New Home for HGA!

Infrastructure Minister Kerry Vincent visited Hobart Gymnastics Academy on Friday last week to announce the Tasmanian Government will invest a further $2 million towards the cost of establishing a brand new, purpose-built regional Gymnastics centre in the Brighton area, and a new home for HGA.

The $2 million in funding is in addition to the $500,000 already committed by the State Government to upgrade HGAs facilities. This represents about half what the development is expected to cost. We are hopeful the Australian Government will match the funding and secure an outstanding regional gymnastics facility in our community.

HGA President Luke Martin said today's announcement was one big step close towards a wonderful outcome for HGA and the sport of gymnastics in Southern Tasmania.

“This is a big day for HGA and we thank the State Government, Minister for Sport, Nick Duigan and Mr Vincent for their support and commitment.

"We love our home in Bridgwater, but the reality is we’ve outgrown our facility.

“The roof is too low, it’s not quite long enough for a full tramp run-up, and obviously the toilets and facilities are showing their age and not disability compliant.

“A few years ago now, the State Government committed $600,000 toward upgrading our facility, but over the past couple of years we’ve worked with our landlord, Brighton Council, on the best outcome for the club, and determined that developing a new purpose built gymnastics centre was the best way to go.

“With the State Government’s additional support announced today we’re oh-so close now to securing the funds we need to create something really special for our academy, our gymnastics families, and the broader community.

“Our club is the largest sporting organisation based within the Brighton area with hundreds of families across Southern Tasmania coming to our club every week. It makes sense for this new facility to be built in the Brighton community, and a couple of sites have been identified in the Bridgewater area.

“We’re hopeful we can secure the remaining funds from the Federal Government, and see this development realised over the next couple of years.

Minister Kerry Vincent toured the Academy’s facilities on Friday to make the announcement.

“It’s hard to believe that 55 years ago, I was one of those young kids out playing and participating in gymnastics in Devonport,” he said.

He said more than 750 people used the existing gym and improving the facilities would mean a lot and could double the number of potential users.

“You can see by the number of participants here, they’re busting at the seams,” he said.

“They need a bigger facility.”

“The roof is too low here to do the full trampoline — and that prevented me today from going on the trampoline because of the low roof.

“Sporting clubs unite communities. But not only that, they also keep Tasmanians healthy and active.

“A lot of these children come from immediately this area, but also draws off the whole region around to come to here and you can hear by the laughter and the enthusiasm of all the children participating at all ages and levels, just how important is for them.”

Brighton Mayor Leigh Gray said council was joining with the government and the academy on the proposal for a new home for the Academy, which is expected to cost up to $5m.

“This facility is ageing, so to grab a $2m grant from the state government — and thank you to the ministers for providing that to us — to provide a brand new facility in this area for gymnastics and for Hobart Gymnastics Academy is just an absolute great outcome,” he said.

And coaching program co-ordinator Bibiana Devlin-Spiers said new facilities would go a long way to boosting participation and better support young athletes and their families.

“We really love what we offer here at the Academy and the connection that we do have in the community,” she said.

“So being able to offer more of that and to expand our programs and just be able to share with the community, grow our family base, it’s a really exciting thing.

“We’ll be able to see more athletes coming through the programs are growing into talented athletes, and that is really exciting.”

Image: Minister Kerry Vincent Minister being given some tips for beam by gymnast, Abi Balmer, on Friday, January 10, 2025.