Le Ray Gymnastics, founded by Dani Le Ray following the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, has grown from a high school program to a leading gymnastics club with five locations in Sydney. Le Ray Gymnastics, aims to provide the best environment for rhythmic gymnasts in the country, proudly supporting athletes like Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva, who will represent Australia at the 2024 Olympics!
1. How did your club start?
Following the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, I (Dani Le Ray) started a small Rhythmic Gymnastics program at my high school and it took off from there. One centre led to another and by 2014 I was running in 4x locations across Sydney.
2. How many kids do you train and what skill levels? + Do you have any specific programs for children with special needs?
We have x5 locations in Sydney and offer classes from BabyGym and KinderGym to non-competitive programs such as Ninja and Circus and recreational rhythmic classes, all the way through to levels and high performance.
3. What is your organisation's vision/mission statement?
Our vision is to help create a healthier, stronger, and more confident youth in Australia through Gymnastics. And our mission at Le Ray Gymnastics is to be Australia's best environment for Rhythmic Gymnasts.
4. What are some objectives of your club?
Our objectives for our x3 levels of gymnasts are:
- Nurture a love of Gymnastics,
- Develop a skillset for Gymnastics,
- Accelerate competitive performance.
5. What are you most proud of in your club?
Whilst we have been fortunate to win a raft of accolades over the last 20+ years I would have to say, as a mum, I am most proud of the community we have built across our locations. I never tire of hearing feedback from parents about how happy and supported their children feel when they come to our classes. It is so special and a testament to our amazing coaching team.
Apart from our community, recently, in 2023 we were recognised as Gymnastics Australia's High-Performance Program of the Year as well as being awarded the Gymnastics NSW Rhythmic Gymnastics Club of the Year and High-Performance Coaching Team of the Year.
We also had 4 athletes selected in the 2024 Olympic Shadow with Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva qualifying for the Paris Olympics Games. Other Le Ray athletes - Emmanouela Frroku and Alexandra Eedle form part of the Australian Senior Group to compete in the Paris Olympics Games.
6. Recently, one of your athletes was selected to represent Australia in the 2024 Olympics. What was your reaction when you found out and can you tell us about their journey and what it means to the club?
This was an AMAZING moment! Alex missed out on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo so seeing her continue for 4 more years to reach this goal was truly magical!! We all had tears in our eyes and were absolutely over the moon for Alex when it happened.
It is so inspiring for our athletes to see Alex reach the pinnacle sporting event of the Olympic Games and they will be cheering her all the way! We recently held a live Q&A with Alex to hear about her final preparations before the games and she had so many great take outs and tips for our athletes. She is a legend in the sport of Rhythmic Gymnastics in Australia and we are all so proud of her. We will be having an official "Watch Party" to show our support on Thursday 8 August and can't wait to don the green and gold and shout our support through our TV screens!
7. How do you feel your programs and coaching methods contribute to the success of your gymnasts?
We are fortunate to have a high calibre of past international level athletes turned coaches and judges supporting our athletes at Le Ray Gymnastics. Our current High-Performance Director, Katie Mitchell, was the Sydney 2000 Olympic Coach of our Founder Dani Le Ray and she will again be supporting Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
We have also had the likes of 2008 Beijing Olympian Naazmi Johnston and 2016 Olympian Danni Prince head our programs over the years and all of this great experience has been imprinted on our coaching teams and athletes.
Ultimately, the fact that most of our coaches have been gymnasts themselves makes our athlete-centred approach so organic. Each coach understands the importance of their role as a coach in nurturing each gymnast in a personalised way and developing a supportive culture.
We strive to provide a centre of excellence for our athletes through access to top-level coaching, high-performance training facilities, and opportunities to travel internationally to training camps and competitions. We have a great partnership with the world-renowned Italian High-Performance Program ASU Udinese Sezione Ritmica headed by Spela Dragas. Our athletes visit regularly for routine choreography and expert coaching.
Our High Performance Programs run alongside our levels and recreational programs to keep all our athletes motivated, inspired, and to have something to aspire to.
8. Why do you think your club is important to families and your community?
We take our role in the community very seriously and understand that a coach can often be a child's first relationship with an adult outside their family. We cherish these relationships and how instrumental they can be in building community over, often over lengthy periods of time.
We also take great pride in being able to develop love and passion for sport within the female community, building life-long physical and mental skills.
9. What piece of advice would you give to a gymnast/student?
Jump into gymnastics - it's the best sport you will ever experience! It will teach many physical skills but it will also teach mental skills that will help you through life and set you up for success. Write your goals, work hard towards them, and keep building and moving forward. Anything is possible if you set your mind to it!
Follow Le Ray Gymnastics on Instagram or check out their website here!
