Young Gymnasts performing in a Gymnastics Championship
It is satisfying to see the efforts of Fitness365 and its partner schools being featured in The Times of India on 24 April 2016 for promoting Gymnastics at School Level (age 3 onward). For complete TOI coverage Click here
Fitness365 has been the 1st and only Sports Education Organisation that has put Gymnastics as an integral part of the full year Sports, Health and Physical Education curriculum apart from Motor and Physical Fitness drills,Athletics, Multi Sports and Health and Nutrition.
Dipa Karmakar, The first Indian Gymnast ever to qualify for the Olympics
The first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar, may have recently put the sport back in the spotlight, but the springboard has been part of school apparatus for a few years now, with a growing number of children picking gymnastics alongside -and sometimes over cricket, badminton, table tennis and basketball.
Sujit Panigrahi, CEO, Fitness365 with Ashish Kumar (Arjuna Awardee), Silver and Bronze Medallist (CWG D2010) and Bronze Medallist (Asian Games G2010)
Ashish Kumar with young gymnasts
Furthermore, Indian athletes at international events have become mascots for it. National consensus was however driven by Ashish Kumar‘s medal haul during the 2010 Commonwealth Games, India’s first ever medal in gymnastics.” After Commonwealth, students were suddenly queuing up to learn gymnastics,” says Sujit Panigrahi, CEO – Fitness365. Fitness365 currently coaches close to 35,000 school children in gymnastics in six states.
Schools are shelling out big money on gymnastics because there’s a stronger interest in varied sports, and parents are willing to pay extra for training. Most of the schools have invested in Gymnastics infrastructure and equipment -rolling mats, vaults, beams, uneven bars, spring boards, trampolines and foam pits (pits filled with foam).
The proliferation of International Baccalaureate (IB) schools, where calisthenics are part of the curriculum for classes 1-5, has also helped promote the sport. Young gymnasts who dream of turning pro may now stand a better chance.