Young gymnasts reap massive success at Caribbean Classics
Published:Tuesday | May 9, 2023 | 12:50 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Gymnastics Association Nicole Grant believes that the performance of the country’s young athletes at the recently concluded Caribbean Classics, hosted at the Woodbrook Youth Facility in Trinidad and Tobago from May 5- 7, augurs well for Jamaica’s future in the sport of gymnastics.
Nineteen gymnasts, aged 5-11, participated in the bars, floor, beam, and vault exercises while claiming 65 medals. The gymnasts were selected from schools in Kingston, Westmoreland, Montego Bay, Mandeville, and St Catherine. Grant also shared that the team’s performance was spurred on by the fact that they were participating against a very good Trinidad and Tobago team.
“These kids are the foundation of our future programme. We (Jamaica Gymnastics Association) selected the team based on the determination of the young gymnasts and how well they grasped information. The results were amazing as they all did very well. Trinidad and Tobago is a very tough country to compete against as they always put on their ‘A’ game when they see Jamaica,” Grant shared.
Among the outstanding performers were Akayla Ireland, who finished third in the vault, second in the beam, third in the bar, and second in the floor en route to a second overall finish. Akeela Bonas finished second in the vault, third in the beam, second in the bar, and third in the floor for overall championships finish of third. Also, Jazharia Johnson finished second in the vault, first in the beam, and third in the floor and finished second overall.
According to Grant, the development of these young athletes has to be taken seriously. As part of some new initiatives, Grant said that a training programme is being developed that will see the young gymnasts in training up to three times per week in order to properly prepare them.
“This is where it begins. If we’re not serious about this particular level then we won’t have a future in gymnastics. This is a sport where you have to specialise from early. One of the things that we’re doing is to gather them into this ‘future programme’ and train them about two or three times per week and take our time develop them properly and get them motivated to stay in the sport,” she added.
In addition to the new training schedule, Grant added that the hosting of several inter-school championships would be considered in order to give the gymnasts more events to in which to compete.
“We’re trying to have several inter-school championships and national championships as these are the kids currently in the school programmes, and that is where our future begins,” said Grant.