I’m standing outside Cardiff’s new gymnastics centre, Planet Gymnastics, and I can’t get in.
I haven’t got the time wrong and I’m not locked out. I simply can’t get through the front door because of the stream of eager children going in and happy kids coming out.
The scene provides compelling evidence of the upsurge in popularity of the sport over the past few years, which has seen gymnastics clubs having to seek bigger and better venues to cope with demand.
Responsibility for a good chunk of this growth at grassroots level must be laid at the door of Frankie Jones, who cemented her place as one of Wales’s finest gymnasts at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The 24-year-old won six medals in rhythmic gymnastics at Glasgow, taking silvers in the team event, individual all-around, individual hoop, individual clubs and individual ball before claiming gold in the individual ribbon.
Jones’s final competition before retirement was capped during the closing ceremony by winning the David Dixon award for fair play and inspiration.
She had led Team Wales into the Games after being given the honour of carrying the national flag, but in her new role as a coach is now the flag-bearer for the sport she loves.
“It’s amazing to see so many different clubs being so much more successful, they’re all moving into bigger units and needing that space for extra classes,” said Jones as she surveyed Planet Gymnastics’s new facilities at the official launch.
“I really enjoy coming to visit them and seeing all the gymnasts working. I saw them starting their rhythmics class down there and just wanted to join in and show them the ribbon!
“Gymnastics is such a fundamental sport to start and you can go onto any other sport from it; getting that basic level of gymnastics helps with everything.
“I think it’s incredible, just the fact that people recognise what the sport is.
“I remember five or 10 years ago people would not have a clue what it was… the difference in public knowledge in the sport is incredible, let alone the fact that it’s picking up in popularity because it is an amazing sport.
