The City of Cape Town in conjunction with SAGF will be hosting the first ever Gym for life National Challenge, namely the 1st SA Gym for Life Challenge 2012 which will also be the qualifying event for 2013. A team will be selected at this event to represent South Africa in 2013.
Date: 5-8 July
Venue: University of Cape Town
The Gym for Life World Challenge is a new event concept currently being developed by the FIG. For the second time on a world level, a contest for performance groups of all ages and genders will be incorporated. The challenge will complement the FIG’s World Gymnaestrada by being held every four years in between the World Gymnaestradas.
The groups can participate in the contest with a programme of a maximum of five minutes, incorporating any gymnastic element, with or without apparatus and it can be accompanied by music.
Group performances will be evaluated on entertainment value, overall impression, innovation, originality, variety and technique. The evaluation will be carried out by a panel of experts. All participating groups will be awarded either a gold, silver or bronze placing. Groups who achieve a gold placing at the contest will participate in the Gym for Life Gala.
At the Gym for Life Gala it will be decided what group will be the World Champion and receive the 2013 Bruno Grandi Trophy.
The South African Gymnastics Federation (SAGF), in partnership with the City of Cape Town, embarked on a community programme in May 2011, as part of the 2013 World Gym For Life Challenge Legacy Programme where six mentors were identified by SAGF and up-skilled with coaching, basic administration and leadership training. These mentors then used their newly acquired skills to train local play-leader volunteers in six districts of Cape Town. The volunteers were then tasked to coach the four disciplines of Aerobics, Rope Skipping, Rhythmic Gymnastics and Gymnastics for All at their local community halls.
About Gymnastics for All
Gymnastics for All (GfA) is the historical and cultural discipline of the FIG. Created by its founder, Nicolas Cuperus (BEL) in 1881, GfA bring together gymnasts of all ages, all genders and all cultural backgrounds to enjoy the diverse range of physical activities that gymnastics offers.
Gymnastics for All activities contribute to personal health, fitness and well-being – physical, social, intellectual and psychological. The focus of GfA is the F4 (Fun – Fitness - Fundamentals - Friendship) and can involve gymnastics with or without apparatus, gymnastics and dance. It offers aesthetic experiences in movement for participants and spectators while providing the opportunity to focus on items that are of particular interest in a national and cultural context.
This makes gymnastics one of the largest sporting organisations contributing to global health, fitness and well-being in the world!
Gymnastics for All is the solid foundation of the entire FIG edifice, and on it rests all six competitive disciplines. It embodies the Federation’s sport culture in its entirety, a culture centred on man and motion.
Two events are organised under the leadership of FIG Gymnastics for All. Since 1953 the World Gymnaestrada is held every four years. This is a non-competitive event with performances that take place during a week. Around 20 000 gymnasts from around the world participate.
Since 2009 the Gym for Life World Challenge is also held every four years, in between the World Gymnaestradas. This is an international contest for gymnastics groups and at the first edition 2 000 gymnasts participated.
About the South African Gymnastics Federation (SAGF)
The South African Gymnastics Federation (SAGF) is the governing body for gymnastics in the geographic bounds of South Africa. The SAGF governs nine disciplines: Gymnastics for All, Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, Women’s Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Trampoline Gymnastics, Tumbling Gymnastics, Aerobic and Acrobatic Gymnastics as well as Rope Skipping.
SAGF is affiliated to FIG, the African Gymnastic Union (UAG) and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).
The Federation is actively involved from grassroots development to elite gymnastics in all nine provinces of South Africa, with the assistance of its provincial affiliates.