Shepparton’s young gymnasts find success in paradise

By Marcus Beeck

Feb 22, 2024

Some of Shepparton’s brightest gymnastic talents have returned home after finding success at an international tournament in Hawaii.

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A group of 10 young athletes from Jets Gymnastics Shepparton hopped on board the 10-hour flight to the tropical island where they competed in the Aloha Gymfest against countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and other gymnasts from across Australia.

Jets centre manager Giles Pritchard said he didn’t know what to expect heading into the tournament as this was the first time they had been invited to compete internationally.

“We were a little uncertain with how we would go and what to expect, but we were really proud of how the girls went,” Pritchard said.

“We had girls competing in a couple of different level groups and we had a lot of really positive results out of it.

“We were really proud of how our kids went as the standards were really high. It was an international competition; people want to go there and do well.

“We performed really well as we got a lot of first placings, second placings, third placings. Our kids threw down with kids from all over (the world) and did really well.”

Tumbling in paradise: Jets Gymnastics Shepparton in Hawaii. Photo by Kylie Pritchard

The tournament was three days from January 13-15 and Shepparton was well represented on the podium with Summer McMennemin coming in first place on vault, beam and overall.

Meanwhile, Jorja Sagoleo also came first on vault, Sophie Pritchard won on beam and Tayla Cross was second on beam and third overall in their respective age groups.

But now the tournament is done and dusted, Pritchard said the team’s attention turned to the upcoming gymnastics season, with the Jets featuring in two competitions this year.

“One is AGC, which is Australian Gymnastics Competitions, they have a program that we have squads that compete in,” he said.

“And then we have the squads that compete under the Australian Levels Program.

“So those kids (ALP) are starting to build their fitness for the competition season. That competition goes from March to October or November if we get into the Victorian Championships like we did last year.

“We will be competing all over the state through competition season and, hopefully, the goal for our ALP kids is to get into the Vics. For our AGC kids, it is to make the states and the nationals.”

Pritchard hopes the opportunity to compete internationally will help draw more attention to gymnastics in the Goulburn Valley, as he believes the sport can significantly benefit children.

“People underestimate the power that gymnastics has to transform you,” he said.

“The physical strength, the physical fitness, the mental strength, the mental fitness to be a gymnast; every day you are conquering your fears and you have to be strong from your head to your toe and it sounds cliche, but it really is the truth.

“I think for all of those reasons gymnastics can make a really impactful difference to the life of the kids that do it.”