Story and photos submitted by London Gymnastics Academy
Gymnastics
LGA’s invitational gymnasts had an excellent start to their competitive season at the Birchmount Invitational in Toronto (March 21-23) and the Provincial Championships in Windsor (Apr. 4-6). Gymnasts ranging in ages from eight to 16 years old won many categories and individual events to bring home the coveted Highest Overall Team Score award!
Along with the top team score honour, LGA invitational gymnasts also brought home the Team Spirit award! This award is given to the team that cheers not only for their own teammates, but for their competitors as well.
LGA also had a strong showing at the Ontario Championships in Windsor. Gymnasts who are nine years of age and older, Level 5 to the top provincial Level 9, as well as National Open Athletes, must compete at three provincial qualifiers and be in the top 32 in their category to be invited to compete at the provincial championships.
It is very difficult to reach this goal and a huge club honour to be one of the chosen 32. Impressively, 100 percent of our 19 provincial/national LGA gymnasts were given that honour this year. And the girls did not disappoint! LGA performed like the strong, classy athletes that they are and came home with a whopping 14 provincial individual event medals and two provincial Overall Champions!
The top four athletes, Level 7 to National Open, were given the honour and opportunity to represent the province of Ontario at Eastern Championships. LGA will be sending Rachel Simpson and Rayna Bouttarath to the Eastern Championships May 10-13 in Oshawa, Ontario. We wish these athletes and team Ontario the best of luck.
Meanwhile, Sarah Goudie placed third in the National Open category and earned one of only seven places to the National Championships May 27-June 1 in Ottawa. We wish Sarah the best of luck as she goes head-to-head with the best athletes in Canada!
Cheerleading
London Heat cheerleading set the stage on fire at the Canadian Cheerleading Nationals in Niagara Falls Apr. 11-13. The Heat had seven teams compete at this event with outstanding performances, team bonding and our highest placements ever at National Championships!
Our Fireflies (mini-Lv.1), Sparks (youth-Lv.1) and Flare (youth-Lv.2) started the weekend off with impressive top 10 performances. Then our junior teams, Blaze (J2) and Flames (J4), kept the fire burning and the intensity high with solid stunts, challenging pyramids and fierce tumbling. Our senior teams, Fever (S4) and Inferno (S2) ended the three-day competition with back-to-back “hit” routines, proving that the London Heat has some of the top athletes in the country! All junior and senior teams placed in the top four.
The coaches did an excellent job preparing the athletes for success this season. This was especially difficult with the addition of a level two youth team and the addition of both junior and senior level four teams.
“We made huge strides in our tumbling, jumping and stunting difficulty this season,” said head coach Jen Kraemer. “To learn the skills necessary at this level in such a short time, and then to hit it twice in a row takes a lot of training and dedication from the athletes, coaches and families. I couldn’t be more proud of our heat family.”
We are very excited to be expanding again next season, adding a tiny (5 years and under) and an open (18 years and older) team to our ever-growing Heat family!
If you are interested in becoming a member of the fastest-growing sport in North America and of our Heat family, Spring Tryouts will be held in May. Like our Facebook page – “London Heat cheerleading” for details, or contact our gym at info@londongymnasticsacademy.com. We have a team for every age and level. Winter is over. It’s time to bring on the Heat!
www.londongymnasticsacademy.com
