News / Champion’s visit boosts gymnast club
A VISIT to Shetland by top gymnast Dariya Zgoba has been an inspirational boost to the local gymnastic club.
The young Ukrainian flew into the isles last weekend at the invitation of local gymnastic coach Mark Wylie.
The former European champion had a busy five days coaching the 150 members of Shetland Gymnastic Club.
Zgoba is studying physical education in her home country to become a coach and choreographer. She emphasised the importance of a rigorous warm-up regime and took the children through a half hour programme that would have left most exhausted before the actual training session had commenced.
As well as coaching, she gave a few short demonstrations to show her admirers what can be achieved with hard and dedicated training.
After several years at the top of her sport during which she became the European champion on the uneven bars in 2007 and finished eighth at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, she recently retired from the international scene at the tender age of 21.
She said she loved working with children, passing on the enthusiasm for the sport she has been involved with since the age of four.
“I very much enjoy that I am here in Shetland and that Mark invited me. The children here are very good at listening to me and I enjoy that they have a very good discipline. It is very good to meet them, it really is super,” she said.
Coach Mark Wylie said he had first met Zgoba at an international competition in the O2, in London, in 2009. He then re-established contact with her via Facebook, and when he heard that she was in London again on a coaching visit, he sent her an air ticket inviting her to Shetland at very short notice.
He praised her commitment, the way she connected immediately with the kids and here ‘hands on’ approach.
“It is priceless; it is absolutely fantastic. The inspiration she is able to give to the coaches and the children alike has been great.
“The new ideas she has come up with in warm-ups and conditioning, as well as helping in coaching has been absolutely fantastic. To see the children’s faces when she is talking to them is just great,” he said.
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