Road Gym
Illawarra Mercury
Monday September 1, 2003
AS schoolteachers involved with physical education, Antony and Loren Gurtner always appreciated the benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
While Mrs Gurtner left the profession to raise her family, her husband resigned from teaching sports and fitness seven years ago to start his own business.
Gymsports was the first in the region to use a mobile gym to travel to primary schools, offering an extra-curricular gymnastics program for students from kindergarten to Year 6.
Mr Gurtner said he now had two fully equipped trailers, each with accredited gymnastics coaches, on the road. A third is about to join the fleet, visiting 40 schools between Bexley and Minto in Sydney and Lake Illawarra South.
``Students actually pay for the sessions, which are either 30 or 45 minutes once a week for a school term," he said.
``We recently introduced rhythmic gymnastics using hand-held apparatus to our beams, mini-trampolines, vaulting horses and floorwork equipment."
Mr Gurtner said his company also worked with children with disabilities.
``We will shortly be going to Engadine Public School for the first time and also attending Figtree school, working with children with physical disabilities - some in wheelchairs.
``They really enjoy the sessions and benefit from hand/eye coordination and improved gross motor skills.
``The program is actually about the students keeping fit and learning something whilst having fun and also achieving curriculum outcomes," he said.
© 2003 Illawarra Mercury