Ansell helped gymnastics club hit new heights
Becky Ansell helped raise the provincial profile of Kawartha Gymnastics, says the club’s chairperson.
Ansell, 39, resigned as head coach in September after 20 years with Kawartha Gymnastics.
She accepted a full-time teaching contract with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board in mid-September and said it was too much work for her to continue to do both jobs.
“I have not really unpacked it personally, yet,” Ansell said.
“I spent 20 years of my life there. I started when I started university. I was really hoping to be there until the move and for our 50th anniversary next year. Unfortunately, it all just came to a head rather fast.”
She’s teaching Grade 2 online and hindsight has confirmed to her she made the right decision.
“(The teaching job) came up suddenly and I knew I was not going to be able to do both and donate the time necessary to be successful and do a good job at both. Ultimately, it just came down to wanting to give teaching an honest go.
“In hindsight, teaching has taken over my life now. It’s a lot of work and a lot of stress. It has been nice to just focus on that.”
Ansell was Gymnastics Ontario’s Coach of the Year for 201213. Under her tutelage the club made big strides on the competitive side producing provincial champions and Team Ontario athletes. She also served as a Team Ontario coach and is a certified judge.
In 2016, Ansell started the Swingin’ Safari Gymnastics Meet which attracts more than 400 athletes to the city at the Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre. It has become the not-for-profit club’s largest fundraiser. The club’s recreational program has also grown under Ansell’s watch.
“She definitely stepped up the level of competitive gymnastics,” said club co-chair Amy Gerolamy. “I used to compete against Kawartha as a kid and I have really seen the difference in the calibre being raised. Her wealth of experience at all different levels and judging brought a whole package to the table which helped us gain more of an audience on the provincial stage which is pretty awesome.”
Gerolamy once worked under Ansell as a coach and saw her work up close.
“Becky took gymnastics very seriously and it is reflected through her accomplishments and her athletes,” Gerolamy said.
“Athletes and parents all spoke highly of her from our recreational coaching staff to our competitive coaching staff. She was very well-rounded that way.”
Ansell feels good about the impact she had on the club.
“I look back at some of the first competitive kids I coached, some of those higher level athletes who did amazing things and qualified for Team Ontario and got to travel with them,” she said.
“And now seeing that they are the ones at the gym coaching the competitive athletes. You see those kids retiring but still being a part of the gymnastics community as coaches. We are a family of athletes and coaches who are a part of your life forever.
“The program has grown huge. We’ve outgrown our facility. Our competitive team has grown and our results have grown. Our philosophy has grown as well. I’d like to think I was a good part of that.”
She’s not done with gymnastics.
“I’m still going to judge so I’ll still be a part of the gymnastics community. If they still have competitions. Who knows with the coronavirus,” she said.
“I upgraded my judging certification last year and took some exams so I’m still going to do that. I have a lot of friends in that community and, who knows, I might go back to coaching one day.”