TEMBALETU ARE SILVER MEDALISTS AT SAGF NATIONALS

A team of 21 gymnasts from Tembaletu Special School in Gugulethu took part at the SAGF National Gymnastics Games on Sunday 2 October and 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 9 other teams from around the country for the title of National Gym for Life Champions.

 

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 entire 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 bound. The gymnastics program is headed up by Terrence Tshamlambo and Masixole Felani (both hailing from Khayelitsha) who use their years of experience as top South African Rope Skippers, as well as internationally qualified coaches in Gym for All 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. Tembaletu school principle, Mr Pather, has been an inspiring leader in forming the partnership with the Gymnastics club. The group is also supported by Murray & Roberts, Nuclear Packaging and The Ukuphumelela Trust.

 

The achievement of Tembaletu School in walking away with a silver medal at the National Gymnastics Games is proof that with hard work, dedication and great leadership, you can achieve anything.