Tumbling in Tignish
Tignish Credit Union Arena is the host venue
The St. Louis Gymnos are all set to host the P.E.I. gymnastics championships at the Tignish Credit Union Arena on this weekend.
With the ice now out, gymnasts are taking over at the Tignish Credit Union Arena. The St. Louis Gymnos will host to the P.E.I. gymnastics championships there on Saturday and Sunday. Organizers are expecting 153 gymnasts, ages six to adult, from four Island clubs – Island Gymnastics Academy and the Victory Training Centre in Charlottetown, Saultos Gymnastics Club from Summerside and the host Gymnos.
“This year, our club was successful in our bid to host the provincial championship at the Credit Union Arena,” said Gymnos coach and event organizer Paul Goguen. “It was an idea I was playing with for a while. I always wanted to host this event with both men and women at the same venue.
“It was hard for us to host because we didn’t have the proper equipment and matting to reach the standard of equipment requirement to safely run this important meet.”
But that all changed this year.
Spieth America, a worldleading manufacturer of men’s and women’s gymnastics equipment, will be trucking a trailer full of new equipment from Ontario for the Tignish competition. The same equipment
will be utilized by the Saultos when they host the 2018 Atlantic championship in Summerside two weeks later. Attendance at the Atlantics in Summerside on April 20 and 21, Eastern Canadians in Oshawa, Ont., from May 11 to 13, and the Canadian championships in Waterloo, Ont., from May 22 to 27, will be on the line when gymnasts launch
into their routines in Tignish. It’s the last qualifier of the year for those events. Team members, coaches and judges will all be announced following each session. In some divisions there are as many as 21 gymnasts competing for eight spots.
The host Gymnos will be sending 17 gymnasts to the provincial competition.
Gymnos co-coach Meaghan Gallant said the club’s athletes are excited to perform their routines right at home.
Goguen acknowledges the Tignish Sports and Recreation Association for making the arena available for the competition, and club president Pam Hogan extends thanks to the Tignish Credit Union for their
sponsorship and to the Tignish Community Member Relations donation for covering equipment rental costs, and to local businesses for their support.
There are three sessions on Saturday, starting at 8 a.m. and running until approximately 8 p.m., and two sessions on Sunday, running from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.