Gymnastics season comes to an end

Times Reporter

 

Jumphouse Gymnastics recently sent some of their pre-competitive athletes to their first two competitions.

“This is the first time we’ve actually taken our pre-comps to a couple of fun meets, just to kind of give them the idea of what it’s all about,” said Tara Smith, head coach for the Strathmore Silhouettes and co-owner of Jumphouse Gymnastics

“They had a great time, and they did really well. It’s always great to see how they’re going to do under pressure because it’s different than just training day in and day out.”

Smith said the experience and the exposure were two of the biggest reasons the girls had gone, as well as getting a chance to see what they have to work towards. Smith said the girls are pumped, excited and eager to learn and improve after attending the meets.

The same five girls were at both meets. Jumphouse Gymnastics has provincial level one to provincial level three gymnasts in the club, and the girls that went are juniors, not quite provincial level one.

“In my eyes, it gave them that exposure to know what they’re working towards,” said Smith.

Sophie Sanders, Naomi Rehlau, Kate Barrett, Jaymie Smith and Zoe Benoit were the five girls who attended the competitions.

On May 6 – 8 the club was in Canmore attending a three-day meet. They also attended Gymtastics May 13 – 15. Gymtastics was the last competition of the season and almost all of the girls went. Smith said it was a great weekend to finish off.

Provincials also recently took place, and Jordann Mackay, 14, was the provincial champion, coming first overall in provincial two open.

“That was her last competition, she’s actually retired now. She’s going to try helping me coach the pre-competitive, and get her feet wet doing that and see if she enjoys coaching,” said Smith.

Taylor Mathieu took fourth place at the provincial two novice level. Kasandra Grieg came out with third for the vault, Delaney Carless placed fifth on the balance beam and Shelby Stephens placed second for her floor routine.

Smith’s daughter, Caylie, helps coach the competitive, and previously her son Justin had helped before heading off to university. He is now coaching for the University of Calgary gymnastics team, which she said is kind of neat because they have kept it in the family.

“I’ve been involved with gymnastics since I was little so it just seemed to be an easy transition to coach. I’ve been coaching on and off since I was 18, in between kids,” said Smith. 

For a town this size, Smith said the program is a good size, but it is hard to build the competitive too big because they need the space and time for the recreational too.

Now that summer is here they will be focusing on new skills, flexibility, conditioning and starting new floor routines for those that are getting them for next year.