About Us

Established in 1960

Franklin Gymsports is a well-established club in the gymnastics and wider sport club network in the Franklin District. Incorporated in 1960, and gaining charity status in 2010, the Club is a long-standing affiliate member of Gymnastics New Zealand and has been physically domiciled in Pukekohe since its inception. Originally known and operating as the Pukekohe Gymnastics Club, the Club formally changed its name to Franklin Gymsports in 2013 to better represent the broader catchment area it serves.

Initially, gymnastics classes were held at Pukekohe High School from the early 1960s until 1985 when the Club moved to the Franklin Recreation Centre. However, this was short lived (6-months) as time allocation and the set-up/pack-down of equipment proved prohibitive for delivery, the Club elected to move to the A&P Showgrounds in 1986. Since the mid-1980s a series of facility developments have been undertaken to meet demand and code requirements. An existing farm building was initially used for classes which held permanently set-up equipment. In 1989, fundraising enabled the Club to undertake extensions to an adjacent building which connected the respective spaces. The ‘newly’ created spaces accommodated a high roof stud for bars (between roof trusses), a near full-sized floor, and toilet access.

Our Goal

Our little club has done extremely well over the years to maintain our reputation whilst being able to offer the services we provide in our facility. In the near future, we know that in order to meet the needs of our community with the expansion of new housing and developments across the Franklin District, the need for a new facility maintains a high priority. 

We conducted a feasibility study with Visitor Solutions, prior to COVID-19 and like many other businesses have since spent our time working on strengthening our core businesses to ensure that we are able to maintain the club in a sustainable manner. 

Moving forward, it will be highly desirable for the club to have discussions with people of the community who may be able to help us make traction with facility development work.

If this sounds like you, please get in touch with us. We are always looking for local support, if you would like to get involved with our club then please make contact with Nicole Palmer,  [email protected].