Husband and wife team, Tina and Marcel Marenghi, welcome you to their state-of-the-art gymnastics academy, located within the Langland Industrial Estate.

Since 2002 both Tina and Marcel have been training youngsters in Newport.

In 2004 the club moved to a former fitness suite at Newport international Sports Village (3 former squash courts), where Tina and marcel developed the gymnastics club for 8 years.

The former squash courts premises were very challenging and although the club had achieved many successes at Welsh Gymnastics competitions, the couple were thinking about retiring from the sport but following incredible support of the governing body-Welsh gymnastics, they decided to carry on and run the club as a social enterprise from a converted 6000 square foot industrial unit at Queensway meadow industrial estate.

After a prestigious opening by former world champion and British Olympian Beth TweddleMBE, the premises provided the academy with an excellent platform to develop gymnastics to even higher standards of achievement in Newport.

After a period of 5 years, and further success in the sport the academy had out-grown the industrial unit at Queensway meadow industrial estate and decided to move to a brand new 10,000 square foot facility.

In February 2018 the academy moved to its current premises at the Langland Park West retail site.

The new academy is full of state-of-theart equipment, offering the best possible experience and place for the children to train, and includes six Olympic apparatus for men – floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar and four Olympic apparatus for women – Vault, Asymmetric bars, balance beam and floor exercise to music.

Voice spoke to the couple to tell us more about the work they do at the academy. Here’s what they had to say:
“We are a friendly and successful British and Welsh Gymnastics registered academy and operate as a Limited Company not-for-profit business,” Marcel told Voice.

“There are many Disciplines within the British Gymnastics organisation and we specialize in Women’s Artistic andMen’s Artistic Gymnastics.

“Our new motto is “Participate, Enjoy, Achieve.”, which means we give everyone the opportunity to realise their full potential in gymnastics and guide them in the right direction to achieve their goals and aspirations.

“We also include general gymnastics for children and adults including trampette and air track display team, and theWelsh and British proficiency award schemes.

“Our facility is equipped with all the Olympic apparatus including a competition sprung floor. Moving forward, we will also be able to host events here on a national level, with athletes from all over the UK visiting our academy.

“We cater for all abilities and our current membership is more than 300 members.
 

“We have an amazing support team of seven coaches, four volunteers and five qualified sports leaders – girls who have trained with us for many years also become coaches who help teach our younger athletes too.

“The current start age for gymnasts is four years, however they must be in full time education (reception class in school).

“Competitive gymnasts are carefully selected and work exceptionally hard at the Academy. Some gymnasts are selected to join a ‘passport’ group and can work up to 20 hours per week while other competitive gymnasts will work nine hours per week.

“One of our gymnasts, Jemima Taylor, recently competed at the Wiltshire Quatro competition in February gaining overall thirdplace and gold and silver on individual apparatus. Jemima trains at the Academy and with the National Coaching team in Cardiff.

Aged at just nine years old, she is an exceptional gymnast who is definitely one to watch for the future.”

Tina added, “It’s not just about competing, it’s about the comradery and friendship that all our students get to experience.”

“These youngsters become part of a team, and they are given something that they can feel proud of when they accomplish something, whether it’s a successful dismount or winning a medal.

“Everyone here supports and looks after each other, offering guidance, help and praise – they become part of an extended family, learning
important social skills as well as keeping fit and healthy and active.

“We love what we do, and so do all the children who attend – their passion and eagerness to learn still amazes me to this day, it’s incredibly rewarding to see them succeed and the joy on their faces is a reward in its own.”

So, if your child is interested in gymnastics and wants to become a part of a well-established team, why not contact Tina and Marcel?

The Academy is very popular and has a healthy recreational and competition group membership with a relatively small waiting list.


We Are Voice:
Passionate Coaches - Tina and Marcel Marenghi
Tina brings an excellent standard of gymnastics coaching to the Academy – being a former Commonwealth Games gymnast herself and senior ladiesWelsh Champion she is well aware of the requirements of the competitive girls to achieve the highest standards in competition. Tina has represented Wales at the highest level of the sport at numerous Internationals and has also been a member of the British Squad.

Marcel also brings an excellent standard of coaching experience to the club. Marcel started gymnastics in September 1970 at the age of eight with Newport Youth Gymnastic Club. He represented Wales at junior level and started coaching in 1980. Marcel has coached and run six gymnastic clubs successfully in the UK and overseas.  Marcel is a level 3 Men’s Artistic coach, level 4 Women’s Artistic coach and has attended the level 5 High Performance Coaching course. He is a gymnastics tutor and assessor and currently delivers women’s artistic coaching courses for British & Welsh Gymnastics. Both Tina and Marcel bring a wealth of experience, dynamism and expertise to the club.

City of Newport Gymnastics Limited
Unit 9/10 Langland ParkWest, Langland Way,  
Newport NP19 4PT

01633 270 738

cityofnewportgymnasticacademy.co.uk

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