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The History of
the Panthers Gymnastics Club
In 1966, the Panthers started in the Norwood-St.Boniface area of Winnipeg under the
guidance of Mrs.Ingrid Pichette. There were 17 members. They used
gymnasiums and equipment provided by the St.Boniface-St.Vital Parks Board.
At that time they were named the Purple Panthers.
By 1979, the club had grown and it became obvious that to develop further,
they needed a permanent facility. Warehouse space was found, rented and
transformed into a gymnasium.
In 1980, a contest was held to find a logo for the club. Debbie McDowell
won the contest. Her drawing consisted of a paw print formed of 4 filled
circles. The four circles represent the four events in artistic gymnastics.
The large circle represents the floor and the other 3 smaller ones the
bars, the beam and finally the vault.
The Panther parent organization raised funds to purchase the necessary
equipment for this new facility. With this much needed change, Panthers
were able to develop and produce many top gymnasts including 1988 Olympian,
Lynette Wittmeier and other national stream athletes.
December of 1990 saw a great stepping stone in the history of the Panthers
and gymnastics in Manitoba.
The club purchased its own building - an 12,000 sq.ft. facility - our
current facility!
In August, 1991, this new facility became operational. The gymnasium has
many built-in safety features including: two in-ground trampolines and two
huge foam filled pits. These features make learning new skills a fun,
challenging and safe experience. Panthers is the most completely equipped
gym in Manitoba and also the only air
conditioned gym in Manitoba!
In August 1991, in conjunction with the opening of the new facility,
Panthers hired the husband and wife coaching team of Robert Persechino and
Helene Desmarais. Their coaching gave Panthers the coaching excellence and
leadership needed to continue the tradition of excellence which had been
established.
In 1995, Gymnastics Canada named Robert Persechino the National Stream
Coach of the Year. Helene Desmarais was given the same honour by Gymnastics
Canada in 1998.
In 1996, Panther gymnasts Krista Hirose and Katie McAvoy represented Canada in Cuba and came back with many
awards. Krista was Canada's
best vaulter.
In 1997, Katie McAvoy, now a National Team member competed at the World
Gymnastics Championships in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
She was instrumental in helping Team Canada place 8th. This placing
placed Canada
back in the top 10 for the first time in many years.
In 1999, all seven of the athletes who represented Manitoba
at Canada Winter Games in Cornerbrook,
Newfoundland, came from
Panthers Gymnastics Club. This result was a first in Manitoba
and probably in Canada!
In 2000, Jholeen Ponce became the Manitoba Women's Gymnastics champion for
the third time in a row. She is the only gymnast to have accomplished this
feat. Jholeen also represented Canada
in Hungary
where she won a Bronze medal on Floor Exercise.
In 2006, Panthers Gymnastics celebrated 40 years of excellence and services
in the community. Panthers is one of the oldest clubs in Canada.
In 2010 Gabrielle May was named to the Canadian Team for the XIX
Commonwealth Games in Delhi,
India. The
Team came 3rd and Gabrielle brought back a second Bronze medal for her
splendid performance during Vault Finals.
For the past several years, Panthers have systematically placed over 10
gymnasts on the provincial teams representing Manitoba at National and Western
Canadian Championships. It is the club that has, by far, the highest
production of high quality gymnasts in the province!
Panthers has produced 5 National Team members, over 40 Nationa stream athletes and over 12 High Performance Gymnasts.
Other successful Panthers Gymnasts such as Michelle Sill and Leah Dlot also
won medals in international meets.
In 2011
the club celebrated its 45th year of service in the community.
The club is currently providing programs to over 600 members. It offers
training for Elite and Provincial level competitive gymnasts. As well it
provides quality recreational programs for children from the age of two and
up.
 
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