feet devoted to helping young gymnasts fulfill their potential.

The Academy is run by 25 year old Matthew Hart who has already been coaching for 10 years and aims to welcome as many youngsters as possible through the doors to see if gymnastics is for them.

He has been training a small elite group of gymnasts since starting his own club six months ago and now the completion of the Academy premises is nothing less than a personal dream come true.

The huge airy studio was visited by his pupils at the weekend and there was great excitement from both youngsters and parents when the Olympic-level facility became available to them for the first time.

Until recently Matthew has been coaching locally, and travelling to Maidstone and Crawley with gymnasts so they could train with specialist equipment every week, but now he is satisfied they have all they need for top level training right on their doorstep.

"The 1066 Gymnastic Academy was formed in October 2008," he commented.

"We made our debut at the Sussex Gymnastic Champtionships that month in Burgess Hill. There were just six boys, but we went along - very small, humble beginnings, but we were very well received. One of them, Jack Cooper, came back with a couple of gold medals and the title of mens under-12 floor and vaults.

"We built up from there - I acquired this property in Brett Drive and got the planning permission for all this.

"Then my colleague Clare Clarke came on board and suddenly we had a group of girls with us. Basically for the past six months we have been working at Helenswood for training four times a week, with the odd new ones coming along, and it's been about keeping the squad of gymnasts in training.

"They are very committed and we get a lot of support from the parents. We had Josh Millard, who is 10, qualify to represent the South East in the tumbling grades national finals, and we have got 10 year old Callan Hall who did the mens artistic grades two weeks ago, up against boys training up to 20 hours a week...he had been getting by on six to eight hours a week, but he qualified also and got on the team so will be travelling to Newcastle in May to represent the South East there."

This elite group has already achieved success for the Academy but Matthew hopes to see new faces coming through the door and aims to discover potential and future talent who will be nurtured by coaches of national level.

"Right now we are looking for young girls to work with. Jodie and Kelly, who are both former national gymnasts themselves, are looking for a lot of young girls. We will be holding a free session on Tuesday April 14 from 6-8pm, and they will be wanting girls born in 2003/4, for womens artistic gymnastics.

"We are trying to spread the word around local schools that we are looking for the stars of tomorrow. We have gymnasts here, but we have the space to work with new gymnasts who might be the stars of the future.

"We hope with this location we are central between Bexhill and Hastings and I feel we are very accessible - that's why we named it 1066, because it is not just for Bexhill or Hastings, but wider than that. We have one girl who travels in from Lydd, and one of our coaches comes over from Brighton every day. We want youngsters from the whole area."

A range of sessions is starting to suit a wide age group and level of ability - from parent toddler coaching, to pre-school classes, to general classes for youngsters after their school day, and older and adult classes including training for teenagers interested in freestyle and free running.

For further details visit the website on www.1066gym.co.uk or call on 01424 213779.