Bernadette Spedding honoured with Distinguished Long Service award in 2023 Sports Foyer NSW Community Sports Awards

A popular Clarence Valley gymnastics coach has been honoured by Sports NSW for her dedication to the sport. Read her story.

Bernadette Spedding (centre) in Grafton.

A beloved northern NSW gymnastics coach has been recognised for her dedicated service to gymnastics.

Grafton’s Bernadette Spedding has also been described as an instrumental force behind the growth of one of Australia’s fastest-growing gymnastics styles – TeamGym.

Ms Spedding received a Distinguished Long Service Award at the 2023 Sports Foyer NSW Community Sports Awards last week.

The night recognised outstanding achievements and contributions to community sport in NSW.

Ms Spedding was one of 23 recipients from many sports to receive their award from the NSW Minister for Sport Stephen Kamper.

Bernadette Spedding.

Ms Spedding, who grew up in Sydney and moved to Grafton in 2020, said she fell in love with gymnastics as a kid.

“I lived in walking distance from our local PCYC and I started my gymnastics there when I was eleven,” she said.

“I was a bit of a late starter but I fell in love with it then, and that coincided with the 1972 Olympics too.

“We saw the gymnastics on the television and that grew my love — I was absolutely hooked.”

Ms Spedding pursued her love of gymnastics, starting to coach when she was only 15. She hasn’t stopped since.

Ms Spedding coached at Engadine gymnastics club and work in Sydney primary schools for around 40 years, before her husband retired and they moved to northern NSW.

Grafton PCYC. Picture: Bill North.

“When my husband was retiring, we were planning on moving out of Sydney, but I said it has to be somewhere where there is a gym because I can’t stop doing what I’m doing,” she said.

As luck would have it, just when Ms Spedding and her husband were looking to move, Grafton’s sports centre was being refurbished and received a new gymnastics centre.

Ms Spedding was offered the position of gymnastics co-ordinator at Grafton’s PCYC.

Bernadette Spedding (far left) at the PCYC Grafton when it opened on August 21, 2020. Picture: Bill North.

Ms Spedding has been instrumental behind the growth of TeamGym.

“Often the gymnastics you see on the television is an individual sport. TeamGym is a group performance with a choreographed floor routine and it also involves mini trampoline as well as tumbling,” she said.

Since moving the Grafton, Ms Spedding has coached multiple teams of all ages to state and national success.

Last year, one of the adult teams she coached, the Tumblebugs, went to the Pan Pacific Masters on the Gold Coast, where they performed TeamGym and took home the top prize.

Ms Spedding also coached two teams who went to Sydney in 2022 for the state championships — The Jacaranda Jewells, a teenage group awarded a silver medal, and The Purple Power, a team of primary school children awarded gold.

Bernadette Spedding at the 2023 Sport NSW Community Sports Awards. Picture: Matthias Engessser.

Speaking at the event, Sport NSW chairman Chris Hall said: “Sport in NSW relies on people such as Bernadette who have voluntarily dedicated their time over many decades.”

“Put simply, sport would not exist without them,” he said.

“Bernadette’s enduring contribution showcases why community sport volunteers are the beating heart of community sport in NSW and we thank all volunteers for their exceptional dedication.”

Ms Spedding said she was not expecting the award.

“But it is greatly appreciated to know that all the work that happens in the background that people don’t often see if recognised and appreciated,” she said.

Ms Spedding wanted the Grafton community to know the PCYC’s doors are always open – and it’s never too early or too late to fall in love with gymnastics.