The athletes at the Polarettes Gymnastics Club were able to give their parents an early Christmas present. On Saturday, the Club hosted a Christmas Show where the gymnasts were able to demonstrate the skills they've learned in training through the pandemic.

"It was great for the parents because they haven't stepped foot in the gym since March," said Polarettes head coach Kimberly Jones. "So that's the first time they've gotten to watch their kids in a while."

The spectators, all masked and socially distanced, sat along the wall of the gym, with a perfect view of the three events the gymnasts performed – bars, floor, and beam. Vault was not competed so the spectators could safely be seated.

The Polarettes were the first gymnastics club in Canada to re-open after the pandemic shut everything down. Since May, the athletes have been training with no competitions to look forward to on the horizon.

Jones said even having a small, in-house competition was motivating for the athletes.

"They've been pumped about the Christmas show and everyone was really looking forward to it," said Jones. "They choreographed their own routines, only a few used their routines from competition. They got to explore choreography and do things that would usually score poorly in competition.

"Overall, it was a lot of fun pushing the limit of what our sport allows.

"It was a good reminder that there is that aspect to our sport. Right now we have just been training to train – which is a good skill for athletes. I think it was motivating for them now it is over and they can focus on skills again."

Gymnastics works using a Junior Olympic (JO) level system, which ranges from one to 10. To reach a new level in the sport, an athlete must be at the level on every gymnastics event. Jones said this event allowed athletes to challenge themselves and try skills above their JO level.

"This event allowed them to showcase all of the difficulty they are able to do which would have been restricted in a competition year for them," said Jones. "I think the athletes enjoyed that because it's a little bit more of a true sense of their actual level and what they've been doing in the gym.

"It's motivated us to keep working harder and harder skills through the pandemic because there are no competitions to look forward to."

Jones said the gymnasts looked good during their floor and bar routines. Beam went well also, even though they were pushed to try tougher skills.

"It went well, floor and bars went extremely well," said Jones. "Beam we saw a lot of falls but we also had encouraged the athletes to try skills that they would have never competed in their current level.

"So, some of those kids were trying skills that they wouldn't compete until two levels above what they did last season. Those skills are ready in training. Obviously, they weren't ready under pressure on a four-inch beam it's probably easier to show your nerves on.

"Although we took a lot of falls, it was still impressive across the board."

The Saturday Christmas Show was the second one held by the gym. The third instalment with a new group of gymnasts will be performing.