There have been a ton of ups and downs at the Prince Albert Aerials Gymnastics Club this year as they navigate through the challenges that come with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve run through the gamut of emotions here,” president and executive director Michael Amouri said. “There were a lot of unknowns at first when we closed things up in March and there was a lot of anxiety as we didn’t really know what the future held, especially as we’re a not-for-profit business.
“Before everything opened back in June as part of Phase 3 of the re-open plan here in Saskatchewan, we spent those three months working on projects around the gym that we hadn’t had time for and also on putting a plan in place so that we can follow the protocols and procedures that have been put in place so we could welcome the kids back into the club.”
The club has welcomed athletes during the summer to try out the new practices, which include social distancing markers, masks for all staff and participants for when social distancing can’t be followed and rules for when it’s safe to spot the athletes during certain disciplines.
“As the athletes have started to come back, we’ve been really happy to see them as we’ve been able to do what we love to do,” Amouri said.
“We’ve received a lot of direction from Gymnastics Saskatchewan in terms of putting things in place and it also helps that our president Tammy Gillis is a nurse, which has been a huge help over the last few months.”
PA Gymnastics has now opened up their registration for their fall session, which will run at reduced capacity from Sept. 12 to Oct. 26.
“Normally we run a longer session from September to December, but we cut it down to two smaller sessions this year,” Amouri said. “We don’t know what things are going to look like when the kids go back to school later this month, so we didn’t want to put parents in a tough position if everything shuts down again.
“The reduced capacity means that we are at 150 people maximum instead of having 100 competitive kids and 400 recreational athletes in a normal situation. We’re excited to welcome everyone back, but we are proceeding with caution to make sure that everyone is protected.”
Registration for the fall session is available on the club’s website, which is paaerials.ca
