Kāpiti Gymnastics Club is a non-profit, community-focused gymnastics club based at 8 Scaife Drive in Mazengarb Park, Paraparaumu. Established in 1974, the club's focus has always been on providing quality gymnastics-based instruction in a fun, safe environment.
The club caters to all ages and all levels, from toddler and preschool development through recreational gymnastics and parkour programmes, to school and holiday programmes, and competitive gymnastics from local to national and international level. The youngest visitors start with parent-participation guided play in Crawlers & Walkers and Explorers, while Little Monkeys and Monkeys offer structured, coach-led preschool classes.
Adults get their own casual session every Tuesday night during term time, with no enrolment needed and every skill level welcome. Sunday birthday party bookings are available, and enrolment, prices and availability for term classes are managed through the club website. Questions can be emailed to [email protected].
Kāpiti Gymnastics Club has been part of life on the Kāpiti Coast since 1974. A non-profit, community-focused club based at 8 Scaife Drive in Mazengarb Park, Paraparaumu, its focus has always been on providing quality gymnastics-based instruction in a fun, safe environment — and five decades on, that focus hasn't changed.
What has grown is the range of what happens inside the gym. In any given week the club welcomes crawlers and toddlers finding their feet, preschoolers working through their first circuits, school-age children learning gymnastics and parkour, adults keeping active, and competitive gymnasts preparing for everything from local competitions to national and international events.
The club describes itself as catering to all ages and all levels, and the timetable backs that up. At the youngest end, Crawlers & Walkers (0-2 years) and Explorers (1-5 years) offer parent-participation, guided play sessions that build fundamental movement in a safe, imaginative space. Families can enrol online for the term or simply drop in as it suits — and during the school holidays, casual Explorer sessions run at varying times.
Structured preschool classes step things up. Little Monkeys (2.5-4 years) is a term-long, coach-led class where children work through circuits designed to build strength, balance, coordination and brain development, with their caregiver alongside. Monkeys (4-5 years) runs with limited or no parent assistance — a stepping stone for learning gymnastics and social skills before primary school. Both require pre-enrolment online.
For school-age children, the club frames gymnastics as a fundamental movement sport — the building blocks for other sports, dance and martial arts. Its after-school programmes aim to develop confident movers with strong bones and muscles, improved posture, balance, coordination and flexibility. There's a values pitch too: taking turns, listening, following instructions, bravery, a love of trying new challenges, and discovering that falling and failing are integral — and fun — parts of learning.
Parkour brings a different flavour. Described as the art of movement without limitation, the after-school parkour classes teach students to develop their skills safely: vaulting, rolling, spinning, hanging, jumping and swinging around the gym. Classes are age-specific, so coaching style and equipment set-ups suit each group.
Grown-ups aren't forgotten. Adults' casual gymnastics runs every Tuesday night from 7pm to 8pm during term time, for anyone aged 18 and over. No enrolment is needed — coaches demonstrate and teach skills across the different apparatus, then attendees have free rein to use the equipment or ask the coaches about specific skills. Every skill level is welcome, including complete beginners.
For those who catch the competitive bug, the club offers competitive gymnastics from local to national to international level, with an EXCEL stream as well. The club's gallery shows gymnasts at work on rings, parallel bars, pommel horse, vault, floor, uneven bars and beam. And on Sundays the gym doubles as a party venue, with birthday party bookings available through the website.
The club operates around school terms, and session times — especially for toddler and preschool classes — change during the holidays, so it pays to check the School Holiday Programmes page for current casual session days and times. The latest news page also flags closures, which happen occasionally when the gym hosts or attends competitions.
Prices and class availability are shown once you sign in or create an account on the club's website, and questions can be emailed to [email protected]. Supported by a line-up of local sponsors, the club runs with community at its heart — a place where Kāpiti kids, and their parents, have been learning to tumble, balance and bounce back since 1974.