The Jasper Gymnastics Club hosted 62 coaches from around Alberta over the August 27 to 28 weekend for the Alberta Gymnastics Federation Recreational Retreat.

“It was very successful,” said Nadia Wassef, one of the coaches of the Jasper club.

The coaches hailed from all over Alberta, with a few from B.C. They spent the weekend in Jasper taking part in workshops, seeing keynote speakers, and white-water rafting. 

The weekend began with a keynote speech from Paralympian Earle Connors. Connors lost his leg when he was three months old, and went on to become a gold and silver medalist in athletics at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. His gold medal-winning run earned him a Paralympic-record time of 12.32 seconds. He also was the Canadian Disabled Athlete of the Year in 1997 and was inducted into the Calgary Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. 

“He was really inspirational as a life coach speaker rather than a gymnastics coach,” Wassef said. 

Following the speech there was an evening social. On Saturday the coaches took in more workshops and had a dinner and social to follow. The Jasper Gymnastics Club also had the opportunity to show off their facility, which is at the Jasper Activity Centre. Even though the facility is under construction, Wassef said it managed to impress the coaches.

“Everybody was really impressed with the facility and what Jasper had to offer,” Wassef said. 

The workshops focused around the CANGYM program, where participants complete a level and receive a badge. Jasper’s gymnasts helped by demonstrating the skills that must be mastered to obtain each badge. 

The demonstrations are new to the retreat, which is usually held in Banff where there is no gymnastic facility; usually the coaches learn in a classroom setting. Wassef said the coaches were happy with the location, and surveys were distributed on Sunday to determine if the retreat would return for 2011. 

“It was a really positive weekend,” she said. 

The coaches went white-water rafting in a rare sunny period, catching a big break with the weekend’s rainy forecast. 

Wassef was happy to host the retreat, and called it a good networking opportunity. She hopes Jasper can continue to host the event in the future.