By Tania Phillips
Eight Warwick Gymnastic Club members qualified to compete in this year’s State Gymnastics Championships at the Sleeman Centre in Brisbane in the first week of the school holidays.
Assistant head coach Claudia Eather said it was a great performance by the athletes who earned their spots at the titles though out the season.
“The girls went really, really well, everyone had a great day and there were no major incidents which is really nice especially at such a high-pressure competition,” she said.
“Some of the girls recorded some of the best results they have ever had. We had our under 12s and Under Nines competed on the Saturday with all four girls performing well and then we had three on Sunday – the Under 10s and Opens and then on Tuesday our Level Five gymnast competed while we also had our team competition. We are part of the Darling Downs region and out of the two clubs, it is the highest six scoring athletes through the year that become part of the team and then go on to compete at States. We had two girls which is very cool. It was good that our athletes competitions were spread out over the days. We stayed overnight so it wasn’t too much travel.
“It was a really really good competition, it’s always good for the girls, especially for the young ones – the little ones in the Under Nines and 10s. It’s always exciting for them to go. And as I say to the girls, it’s a privilege to be here – you’ve made it. Have fun with it – and they did.
“Throughout the year, if the girls reach a certain score or higher they qualify to reach State – I believe it’s 34 points. If they reach that within a competition then they qualify. They do have to also attend regionals, which were held on the Gold Coast this year. It really is a bit of a privilege that they can go, they’ve met the scores, they’ve done all the right things and worked their butts of to be there. It’s pretty cool.”
She said while they weren’t in the medals, which were dominated by the city teams, it was a big effort for the Warwick Club to have eight athletes qualify and to get two in the regional team.
The event is the last competitive competition of the year for the young gymnasts though the club keeps going through out term four.
She said there may be unsanctioned events still to come which were “just for fun”.
“Unlike other sports, gymnastics is year-round, we train during the school holidays and have the school holidays off,” Eather said.
There are 200 members of the club.
“We do have gymnasts that drive up from Stanthorpe and some that come in from Inglewood, Clifton and Allora, a couple of girls from Woodenbong and Urbenville,” she said.
