This article is from page 28 of the 2008-02-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 28 JPG
A VALUABLE piece of specialised gymnastics equipment is being left outside rusting in the rain, as there is no storage available for it in Shan- nte)eF
The Shannon gymnastics club bought a €17,000 linear trampo- line in November and was under the impression at the time that storage would be available at the local lei- sure centre.
However, the storage is not avail- able and the equipment has been left O)ULMB NOMA slomod (one lo OLR
The club, which was formed 10 years ago, trains at the leisure centre. However, in recent years, a number of its members have achieved nation- al honours, with the result that they
are in need of improved facilities.
There are currently 80 members signed up, seven of who recently made the Irish team. One of its mem- bers, 12-year-old Becky O’Donnell (from Kildysart), will travel to Por- tugal in March to represent Ireland in an elite junior open competition. Last year she competed in Lithuania and was placed in the top ten in a world cup event in Poland.
Club coach Elaine Ryan said the success has become a struggle, as facilities are not satisfactory.
“It (the trampoline) is outside in the rain, wrapped up. It would be mas- sive work to get it in and back out,” said Ms Ryan.
“Over the past few years, the club has raised over €42,000 which was spent on specialised equipment, to
allow the club to develop at high competitive level,’ she said.
She also said that the other equip- ment is being damaged, because it is not located in a permanent, suitable No NLELOR
“The equipment is left in open ar- eas because there is no storage at the leisure centre. If we were to take out all of our equipment, it would easily take an hour,” she said.
“Very expensive equipment is get- ting damaged at an alarming rate, due to lack of storage, but the club has nowhere else to go,’ said Ms Ryan.
She said the club needs a tall build- ing. While many warehouses are too expensive to rent, the club would be willing to pay an affordable rate for a building.
“Realistically we need a permanent residence. We would be willing to oy Nas ean
“It is crazy that there are so many empty buildings around Shannon that would be ideal. Even part of a building would be a dream.
‘There is a huge demand for gym- nastics in the area and the coaches work very hard to meet the demand,” said Ms Ryan.