To many, calisthenics is a sport that’s quite unfamiliar and often misunderstood. What started as a form of exercise during the Victorian gold rush era, has now become a highly contented and competitive national sport. Calisthenics offers a unique combination of dancing, gymnastics and technical skills. Thanks to the establishment of the Mildura Calisthenics Club in 1982, the sport has been part of the local community for almost four decades. Danielle Wilcock sat down with the club’s president, Rachel Buccheri and senior solo coach, Haylee Reid to discuss their upcoming showcase and the evolution of the club the sport on a national level. Pictures: Carmel Zaccone and supplied.
FOR those who aren’t familiar with calisthenics, it was formerly introduced as physical culture.
Its early roots stem from the UK and Europe but it came to prominence in Australia during the 1880’s.
The aim was to promote physical fitness and the enjoyment of it.
Exercises were often combined with apparatus to keep wrists, elbows and shoulders supple, which is where early inspiration for use of rods and other props derived.
“It’s an Australian sport, that really came about during the gold rush era. People, mainly women looked for a way to exercise,” coach Haylee Reid explains.
“Many people don’t know much about calisthenics or its history, but it has become quite popular in Australia, especially over recent years.
“It is a traditional mixture of dance, gymnastics and also aesthetics.”
Since the 1950s calisthenics has been an entirely female art form, however males have recently been reintroduced in the younger age groups.
“Boys are allowed to take part up to the age of 12 years old but it is really mostly a female sport, we don’t get many male performers,” Haylee says.
“We have the master’s program, the performers are over 18 and we also have tiny tots who are aged two and a half to five years old.
“Calisthenics has six different styles, there is marching, aesthetics, free arm, rods, clubs and then the sixth style changes yearly. It can be song and dance or storytelling.
“There’s also hip hop which is my favourite.”
Club president Rachel Buccheri says the club was founded in 1982, by a group of women who felt there was a “real need” to bring calisthenics to the community.
“All of them were heavily involved in the club but Meryl Horton was especially a big part of the clubs foundation,” she says.
“We have the Meryl Horton award which is a significant award to win each year.”
As a club, they have enjoyed much success, frequently attaining first, second and third placements in competitions and championships, as well as honorable mentions and highly commendable recognitions.
This success has seen the club continue to grow over the years.
“This year we have seven coaches in total which is the most we’ve ever had and 174 registered members,” Rachel says.
“Every year we usually do just two regional competitions. Our competitors range from age five to our eldest senior who is 36 years old.
“We recently achieved Overall Team Aggregate Winner at the Horsham Calisthenics Competition and our juniors won first place and competed in the Calisthenics Victoria Championships in Bendigo.
“That was against their own division, so they really did very well.”
The clubs statewide and regional Victorian success has been attained despite receiving minimal funding and sponsorship to support its running and management.
“The club is almost entirely run by ourselves, we receive no sponsorship,” Rachel says.
“We do some fundraising throughout the year. This year we did the Cadbury run, last year we did a car rally and we always do a raffle at the end of the year to raise money for costumes.”
She explains how the clubs thrifty ways help to keep costs down.
“We constantly update our costumes rather than buy new ones. All the parents help each other, even the dads get involved,” she says.
“We had one father last year whose wife couldn’t sew so he sat and unpicked all the sequins off his daughter’s costume and then we had another father make us an airplane prop for our show.”
It’s evident speaking with both ladies that the club has a family orientated feel about it.
Coaches, performers, committee members and parents seem to have a fantastic dynamic.
“We are like a big family. We all work together and pull our weight wherever we can,” Rachel says.
“This year we ran an Ouyen program, we had three terms where we delivered calisthenics to the Ouyen community.
“A coach and designated driver went to Ouyen every week and delivered classes. To see the smiles on the faces of the participants was special.”
When asked about the clubs aspirations for the future, Rachel explains that a Mildura based calisthenics competition is in their sights.
“We’d love to host our own competition here in Mildura at the Arts Centre, it would generate a lot of revenue for the local community,” she says.
“I know our coaches would love to do a lot more than just two competitions each year but it’s down to cost.
“We’re at a point where we need to start looking for sponsorship and financial support to facilitate the growing number of members and go to more competitions.”
The club have been busy preparing over the past few months with the end of year showcase on this weekend.
“We don’t necessarily have a theme but it’s a chance to display all the routines from the year’s competition,” Rachel says.
“We would love to have a full house in attendance and for the local community to be exposed to and support our club more.
“It’s a highlight of the year.”
