By Dan Plouffe, published in EMC Ottawa West
It may be the first meet of the season for 20 Ottawa Gymnastics Centre athletes, but the stakes are high nonetheless as the Westboro club will welcome over 200 of the best men’s artistic gymnastics competitors from across the province Feb. 3-5.
On top of being a qualifier for the Ontario championships, the event serves as a Tour Selection meet for many competitors seeking a trip to the Kyle Shewfelt Invitational in Calgary, while the top provincial stream athletes are after a berth in the Ontario Winter Games.
“People don’t like to come from Toronto to Ottawa to do gymnastics, but we’re kind of forcing their hand, which is nice,” smiles Colin Richardson, the men’s competitive program head coach. “For some of the kids, it’s right to business. But it’s very beneficial to get that first competition out of the way on home turf.”
Ah yes, home “turf,” says Richardson, who’s already into the spirit for the theme of the competition – Super Bowl. Prizes and decorations will have a football flair to them, and should the last of six flights – which begin Friday night with the national stream and top Level 5 provincial competitions – run past kickoff on Sunday, contingency plans are already in place to stream the game on the big-screen projector the club uses during the event.
“It’ll be a mad dash, I’m sure, to see how fast we can get this place tidied up,” laughs Richardson, who’s looking forward to seeing his athletes perform after putting in from 12 to over 20 hours per week training depending on age. “They’re a really good group of kids. We’re very lucky to have that dedication from both the athletes and the parents.”
For many families at OGC, the competition will be a bit of a juggling act since the women’s artistic gymnasts are off to Pickering on the same weekend for their own provincial qualifier.
“Some have one parent going to Pickering, while the other one is sticking around to help with the meet,” Richardson notes. “We really rely heavily on our set of parents that come in and volunteer their time and help make these things fly.”
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OGC launches bursary initiative
When the women’s artistic gymnastics season kicked off in December, OGC gymnast Bella St-George flew to the top spot of the podium in the women’s Level 9 all-around competition, but she hasn’t been busy only on the gym floor.
As part of an independent study course, the Grade 10 Franco-Ouest high school student spearheaded the creation of a bursary fund to help needy families obtain a registration discount of at least 50 percent to kinder gym programs.
“I want every child to be able to participate and do sports,” explains St-George. “I’m also a coach here, so I see how the kids benefit from doing the kinder gym program.”
After getting the thumbs up from OGC general manager Kellie Hinnells, St-George went to work on putting together a fundraising note for parents explaining the cause, bringing in nearly $1,000 through the sale of shaped pasta and lollipops around Christmastime, and now assembling publicity flyers and application forms to be part of the new bursary program.
“I’m pretty proud of her. That’s a cool thing for a kid that age to want to give back,” says Hinnells, who’s particularly enthusiastic about getting the word out about the program outside of the club. “I’m sure there are people in the area that don’t even think they can do it.”
First ISO-certified sports club
Some of Hinnell’s efforts on the business side also paid off recently as the OGC received its certificate acknowledging its status as an ISO-certified organization.
“It was a lot of work, but we passed with flying colours,” says Hinnells, whose next challenge is to explain to folks what the quality management system review is all about. “It’s still something that a lot of people don’t understand what it is, but to be the only (sports) organization to have done it is a piece of attention that makes us stand out from other clubs.”
OGC gymnast city’s best for 2011
Taylor Pyefinch was recognized as gymnastics athlete-of-the-year at the Ottawa Sports Awards banquet on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Algonquin College.
The 14-year-old Mother Theresa Catholic High School student had an outstanding 2011 season, representing Ontario at the IGI Chicago Invitational – where she placed second overall with uneven bars gold and balance beam bronze to help her team to an all-around gold medal – and winning the all-around individual and team crowns at the Eastern Canadian championships.
Pyefinch is off with a blast in her current season as well, topping her Level 8, Age 14+ division at the provincial championships qualifier OGC hosted in December.
Gymnast misses Cancun tour
There was one piece of sad news for the gang at OGC as athlete Christie Boswell-Patterson had to miss the trip to Cancun she’d earned at a Tour Selection meet earlier this season.
After returning from major knee surgery to repair a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus to claim her top placement at the qualifier, a recent check-up with her doctor didn’t go so well and she was forced to go back under the knife earlier this week.
That also scuttled a back-up plan to join some clubmates for a trip to Disney World in February.
“It was like, ‘Oh my God, poor kid.’ She doesn’t get Mexico, she now doesn’t get Florida, but at least she’s gonna get a knee,” Hinnells notes. “She’s determined to come back again.
“She’s also been active in coaching, so she’ll still be at the gym in some capacity I’m sure, which is great because she’s a really nice kid.”
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