Dear EKGA Families,
The health and well-being of our gymnasts and their families continues to be our first priority, and we’re working hard to prepare the gym for reopening when it’s safe to do so. We very much look forward to reconnecting with everyone then and are optimistic that we will all emerge from this ready to thrive once again.
I would like to share with you our plans for reopening. Due to the impacts of COVID-19 there are many new plans for social distancing, athletes training and organisation to implement. We will be implementing our reopening in phases. Our staff are working hard to prepare the gym and put our new operational guidelines in place. I would like to share just a few of the many things we are doing to reach our goal of ensuring we Keep the Kids SAFE when we reopen.
Cleaning
We are proud of the cleaning system and protocols that we have put in place, ready to be implemented when your children return to gymnastics. We have sourced the best products, equipment and resources to make this possible. We have consulted industry experts for advice about the best cleaning protocols for our gymnastics specific equipment, as well as general facility cleaning.
Every piece of equipment in the gym has been sanitised, disinfected or cleaned. From the mats, to the skipping ropes nothing has been forgotten. Even the trampoline mats have been washed in a commercial washing facility. Our carpets have been steam cleaned, the foam pits have been emptied and the foam replaced with new foam. Our staff have worked hard over the time we have been closed to the public to ensure we are the cleanest gym in town when we reopen!
Schedules
In order to practice the required physical distancing, we must greatly limit the number of people in the buildings at any one time. We need to spread out our gymnasts to ensure each child has at least 4 metres square per child whilst training and follow the state government maximums in regard to the number of people gathering in an enclosed space. This means we will now be operating for 5 hours each evening and 7 days per week.
• Classes will be scheduled to accommodate the person to facility ratio. A reduced number of classes will operate at any given time. This means some classes will need to start earlier and / or finish later than usual to allow us to accommodate as many classes as possible, as well as cleaning between classes.
• Some classes will now have Sunday as part of their training schedule. This has been done to try and accommodate as many classes returning to training as possible.
• Class start and end times will be staggered to minimise congestion in common areas.
• You will receive information about your child’s adjusted class times as soon as it is confirmed.
When you arrive at the gym:
• Mandatory Hand Sanitising; gymnasts, visitors and staff will be required to use hand sanitiser before entering the building.
• For the health and safety of our students and staff, during phase one and two all classes will be drop off / pick up. No viewing area / waiting area will be available. Parents will be asked to drop off and pick up from outside the building. Coaches will come out and invite one class in at a time.
• All students will be required to bring in their own labelled water bottles. The drinking fountain will be out of bounds.
• All competitive gymnasts will bring their own backpacks (to be used as personal lockers). List of items needed will be sent out to all competitive team members. These will be carried with them as they rotate to each event. The lockers / cubbies will be out of bounds.
During class
• EKGA will uphold the 1 person to 4 square-metre ratio at all times. Activities / exercises will be spaced out at least 1.5 metres apart.
• We have re-written and reorganised our lesson plans to maintain 1.5 metres of physical separation between gymnasts
• Floor markers are provided for establishing distancing, both in the waiting areas and in the gym.
• Gymnasts and Coaches will be required to wash their hands when they finish using bars, pommel or ropes and will be encouraged to wash and sanitise hands at regular intervals during class.
• Gymnasts will be required to sanitise hands at the end of each rotation (i.e. between moving from Vault to floor). Touchless hand sanitiser dispensers have been positioned around both gyms.
• The foam pits will be covered with easy to clean vinyl matting during phase one. No use of loose foam pits will be permitted during this time.
• Coaches will provide minimal hands-on spotting or physical assistance during our first phase.
• No partner work where gymnasts are required to come within 1.5 metres of each other.
End of Class
• Gymnasts will be asked to use hand sanitizer when leaving the gym.
• Gymnasts will be released from the gym a few at a time to minimise congestion in the common areas.
• Parents will be asked to collect children from outside the building.
• EKGA staff will be assigned to clean / sanitise equipment, surfaces, door handles, toilets etc between classes.
• Coaches will wash hands between each class and / or after carrying out cleaning tasks.
At the moment, we are not able to give you an exact date for our reopening and when each phase will rollout, however with the recent announcement of restaurants and café being able to open in June, we are hopeful that indoor, non-contact sports will be soon to follow. All of us at EKGA look forward to welcoming you back to our gym, as soon as it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Warm regards,
Christy Hemphill
Director
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