Richard Wischnewski vividly recalls those days anxiously watching his young children attempting their first acrobatic movements on the gym mats. Now, the self-admitted “helicopter dad” happens to have the top job with the Delta Gymnastics Society.
Wischnewski was named executive director of the Ladner-based facility late last year and has officially been on the job for the past couple of weeks.
“It's the dream job to be able to work within the community and one of the big things for me is that my kids came here as toddlers,” he explained. “I initially panicked, especially with my son, who is my oldest. I just didn’t know if he could do some of those things just yet. They were so good and bracing, and made me feel so confident and calm. I really do attribute the few years that my kids came here, that their physical literacy was that much more as the moved onto other sports.”
Wischnewski wasn’t just hired for his admiration of the club. He brings a wealth of business knowledge to the position as well.
“I was in the hotel industry for about 25 years and a lot of those years was working on relationships and building relationships, mostly with non-profit and with the government,” he said. “I have a hospitality business degree and they were looking for somebody in the community. This really is a dream job for me.”
His arrival comes after what has arguably been the most challenging couple of years in the club’s history.
The pandemic initially shutdown operations before gradually re-opening with limited staff and participants in the summer of 2020. Under strict COVID-19 health guidelines, programs are back up and running again.
The Delta Invitational, the club’s biggest event of the year, is slated to return this spring for the first time since 2019. As hopefully more restrictions are eased in the months ahead, the plan is to welcome back more of the programs that brought the community to the facility.
Wischnewski had high praise for business manager Sharon Gillespie who led the club through a difficult stretch while former executive director Ana Arciniega was dealing with a health scare.
“Sharon was able to take on (being) the leader in the interim and they were able to keep it running, keep people safe and keep the lights on,” said Wischnewski. “Everything was okay, so I was able to step into a situation where nothing was really broken.
“The thing now for me is to wake up some of those relationships within the community. To re-trigger and re-energize. We're all hoping that we're going to see that this virus finally will start to ease, but I don't know if normal will ever be a thing.”
Among Wischnewski’s top priorities is recruiting more staff and developing coaches.
“One of the biggest things that we would like to get out there is really help young people understand is that coaching can be a career. Sure, it's really not looked at that way, but after a couple of years they can be making as much as a teacher,” he said. “I'm just really such a huge believer in that physical literacy component spanning from the active starts for little kids to senior programs. It’s just making sure that we’re able to offer those services and those products to the people that we really want to reach out to.”
Former executive director will be involved again
These days, Ana Arciniega is enjoying RV travelling in southern California, doing plenty of hiking while discovering some “amazing places” nature has to offer.
It was back in the summer of 2019 when the former executive director of Delta Gymnastics and Tsawwassen resident suffered a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) or heart attack when travelling with a club team at the World Gymnaestrada event in Austria.
It was a rare form of a heart attack that happens to primarily healthy and young women with no risk of cardiac disease.
Still it has led to the 53-year-old having to take a new outlook on her life.
“The health scare definitely made me look at life and our priorities in a new light. I’m keeping myself very active, busy and working with my doctors to ensure my heart remains as healthy as it can be,” she said. “Last year my husband and I bought a small motorhome and we decided to take this winter off. Once we are back home in the spring, I’ll be looking into getting involved in our community, probably as a volunteer. Not sure if I’m ‘retired’ yet but keeping things simple at the moment and trying to enjoy life without stress.
“Life is good and I know the gym is in good hands. I’ve met with Richard and had a really good conversation and I’m committed to supporting him, our board of directors and our staff with anything they might need.”
