Gymnastics teacher and owner of Invert Gymnastics, Vaughn Edmonds, received a Distinguished Service Award at the Gymnastics NSW Annual Awards night on February 9.
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It is the first time in more than a decade that a Goulburn club has been recognised in this manner, and Edmonds was completely shocked when his name was read out at the event.
"I was pretty stoked, I have to say," Edmonds said.
"I did not expect it whatsoever; there were some pretty big names getting called out. A lot of big clubs from Sydney had their representatives come up."
The award is the culmination of more than a decade of work for Edmonds, and the 23-year-old said it was gratifying to know his business was headed in the right direction.
"It's always nice to be recognised for the work that you put in," he said.
"I've been the supervisor for the Southern Region of gymnastics for a bit over a year now, so I've gotten a fair bit of experience very quickly of what the clubs in Sydney are like.
"I have an idea of what they produce and the facilities that they have access to, and to be able to get results that are just as good as and often better than huge clubs over there in a small place like [Goulburn] is wonderful."
With about 115 students currently under his wing, Edmonds is driven by the desire to watch them continue to improve and reach higher levels of the sport.
"Just seeing the results that these kids can actually achieve and watching them enjoy themselves and hopefully making it into a lifelong sport for them, it's really good," Edmonds said.
As he has taught for over a decade, Edmonds is deeply entrenched in the community, and recently had an old pupil of his sign her daughter up for lessons, which he said was "a great feeling."
"To know that people still trust you after all that time, and instilling their faith in you to teach their children."
Looking forward, Edmonds plans to try and get some of his students selected in the regional teams and hopefully compete in the state championships. He also aspires to continue improving the size of his business, however he acknowledged that it will be a slow process.
"Always looking to go bigger and better," Edmonds said of his mindset.