City of Edinburgh Gymnastics Club was established by Edinburgh Leisure in 2006 to provide a development opportunity beyond recreational gymnastics for girls who have the ability to progress to a higher level.

When the club began it had 11 gymnasts; it now boasts a squad of 24, all competing in Scottish Competitions. This is because the Club provides high quality, high performance gymnastics training so talented gymnasts from Edinburgh Leisure’s Gymnastics programme have the best possible opportunity to train and compete locally for a place on the Scottish National Team.

Currently, all of our gymnasts are preparing for Club Grades 3-6. We also have a small development group who are preparing for Compulsory Level 4, for the 2009 competition season. A stand out performer is Lucy Hutton (read more here).

The Club’s coaching staff, who principally train out of Hall 7 at Meadowbank Sports Centre, is led by Head Coaches Audrey Cash and Karen McGrath, supported by a coaching staff of Kelly Salter, Kathryn Findlay and Rachel Mackenzie. The number of skilled and qualified coaches means each gymnast at the club receives a higher standard of coaching and a greater devotion of each coach’s time to the development of the gymnast. Each coach has written a personal profile which can be found later in this handbook so you can get to know them a little better.

The Club, as an extension of the Edinburgh Leisure Gymnastics programme, is managed by a partnership between the Gymnastics Development Officer and Meadowbank Sports Centre’s Duty Manager. This partnership is responsible for the line management of the coaches, all of whom are responsible for continually striving to provide the best possible service and opportunity to the Club’s members. However, the club also has a vibrant Parents’ Committee that plays a fundamental part in the management of funding, and provision of additional support to the gymnasts.

The combination of professional management, highly skilled and qualified coaches and strong parental support all sharing the single vision of the desire to provide a fun, safe and highly motivated environment to get the best out of the promising gymnasts from the Edinburgh Leisure programme makes the City of Edinburgh Gymnastics Club a great Club to be part of!