Our Club History

 

The Grande Prairie Gymniks Club was founded in 1973 by a group of parents who shared the same passion for gymnastics. Beth Goldie, currently Physical Educator instructor at the Grande Prairie Regional College, pioneered a tradition of coaching excellence the Gymniks can be proud of.

 

The Gymniks have produced three National Champions in Rhonda Wilson, Kelly Ottenbreit and Erin McCabe as well as numerous Provincial Champions throughout the years. Heather Scott, in 1996, and Stacey Head, in 1997, captured the Class II Alberta Championship while Jessie Wills won the Class III Provincial title in 1998. Shauna Telford won Class 2 Provincial in 1999 and the Class 3 Provincial Championship in 2001. 2001 also witnessed the Class 4 Provincial Championship victory of Stacey Head and the domination of Keely McCabe at the AGF Class 2 Provincials. In 2003, Alyssa Krisa captured the Class 3 provincial title while Megan Walsh became Class 1 Provincial Champion. Keely McCabe became Western Canadian champion in 2005 while Alyssa Zach earned the Class II Alberta Championship crown the same year. In 2006, Ashley Goretzky earned the Provincial I Open provincial title. Most recently, in 2007, Megan Walsh won the Alberta Class 4 title in front of a very proud home town crown and, in 2008, Sara Zack captured the Class 4 provincial championship.

 

The Gymniks initially trained in “set up, take down” multipurpose facilities. The GPRC gymnasium served as the Gymniks first training center. Many years later, the Club moved to a Richmond Industrial Park 3000 sq. foot multipurpose center located next to Tartan Auto Body. The first “dedicated space” facility was acquired though the purchase of a 10,000 sq. foot warehouse located behind the Quality Hotel in the industrial park.