ILE-PERROT – The founders of Les Gymnastes de l’Ile dream of giving young Canadian athletes the opportunity to succeed on the international stage.
But the club doesn’t have a gym to train its future stars.
The organization has started a GoFundMe campaign to build a much needed gymnastics space and make their dream a reality.
What is Les Gymnastes de l’Ile?
Les Gymnastes de l’Ile calls itself the first acrobatic gymnastic club in Canada.
It was founded in 2000 by former Polish gymnasts Eva Rucka and Andrzej Cichalewski.
The club offers recreational lessons and trains a competitive team that participates in provincial, national and international tournaments.
The competitive team is ranked at the top of its league both in Quebec and Canada.
What facilities are there?
The non-profit club splits its training between three school gyms – Chêne–Bleu, La Perdriolle and École Polyvalente La Samare.
This is because it does not have a permanent gym, explains President Danielle Tremblay.
Why does the club need its own gym?
It’s impossible to have access to proper equipment in school gyms, says Rucka.
The athletes are limited in terms of the type of training available to them, which inhibits their ability to develop as professional gymnasts and in turn hurts their international competitiveness.
Not to mention the club’s operations are subject to school’s gym availability, which limits the number of weekly practices.
The competitive team has only 14 hours of practice per week – about half the training time that similar teams have in other provinces.
With a gym of its own, Rucka insists the organization could expand, attract more students, generate more revenue and improve opportunities for athletes.
She says the club could even run a sports études program if it had its own facility.
How does the team finance its athletes to compete at World Championships?
The club relies heavily on parents, who pay for their children to attend the gym and organize fundraisers for travel expenses to and from international competitions.
The team has also received funds from the Quebec Federation of Gymnastics in the past.
Quebec’s own Cirque du Soleil used to also offer free tickets so the club could auction them off to raise funds.
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