My name is Christos Ioannidis. I come from Kavala, I have finished TEFAA (Gymnastics Academy) in our neighboring Bulgaria with a specialization in alpine skiing. In 2003, I found myself in Polygyros, Halkidiki, and started with the "Aristoteli" club of Polygyros, instrumental and trampoline, helping the children's sections as a specialist at the beginning, to help a little in the development of the club.
How did you become a trampoline coach?
In 2006 it became the first trampoline school in Greece, I attended it and got the grade C trampoline coach's degree and since then I have been working as a trampoline coach and by extension, a gymnastics coach, but with the mass sport of gymnastics.
How did trampoline and gymnastics come about?
The need for the staffing of the club and its better organization, brought me in contact, completely by chance, with the then president, Mr. Petros Banavas, who asked me, if I am in the mood, to get involved with the club and slowly build something more than what existed before. I thought it was a very good idea since it was in my field, if not for the instrument, for trampoline as a gymnast, and gradually we developed the club and the sport.
At what age can a child start sports, especially gymnastics or trampoline?
We, in our club, start at 4 years for girls and 5 years for boys. In other words, we consider it appropriate for the children to enter the gym as soon as they reach toddlerhood so that they can slowly begin to understand how they should function. Like for example, in kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school by extension. So this age is suitable, as the release of the child from home is done, so he can also join a club. In this particular case, the instrument and the trampoline.
What do the specific types of sports offer to children's health, psychology, physical and spiritual development?
We, at these ages, have an advantage. Because the movements of a toddler are very similar to the exercises we do in the gym, i.e. the nature of instrumental gymnastics, we are very close to what a child wants. The main benefits for the child are, in the first instance, his socialization and the discipline he acquires through the rules we set. As far as his body is concerned, his mobility, that is, he is starting to learn a little about his body, how it moves and how he can exercise it growing up.
The Aristotle Sports Club counts many medals and distinctions that multiply every year. What characteristics should a child have to be involved in sports at a competitive level?
First of all, I'm glad you're making a distinction, competitive sports are completely different from grassroots sports. I will talk about the trampoline. For the championship, the child who will stand out in my eyes, must have what we call "the gift". That is, you will understand it as soon as he gets on the trampoline and jumps high without fear, he is very stable when he jumps, he understands when you tell him what to do in a simple form, he is short in height, with few kilograms, he has the necessary flexibility and the necessary strength . These are conditions for a child to deal with the trampoline and by extension with the instrument, because these two are very close. In other words, the child stands out from the first moment, without this meaning that a child cannot be found later who you will see that you can invest in him and put him in this process. Because it is a rather laborious process and it must be oriented towards this goal, that is, competitive sports.
Up to what age can a child engage in gymnastics and trampoline at a competitive and non-competitive level?
At the competitive level, children usually go until the third year of high school. Where they finish, i.e. school and go to a school if that is their path, that is where competitive sports stops. This happens because there is no infrastructure, so that after the age of 18, the child can get serious and compete with level athletes. So the percentage of 99% in children, stops during their adulthood. Most children, as I have seen all the years that I have been involved in the sport, mainly in northern Greece, stop around the age of 14 or 15. Essentially, entering adolescence, and this because on the one hand there are no suitable infrastructures to motivate them but also because all this is tiring. Because the kid starts very early, as we said before, at the age of 4 to 5 years, until 14 to 15 years old, he is a mature athlete and it is a little difficult to keep him because he will have to constantly level up and that is a little difficult to carried out in our own conditions. The same applies by extension to the instrumental. Imagine that the athletes who make up the national teams are counted on the fingers of one hand. They, too, continue because they have the financial means and some sponsors. What we must keep is that competitive sports in Greece, in trampoline and instrumental, end at best in the third high school and in most cases in high school. Now, as far as mass sports are concerned, we mainly deal with young ages. That is, a child who will come to us, will exercise, will strengthen his body, will get all the positives of exercise, mainly strength, flexibility and synchronization of movements. But when he reaches the age of 10 to 12, we believe that it would be better for him to follow another path, an aerobic sport, i.e. athletics, athletics, which will suit him even better because growing up he is closer to the nature of teenagers and young women the sports. In other words, we deal more with the younger ages.
How did the idea of swimming lessons come about?
In the same way this idea for "Child and swimming" started. Totally random too. I was met by the then principal of Ormylia's primary school and because I also have a lifeguard's degree, I was a lifeguard for many years in the past. He asked me if we could do some swimming lessons, on an experimental stage, for the children of fifth and sixth grade in the sea, since there is no swimming pool nearby. I thought it was a very good idea and worth trying. We started in the summer months, July and August with the kids and this has been established every year for 20 years. This year we celebrate 20 years of instrumental and trampoline, from 2003 to 2023.
On which beaches are the lessons held?
The association of parents and guardians of Ormylia conducts the classes in Psakoudia. The women's association of Kalyves, in Kalyves and the "Apameia" association in Nea Moudania. And this year I also started with the primary school of Nikiti on the beach of Nikiti.
At what age can a child take swimming lessons?
Because the courses are group, we put a limit of 5 years. This is of course a plus minus, that is, you see whether the child can attend the swimming lesson, because we are talking about the sea, that is, whether he can understand what you want to convey to him and because the sports are team sports, they consist of 6 or 8 or 10 kids, it's a good idea to close the big kids and then start. Of course, there are also special lessons where we can fall into different age groups.
What does swimming offer as a form of exercise and how necessary is swimming as knowledge for a child and an adult respectively?
Swimming is an excellent form of exercise, which acts as a "weapon" that we give children to exercise and make use of the wonderful seas we have. Swimming exercises the whole body and mainly the lungs, the heart and in a second phase the musculoskeletal system. But the most important thing is, since we are talking about children, that they learn to swim. The issue of drowning is very important and because in our areas the elderly do not know how to swim, they cannot pass on the basic knowledge of swimming as a consequence, what is done is very important. As for the second part of the question, I think it is much more basic to know swimming even than trampoline and instrumental. It is very important for children at this age to learn to swim both for their own safety in the water and to use this type of exercise as they grow older. It is a wonderful exercise and now we know the positives of the sea, how much it relaxes us, how it rests us, how much it exercises us and it costs nothing, we can exercise in the sea at any time.
Until what age can a child take swimming lessons?
There is no age. Me, for example, because I also swim with high school kids in the latter divisions, we all swim together training style. Consequently, as long as there is a willingness to engage, he can start from the first grade up to the first grades of high school comfortably.
And somewhere here we have come to the end and I would like to thank you very much for your time and knowledge that you have shared with us.
I also want to thank you for this opportunity you gave me, to say some things about me and about what is happening here in our region.
