CanGym Revitalization Update
Gymnastics Canada is excited to be moving forward with the development of our NEW CanGym Program -- designed to unite participants, coaches, clubs, and communities of ALL gymnastics disciplines with a nationally recognized program.
The CanGym program is designed to take an inclusive and developmentally appropriate approach to program delivery that will empower participants to build a foundation of physical competence and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of healthy and active living.
This program aims to be more than just an inventory of skills. Instead, the new CanGym Program is flexible and dynamic, allowing clubs and coaches to cater the program to best fit the needs of their membership and individual participants. With flexibility as a priority, coach certification, availability of equipment, facility space, and interests of the participants have ALL been taken into consideration in the development of this program.
Unlike the 2008 version of the CanGym Program which primarily focuses on artistic gymnastics for ages 6+, the new CanGym will reach more of our gymnastics community through the inclusion of programming for all ages incorporating Fundamental Movement Patterns and apparatus from several disciplines: men’s and women’s artistic, trampoline gymnastics, and rhythmic gymnastics.
Most importantly, the new CanGym Program is in direct alignment with the most recent updates from Sport for Life’s Long-term Development 3.0 model.
CanGym is being designed to address ALL of the physical literacy stages of development: Active Start, Fundamentals, and Learn to Train, and will also act as a supplementary resource for the First Involvement stage to help welcome new participants of any age to your club programming. More information on Sport for Life’s Long-term Development initiative can be found by visiting: https://sportforlife.ca/
For more information on the CanGym Revitalization project, please download this overview PPT presentation.
Active Start
The first step of this project is the full development of the CanGym Active Start component, which launched in September 2022.
Learn more about the CanGym Active Start program:
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CanGym’s Active Start program is multi-disciplined and designed to introduce participants from ages 0-6 to the seven fundamental movement patterns (FMPs).
Recognizing that not all clubs will have access to every apparatus, the Active Start program is not prescriptive, but rather an adaptable resource to allow everyone to enjoy the activity of gymnastics.
The following recommendations are meant to guide clubs with program planning and inform parents of
delivery standards.
Plan Moving Forward
The first step of this project is the full development of the CanGym Active Start component. The official launch of this program was planned for fall of 2021. With the dedication and work of our technical developer team and our Gym for All Committee, we have completed all the technical materials for launch, but due to COVID and staff changes and gaps, there have been additional delays in the launch. GymCan does require more time to finalize all the details of the brand and hosting platform in order to properly launch the program. Our new target launch period for this component is September 15, 2022.
As information and sample materials become available, they will be circulated to the provinces/territories to distribute to their club members. We thank you for your continued interest in this program and for your understanding in this matter.
For any questions, please contact Denise Alivantov (Manager, Member Services dalivantov@gymcan.org)