Thirteen local PCYC Gymnastics coaches have been selected as part of the PCYC NSW Performance Gymnastics Team.

The team is one of few international teams who have been invited as VIPs to the Landsstaevne (National Danish Festival) in July 2017.

PCYC NSW received the invitation from the DGI (Danish Gymnastics Federation) after their stunning performance at the World Gymnaestrada, Helsinki in 2015. 

You can see the team perform a full dress rehearsal at PCYC Taree on Monday June 12 at 2pm. 

A gold coin donation will be collected at the door. 

All friends, families are community members are welcome to come and farewell the team and see the unique performance.

Members from PCYC Taree (coached by Sarah Hayes) and Cowra and Newcastle PCYCs (coached by Penny Schubert) combined for the pinnacle event for Gymnastics For All to tell an authentic Australian story through gymnastics and dance. 

The Landsstaevne event is of a similar scale to Gymnaestrada with more than 26,000 participants but it also involves sports and cultural activities other than gymnastics such as parkour, badminton, beach handball and music concerts.

Local coaches of the PCYC Team, Justin Hayes, Sarah Hayes, and Penny Schubert agree this is an honour and an opportunity for the athletes involved. 

Justin, Sarah and Penny have all been involved in this event previously as coaches of the Gymnastics NSW Performance Team (2013, 2009) and the local PCYC Gymaroo Team (1999). 

“Danish people are very interested in Australian culture,” said Justin.

Sarah is excited to have a team of young people who are “so passionate about sharing a unique Australian story through gymnastics”.

“I’m grateful for the involvement of well-known local teacher, Mick Saunders, who has assisted with much of the team’s preparation including designs for the costumes and hand-painted boomerangs that the gymnasts will be using as part of their performance,” she said.

Penny said that over the years PCYC Gymnastics has been influenced by Danish gymnastics teams and coaches that have travelled to Australia and made time to visit regional areas such as Taree, Newcastle and most recently Bourke. 

“It will be amazing to perform alongside those that have inspired us – especially the National Danish Performance Team who many locals saw perform at PCYC Taree last year,” she said.

Something new for all involved this year is the team’s inclusion in a special showcase event where the National Danish Performance Team portray the story of their recent world tour. 

This showcase will include the PCYC athletes as performers and speakers and includes choreography that was created here in Taree.

Throughout the short tour of Denmark, the PCYC athletes will perform approximately six times, including in a National Gala which has been sold out for months already.

They will also run workshops in Australian Gymnastics for Danish families and participate in workshops to improve their coaching skills. 

All of the young coaches are excited to return home and share their newfound coaching knowledge with their local gymnastics clubs. 

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