Physical Education Equipment

By Deb Donnell

I remember the physical education equipment we had at my school back in the 1980s.

It was bo-orrrring! Especially because I was a kid that did not enjoy exercise. If I could get out of it, I would. I preferred to have my nose in a book, than be dragged into the gym or onto the sports field.

How do you encourage kids like me to exercise?

I was still reasonably fit and active at school. I did belong to a netball team, and I biked or walked to and from home, which was about three kilometres each way.

I'm well aware that there is a problem of obesity amongst our youth. Computers and gaming platforms encourage today's child to be inactive, which doesn't help get them active.

Whilst I don't have children myself, I have eight nieces and nephews, who are all of school age.

I know that most of them don't have problems with physical education equipment. Three of them are blessed with being the kids of an Olympic athlete, and that means they are naturally gifted when it comes to sports.

So, when I came across a new piece of physical education equipment, that I thought kids their age would like, I took the Gyroboard to them to get their feedback.

They thought it was great fun. My nephew, aged 15, invited all his mates around, and they had a great time playing on it.

The skateboard style deck could now spin, so now they could really challenge their core stability, balance and proprioception to the max.

Not that I told them that was what they were doing. I just let them start competing against each other, as teenagers do. It was great to see them having fun with a project I am involved with.

School Visit

In 2008, my 12 year old niece's class were doing a project on inventors, so she asked me if I'd ask my friend, Graeme Dubar, along to talk about his invention - the Gyroboard.

He agreed, on the condition that I went with him. After his talk, he invited the kids to 'have a go' on his demo board.

This was the first time I had seen the reaction of school kids over the Gyroboard on mass.

They had crash mats down, so everything was perfectly safe. Even the boys who considered themselves skateboard pros, found it challenging to stay on with the deck freespinning.

As the school day drew to a close, I knew that these children didn't want us to take the Gyroboard away.

They were having so much FUN!

Feedback from Promotions

We discovered that kids seem to have an innate balance, and most hopped on with ease, and proved that as we get older, we also lose confidence in our ability to stay upright.

Of course, because they are lighter, the deck doesn't move as much, as it is reliant on the user's weight. But it certainly doesn't stop them having fun, especially once they learn to put greater effort into their movements.

So not only were they building up their balance and co-ordination, they were also gaining confidence and muscle strength without even realising it, because they find the Gyroboard so much fun.

Gyroboard in Schools

Every single school realises that the Gyroboard is essential physical education equipment.

With the larger deck that has been designed specifically for sports training, there really is no excuse for schools to not have this fun piece of physical education equipment.

Realistically I know that it is going to take time to educate the educators as to why they should focus on building children's core strength.

In a country where our heroes are elite sports people, I cringe when schools tell us that they can't afford to spend a few hundred dollars on providing their students with fun and effective physical education equipment.

Fortunately there are still schools in New Zealand who have teachers with vision, including my old local high school.

Half the battle seems to be that even PE teachers don't know the first thing about core training.

If you're reading this, and you are a PE teacher, I'd love you to prove me wrong.

We're currently working with a couple of schools, to put together some ideas of how they use the Gyroboard for fun and challenging PE classes, as well as for sports training for their top athletes. I hope to post their projects here very soon.

If you would like to enquire about having this Physical Education Equipment, the Gyroboard, for your school, please click here