THUNDER BAY - Local gymnastics club Ultimate Gymnastics joined forces with the Thunder Bay Border Cats earlier this week to provide some much needed new equipment to Team South Africa who are in town competing in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.
Ultimate club owner Greg Balec, who spent time in the Border Cats front office from 2003 to 2007 and has a connection to South Africa through his recent hiring of his new head coach Cheronne Viljoen, hatched a plan alongside Border Cats GM Dan Grant to provide a dozen new and used baseball bats to the visiting baseball team, after learning of their need for equipment.
Balec learned through Viljoen, whose family self-funded her international gymnastics travels as she represented her country around the globe including a trip to a world championships, of the lack of sport funding for South African national teams and athletes, discovering that the players and families who are in town for the World Cup paid their own way to get here and also provide much of their own equipment, unlike heavily funded nations such as Canada and USA.
Balec contacted the Border Cats front office and the two organizations met with Team South Africa to present some much-appreciated equipment.
For more information on the club and its programs visit www.ultimategymnastics.ca or call 344-FLIP.
