Dedication, hard work pays off for North gymnasts
Three young Northland women are on their way to Australia in May to represent New Zealand on a prestigious stage.
Ella Howie, 14; Jessica Kalkhoven, 15; and Renee Pilon, 17, will represent New Zealand at the Australian Gymnastics Championships between May 18 and 21.
Hours of training have paid off for the group, who will be joining seven other Kiwi tumblers going head-to-head with Australia’s best.
Coach Hannah Prout said the teens were hugely dedicated.
She explained how their selection success followed humble beginnings for some of the gymnasts.
She has coached Ella and Renee since they were aged 4 and 6. For many years, she said, they trained in a community centre with nothing but roll-out mats.
But more recently they had been able to train at Whangārei Academy of Gymnastics. While those facilities may be state of the art, the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre, where the Australian event is, will be a step up. The centre hosted events during the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Prout said the trio had worked hard to move up to the “next level”.
“They’ve been tumbling a long time but that next step is to put themselves out there and be more at risk. So rather than just going into a flip, you’re twisting into flips.”
Coach and judge Jodie Allely said some of the gymnasts were in the gym every day.
“They’ve done the hard bit, now it’s just the experience of going there.”
Kalkhoven was looking forward to a new environment and meeting different people.
“There’s the excitement to do something new,” she said.
Olympic gymnast Courtney McGregor, also coached by Prout, said it was amazing to have three Northland girls represent the region as part of a national squad.
Typically such accolades were dominated by the main centres of Christchurch and Auckland, she said.
“It’s very cool for them to come from such humble beginnings.”