2020 was meant to mark the 60th year anniversary of Edith Parsons School of Physical Culture, as well as the 30th year anniversary of Tuggerah Lakes as a club. There were plans for dinners, celebrations and the regular cycle of competitions , ending with our Grand Finals at Sydney Town Hall.
And then.
We started the year with an amazing fundraiser initiative organised by the EP board - an EP dance day in four separate zones, raising money for the incredible RFS to support the thousands of people that lost everything in the horrific 2019/2020 bushfire season. EP raised over $12,000, with our own Central Coast zone raising $1300 to contribute.
We all excitedly began learning our new syllabus, while keeping a cautious eye on the "flu" that was coming from overseas. A few weeks in we understood more about how serious this was, but did not know how severely it would affect our daily lives, including our Physie. By the end of term 1, NSW was in lockdown, and Physie as we know it had to change.
We started with Facebook and Instagram challenges, uploads of videos from when we still had classes, and finally joined the Zoom phenomenon. Physie had gone from a weekly outing to an online class in our living rooms.
Working it all in around remote learning, lockdown, masks and consistent handwashing - it would have been easy to just pack it in. Pick up and start again in 2021. Tuggerah Lakes members, however, showed true resilience and persistance - turning up week after week to complete their lessons and learn the syllabus through a screen. How proud we are of our physie girls! You have made this year so much more bearable, just to see your smiling faces each week.
After three long months we were finally able to get back to work - and honestly, it was a lot easier than we thought it would be!! Being back in class was a joy, being able to spend time with our physie friends and family (while socially distancing of course!). We discussed whether or not champion girl competitions would be postponed, or cancelled as we learned that there would be no team competitions in 2020.
The EP board never gave up! They continued to call venues, sort out numbers, deal with venue cancellations and start the process again. They discussed recording competitions and spectator numbers in collaboration with other physie codes that were all going through the same struggles. What a great day it was, to have our Junior Showcase day as the first EP club, and the first physie competition ever, to be livestreamed to share the day with our family and friends.
This swelled a chain reaction, with interclub competitions and finally our champion girl competitions being livestreamed internationally, spreading physie far and wide for all to see. We were so lucky to be the only physie to give this experience to our members.
Finally, we made it to our Grand Finals - not in our beloved Sydney Town Hall, but it what turned out to be a fantastic substitute, the Quaycentre, Sydney Olympic Park. As Tuggerah Lakes we took an incredible 20 representatives, all of which smiled, sparkled and shone in a way we have never seen before.
We are so lucky to have such a resilient and persistent board, not only within Tuggerah Lakes, but also through Edith Parsons Physi. Thank you so much for everything you have done for us this year.
Bring on 2021!!
Tuggerah Lakes Junior State Finalists
5 years Frankie Foran Billie Martin 6 years Audrina Hunt 7 years Emma Allum | 8 years Brooklyn Brailey Amelia Dippel Sammy Jones Evie Peterson April Wilson 9 years Ruby Beard Zimmer Dempsey Hannah Elliot Elyse Garaty Miley V | 10 Years Lucinda Daley Brooke Jones Bella Peterson 11 years Aliyah Mackie Kelci Martin 12 Years Kiralee Garner 16 years Maddison Hicks Emma Kelaher |
Elementary and 2nd year Finalists
Elementary Ladies Caitlin Trigg - 1st Place Sally Hyslop - 2nd Place Tracey Wilson - 5th Place | 2nd Year Ladies Sandy Pluss - Zone Finalist Leesa Trigg - South Zone Grand Finalist |
Seniors and Ladies Sectional Finalists
Intermediate Seniors 1st Years Sophie Kelaher - 3rd Place Anna Jones - Sectional Finalist 2nd Years Brooke Porter - 6th Place | Advanced Ladies Junior Bec Prendergast - Sectional Finalist Intermediate Karen Faulkner-Hulls - 3rd Place Masters Suzanne Hull - 5th Place Veterans Sandra Emery - 1st Place Robyn Pooley - 3rd Place Trish Watts - 7th Place | Open Seniors Daina Griffin - Sectional Finalist Amy Pooley - Sectional Competitor Extended Ladies Stacey Sinclair - Sectional Finalist |
Tuggerah Lakes 2020 Grand Finalists
5 years Frankie Foran - Grand Finalist Billie Martin - 6th Place 6 years Audrina Hunt - Grand Finalist 7 years Emma Allum - 4th Place 8 years Evie Peterson - 5th Place 9 years Ruby Beard - Grand Finalist Hannah Elliot - Grand Finalist Zimmer Dempsey - 4th Place Miley V - 9 years Grand Champion | 10 years Brooke Jones - Grand Finalist Bella Peterson - Grand Finalist 12 Years Kiralee Garner - Grand Finalist 16 years Maddison Hicks - Grand Finalist Intermediate Seniors 2 Stephanie Wilson - Grand Finalist | Advanced Ladies Group 2 Louise Phillips - Grand Finalist Debbie Legge - 4th Place Extended Ladies Suzanne Dean - 3rd Place Open Seniors Group 1 Kristy Garner - Grand Finalist Bethany Maddison - Grand Finalist Open Seniors Group 2 Melissa Brailey - 2nd Place |