Gold Coast-based Skybound Gymnastics coach Wei Jun Lee produces world-class tumbling champion 14yo Joshua de Beer
A 14-year-old Gold Coast athlete is Australia’s current international under-17 champion in tumbling. WATCH HIS WINNING TUMBLE.
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AT just 14, Gold Coast athlete Joshua de Beer is Australia’s current international under-17 champion in tumbling.
The Reedy Creek youth was a star at the Australian Gymnastics Championships in Carrara last week.
Joshua is trained by one of the country’s top tumbling coaches, Wei Jun Lee, who set up Skybound Gymnastics in Burleigh in 2019 after moving from NSW.
Joshua is one of two Australian tumblers in the under-17 category to have qualified to represent their nation at the 2021 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships in November in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Lee is hopeful tumbling will one day be considered as an Olympic event because it’s fast becoming the sport of choice for young male gymnasts who prefer its fast pace over the more traditional styles of gymnastics.
Proud mother Robyn de Beer said keeping up the level of training and motivation required during COVID had been challenging for Joshua, a Year 9 student.
“We are thrilled for Josh and proud of him, and really a lot of credit must be directed to Wei,” she said.
“As a coach he takes a holistic view and always ensures his students are evolving and have a say in their training.
“Importantly, he encourages and trains kids with positive reinforcement.
"Josh is testament to Wei’s incredible determination to grow the sport of tumbling and produce world-class athletes on the Gold Coast.
Gymnastics elite getting a roll-on
May 11, 2021
THE city’s newest gym will be represented by six young athletes at the Australian Gymnastics Championships starting on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.
About 1400 athletes and 700 officials will take part in more than 6000 routines at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre in Carrara.
In a major financial boost for the city, Gymnastics Australia has signed up to stage the 12-day event on the Gold Coast until 2022.
The Olympic disciplines of men’s and women’s artistic, rhythmic and trampoline gymnastics will put in the final preparations for Tokyo while the acrobatic and aerobic gymnastics athletes will show off their routines ahead of their world championships.
Hoping to qualify for a place in the world championships in tumbling and double mini trampoline are Noah Kerry, 11, and Joshua de Beer, 14, both members of the Queensland team and athletes who train at Skybound Gymnastics in Burleigh Heads.
With a passion for tumbling and trampolining, owner Wei Lee Jun also has Alex Capp, Kiara Lowman, Olivia Powell and Asha Greenlees competing.
Lee established Skybound Gymnastics Club in July 2019 and is growing a successful club teaching preschoolers to high school students.
Despite his top-level tumblers training nearly 20 hours a week, Mr Lee says his coaching style is a lot more relaxed and fun, with a focus on enjoyment as well as making sure his athletes are competitive.
If his tumblers pull off a win at the nationals, they’ll be headed to Baku, Azerbaijan in December this year to take part in the worlds alongside the best tumblers from across the globe.
‘Absolutely gut-wrenching’: Gym owners devastated by closures
March 24, 2020
WITH bills to pay and no income to pay them, Skybound Gymnastics owner Wei Jun Lee is devastated he’s had to close down his Burleigh Heads gym.
The owner-operator, who moved from NSW last year, said he had no other income stream following PM Scott Morrison’s announcement that all gyms must close in order to contain the coronavirus.
“Shutting down for us is devastating. Financially it means uncertainty. I will not be able to sustain this without external financial support or rent relief,” he said.
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“It is also unknown as to the length of time this closure policy will be in place, this creates even more difficulty to plan moving forwards.
“If we do manage to survive and reopen I do not know if the community will be in a position to come back to us having undergone their own financial struggles.”
Mr Lee, who is a NZ citizen, said the gym was to celebrate its first birthday next month and now he’ll be seeking employment elsewhere, because he’s not entitled to any benefits as a New Zealander.
“After working so hard to get to this point the thought of being unable to reopen is absolutely gut-wrenching,” he said.
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F45 Pacific Pines co-owner Nik Hayes, whose wife is due to give birth to their third child this week, is gutted gyms have been shut down.
“With no income, the future is uncertain and at this stage we have no idea how long we’ll be shut for. Although it’s devastating for us personally, it’s also a big loss for our members, most of whom go to the gym for their mental health, which is something we all need to look
after now more than ever,” he said.
Mr Hayes, also a Kiwi, said he had only been on the Gold Coast for one year so didn’t have enough superannuation to draw from and he was also not entitled to any Centrelink payments.
Snap Fitness Helensvale manager Brayden Webb said hundreds of members were locked out of the gym but agreed it was the only way to slow things down and get things back to normal.
Parkwood’s Jummps owner Melissa Bauman said “it’s with an extremely heavy heart” her business would remain closed with “no end date set”. However, the gym would continue to provide one-on-one lessons spread over the day with no public access.
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