Rotary Club of Alice Springs Mbantua District Grant 2024-2025
Update October 2026
In an exciting update to this story, the Alice Springs Youth and Community Centre competed at the Gold Coast in the Gymnastics Australia National Club Carnival in September 2026. This is the first time in several years the Club has taken athletes interstate to compete and represent Alice Springs. The event includes competition and training camps over 2 days. The athletes at level 6 and 7 were supported by coach Liv Antonelli and volunteer coach Marie Baptista.
The Alice Club combined with Sydney Gymnastics Centre and Inner West Gymnastic and were successful in earning a 4th on vault, a 3rd on bars, a 4th on floor and a 5th place overall.
Well done team, we like to think we helped in some small way with this project!
The project provided the Alice Springs Youth and Community Centre with an air landing pit containing 1,700 foam cubes. The new equipment supports safer gymnastics training for approximately 170 students aged 5 to 17 and helps the Centre develop gymnasts working towards higher competition levels. Rotary Club members assisted with installation, recognised the Club and District grant through on-site signage, and formally handed over the equipment on 7 February 2025.The Rotary Club of Alice Springs-Mbantua supports projects and community partners that deliver positive outcomes across Central Australia. For its 2024–2025 District Grant project, the small but active Club partnered with a local organisation to improve opportunities and safety for young people in Alice Springs.
In 2024, the Rotary Club partnered with the Alice Springs Youth and Community Centre. During a conversation in late July 2024, then Manager Marie Petery explained that the Centre was the only facility offering gymnastics in Alice Springs. It served 170 students aged 5 to 17 and had a considerable waiting list. To improve gymnast development and training safety, the Centre identified a need for an air landing pit filled with foam.
Head Coach Liv Antonelli explained that the existing training environment did not provide the safety required to teach more difficult gymnastics skills. Gymnastics has 10 progressive levels before an athlete may reach a standard that could lead to Olympic training opportunities. At the time, Alice Springs had three students at Level 7, while Darwin had one student at Level 8. The landing pit would therefore support safer instruction as local students progressed to advanced skills.
The air landing pit measures 4.00 m by 2.50 m by 1.50 m. It is inflatable and filled with foam cubes. Supplier Gymnastics Direct recommended filling the pit to 70 per cent of its capacity, producing a foam depth of approximately 1.00 m. The remaining 0.50 m of wall above the foam helps prevent students from sliding out of the pit after landing.
At 4.00 pm on Thursday, 6 February 2025, members of the Rotary Club of Alice Springs-Mbantua and coaches from the Alice Springs Youth and Community Centre began setting up the equipment. Using an air pump supplied by the Centre, the team inflated the landing pit in approximately 50 minutes. The completed inflatable structure formed the large outer wall shown below.
The team filled the air landing pit with 1,700 foam cubes, as shown below. Grandchildren of Club members tested the foam as the cubes were added. Five large Rotary stickers were placed around the outside of the pit, and a wall plaque recognising the Rotary Club and District Grant was installed inside the entrance to the Youth and Community Centre.
Air pit filled with foam President Elect Ned Bushby
Aluminium wall plaque recognising the Rotary Club and District Grant
The gymnastics landing pit was formally handed over at 3.00 pm on 7 February 2025. The Honourable Joshua Burgoyne, Member for Braitling, and Deputy Mayor Mark Coffey attended and spoke about the contribution of the Club and Rotary more broadly.
Honourable Member for Braitling, Joshua Burgoyne and Ron Saint Deputy Mayor Mark Coffey.
Master of Ceremonies PP Ron Saint placed the project in the context of Rotary’s global contribution. He stated that Rotary has 1.2 million members, contributes 47 million hours of volunteer labour and funds projects annually through its Foundation, a charity, to the value of $291 million.
Centre Manager, Cristie Evangelista, and Coach, Liv Antonelli, both gave responses to receiving the Landing Pit from Rotary. The Centre provided a wonderful afternoon tea that was enjoyed by all present.
Centre Manager, Cristie Evangelista, and Coach, Liv Antonelli
Coach, Liv Antonelli and members of the Rotary Club of Alice Spring Mbantua
A group of gymnastics students demonstrated the new equipment at the handover. Their participation showed the landing pit in use and brought the project’s intended benefit—safer skills development for young gymnasts—to the centre of the event. Thank you to everyone who helped make the project possible.