Whitehorse Daily Star

Polarettes travel to Calgary, compete and train

The Polarettes travelled to the Ed Vincent meet from Feb. 7-9. It was the club’s first time travelling Outside this season.

By John Tonin on February 21, 2020

The Polarettes travelled to the Ed Vincent meet from Feb. 7-9. It was the club’s first time travelling Outside this season.

“This was a big one because it was kind of our season opener,” said head coach Kimberly Jones. “It was our first out of territory meet of the season.”

Eight gymnasts: Camille Belanger, Mackenzie Tonner, Amelie Guilbeault, Sascha Nelson, Jenna Henderson, Sabrina Hartland, Emma Duncan, and Gracie Sands made the trip.

The gymnasts were either JO (Junior Olympic) 6 or JO 3. Jones said the meet was open to any gymnast, however, it was mandatory for the Arctic Winter Games athletes.

Jones said the group who travelled was a mix of veterans to JO 6 and newcomers.

“For some of the kids its their second year of JO 6 and were hoping to get some results and some it was there first ever JO 6 competition or JO 3 competition outside of the territory,” said Jones.

“That gives them a different perspective on where they are at. As a first-year, you don’t really know where you stand. It’s very easy in a small club like ours to think you are doing high-quality gymnastics based on your surroundings.”

Jones said for all the gymnasts, it was important to go out and compete and see other athletes in their level.

“You learn a lot by watching others,” said Jones. “To get them out and see some incredible kids in JO 6 was inspiring for them and made them realize there is still some work they can do in the level.”

Before travelling to Ed Vincent, the last competition was the trials for Arctic Winter Games. Jones said this meet was great because it re-lit the “competitive fire.”

For the JO 3s Jones said it was nice to see them compete because during training she doesn’t get to see them perform.

“On a whole, it was nice to see because I rarely see those kids train,” said Jones. “As head coach, it was nice to see those kids one-on-one and see where they were at. On top of that, they both medalled.

“It was nice to see in terms of program consistency. It was exciting to see they’re working hard and the message is getting delivered across the board that we are out to show strong gymnastics.”

When the season began, Jones said the club made a concerted effort to improve their floor routines.

“Our highest scores across the boards were on floor so that was exciting for us as a club developmentally,” said Jones.

To improve on floor, Jones said they took time from training vault, so improving there will be the next project.

“We took some vault training time and put it toward floor and that showed,” said Jones. I think it will be OK in the future because we can catch back up on it.” Jones said at the JO 3 and JO 6 levels, results don’t mean as much as learning to compete.

“In JO 3-JO 6 they are all in the learning to compete stage,” said Jones. “Gymnastics can be hard because so many kids get medals and ribbons so often because they narrow down the categories so small.

“It can be hard to get the kids to not focus on that and just see it as a developmental step. For me, it’s a developmental step. The results are bonus. I want to go out and show good gymnastics but it’s not about the podium at this level.

“The kids are starting to learn the more we go out and compete that they can just go out and do their gymnastics and the results will come to them as long as they are trying their best.” Jones said Ed Vincent has no impact on future meets, but competitions like Nationals, Canada Games or Arctics are the meets to compete to win.

“To get to that point you need to have a process and you need to have failure and success.

That’s what this meet was about, it’s a stepping stone.”

After Ed Vincent was over, the Arctic Winter Games team stayed in Alberta to train at the Altadore Gymnastics Club.

“We’ve been wanting to do a training camp with them for a while and the head coach there is also a judge for Arctics. She was also an athlete at the Fort McMurray Games,” said Jones.

“It was the perfect situation. We did two trainings a day, each day. On the last day, they were judged. We hired two judges to give them personal feedback to take that back with them to the gym.”

Jones said it was important for the girls to get a different perspective on their routines from different coaches.

“It’s different eyes,” said Jones. “We are so secluded here and sometimes you need to hear it from someone else. It’s nice to get a different perspective from other coaches.

“It’s also nice to get the kids around other kids who have different goals and different intensity levels and who they aren’t used to training with every day. That was very motivating for the kids.

“You show up to camp and want to show off a little bit so they pushed themselves to new limits. You are challenged by them in a different way. It all makes it easier to take, it’s a hard sport. The more community they feel the better.”

Jones said the training was part of the process of having the Arctics team peak for March.

“We have a strong team going into Arctics,” said Jones. “We are trying to keep them healthy and give them as many opportunities along the way for them to develop a sense of focus on their gymnastics.

“They don’t need to worry about scores, or medals or anything. Those things will happen if they focus on their training.”

The Polarettes, including the Arctics team, will next compete at Gymnix in Quebec at the beginning of March.

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