Douglas gymnasts are beaming

l MOSSMAN

I’VE covered numerous sporting events and stories about clubs in the Douglas Shire over the last couple of years.

There’s no better example than the Mossman and District Gymnastics Club, which was founded over 55 years ago and started out as a small group of volunteers and students operating out of the local shire hall.

The conception of the Mossman Indoor Community Sports Centre provided the club with the opportunity to have a more stable venue, as part of a community initiative from the Douglas Shire Council and Mossman State High School.

This became the club’s home for more than 20 years with local enthusiasts contributing funds towards the build.

Unfortunately, in 2016, the club was left devastated when they unexpectedly had to move out of the indoor sports centre and with no permanent facility and no suitable venues in the shire, they al- most had to close their doors after more than 55 years of history.

Fortunately, they were very thankful to secure a temporary month-to-month lease along Mill Street in Mossman and continued working with the council to try and utilise land for a permanent facility for the club.

After finding no success, the club decided that the only viable way to secure their future and meet the demands of current and expanding membership was to own their own building.

As a result, they went on to purchase the building on Mill Street and become one of the only non-profit sporting clubs, in the shire, with a mortgage and their own facility.

Since purchasing the building, the support of infrastructure grants has allowed the club to undertake much-needed renovations to transform the space from offices, with low ceilings, to its original state of a large, open area with a high ceiling perfect for their gymnastics programs.

The team believe they still have a long way to go to get their “dream gym” and they are constantly working hard to apply for grants and fundraise for further renovations, equipment and extensive roof repairs.

As a not-for-profit organisation, the Mossman and District Gymnastics Club offers recreational and competitive programs for all ages and abilities, from babies through to senior citizens.

The club provides a safe and nurturing environment for young gymnasts, fostering their physical fitness, mental well-being and personal growth.

The club is also heavily involved in the community and participate in many local events.

They offer programs with several local schools and kindergartens, travelling as far as Cooktown to deliver school and community gymnastics classes through local government grants.

This Sunday, August 6, the club is holding a fundraiser lunch at Zinc Restaurant in Port Douglas. Starting at 12.30pm, 100 per cent of the funds will go to the club.

There’s every chance there will be spaces left, so visit www.zincportdouglas.com/fundraiser for bookings.

Kye is on a high

l PORT DOUGLAS

ON another sporting note, local Port Douglas Croc’s hero Kye Chapple enjoyed a substantial win against the South Cairns Cutters on Saturday afternoon, during his amazing 308th game for the club.

That may sound like an incredible achievement and statistic, which it is, but then add the fact that his second goal of the afternoon was actually his 1000th for the club.

The celebrations commenced immediately, as a few members of the crowd could not contain themselves and ran onto the field.

Well done to Kye for being such a great player and a very nice bloke.

I’m off to shake Kye’s hand, so for now it’s Gazza signing out.

Send your stories to gazza@cairnslocalnews.com.au