New Whitehorse Gymnastics Centre Hosts AWG Competition

It was all smiles and cheers as young women from Alaska, Alberta North, the Northwest Territories and Yukon received their gold, silver and bronze Ulus for individual events at the new Whitehorse Gymnastics Centre on Thursday. Earlier Yukon won the gold ulu for the team competition, a highlight for the club as AWG hosts. This was the first major event to be held at the Centre since it opened last fall and it received top marks from athletes, coaches and families. Everyone marvelled at the bright, spacious facility and brand new equipment that contributed hugely to the success of the participants.  

The enduring commitment to long hours of training and keen focus on form, strength and endurance was evident throughout the week. Team Yukon medallist Mya devoted more than four hours a day to practice for AWG and her journey to the podium began over a decade ago when she was just 5 years old. This week was filled with “amazing spirit, making so many new friends from across the North and then winning the gold together as a Team.” Her team mate Léonie started gymnastics when she was just 2 years old and echoed those feelings of pride and joy after her first international competition, “It was a really great experience meeting people from so many other places and all the teams were really nice!”

The warm spirit of friendship was glowing on the podium as winners from all the teams congratulated each other with hugs and hand bumps. Multi medallist Araliya of Team Northwest Territories and Team Alberta North’s Bristelle also had a “super fun week”, both emphasizing the amazing opportunities to meet other young northerners who share their love of gymnastics. Team Alaska’s Solveig, Adalia, Jillian, Myra and Coach Lillian praised the new centre and the AWG organizers, adopting a Canadian-ism to describe their experiences as a “double-double”, so much fun and great competition!

Parents in the audience talked about the many benefits they see in this sport for their kids. Frédérique from Whitehorse spoke about the growth in confidence she saw in her daughter Niale, plus the positive experience of building close team connections as members trained together to reach their goals. “No matter win or lose they had so much fun!” Adam from Yellowknife used to live in Whitehorse and returned for the first time with his daughter Nyla for this AWG. He was amazed at the many new facilities added to the sports scene here since he left in 2002 and gave a big shout out of thanks to all the organizers.

Yukon MP Brendan Hanley presented the winners with their Ulus along with Northwest Territories AWG organizer Igor Cvetkovski. Hanley congratulated all the AWG participants from across the North. He sees tremendous gains for all the athletes in building life-long skills and friendships, and for communities benefitting from the investments in facilities like the new gymnastics centre. “It’s all about health and fun!” Double-Double indeed!

By Linda Johnson