CALGARY -- Terri Hill has two daughters. Ten year old Nicole and eight year old Madison. They both love gymnastics and could hardly wait to get back into the gym when they found out the Alberta government and health officials moved sport, recreation and fitness into phase two on Tuesday. Giving them the green light to open on Friday.
Nicole says she was super excited about the news.
“I want to go back to gymnastics because I really miss it. It’s awesome and fun.”
Little sister Madison agreed.
“I like it because you can do a lot of cool tricks," she said, in an interview with CTV News.
The tough news that Terri had to deliver Wednesday was that because Nicole and Madison both go to Shewfelt Gymnastics, run by Olympic gold medallist Kyle Shewfelt, they’re going to have to wait a little longer before the doors open up there.
Shewfelt said they’re going to delay their re-opening until July when they start summer camp programming.
“We run sessional based programs so we’ve really missed out on our entire spring session,” he told CTV.
“So we’re just going to take out time and make sure we do it right. We want to have a really strong plan in place to give parents confidence that we can deliver a really safe environment that’s still going to be fun for their kids.”
Safe space
Shewfelt and his staff were busy Wednesday coming up with a plan to make everything safe when they do re-open. And it’s already started. When you walk into the facility you’re greeted with hand sanitizer and wipes.
In the gym, they were busy taking measurements to make sure everyone will be two metres apart.
Shewfelt admits he feels some pressure. He says he knows he has to get this right.
“We don’t want to wing this. We want to do it right and we are going through the guidelines with a fine tooth comb,” he said.
“We’re thinking of every way we can possibly create mitigated risk, create the safest environment possible.”
And for parents like Terri Hill that’s what it’s all about: keeping your children safe. Hill said she has complete confidence that will happen at Shewfelt Gymnastics.
“The facility is always kept very clean and sanitized all of the time. So I know that they will take every precaution on top on their regular cleanliness,” she said.
“I have full confidence that they’ll keep the safety of our kids as their number one priority.”
