Gymnastics: Teresa tumbles into chance of a lifetime

Teresa Iaccarino has been awarded a 12month scholarship for Ollerup, an international gymnast academy. Photograph by Andrew Warner.

Teresa Iaccarino has three loves — travel, adventure and gymnastics.

All three are in store for her when she attends the renowned gymnastics school Gymnastikhojskolen I Ollerup in Denmark next year.

The Argos Gymsport Tauranga coach has been awarded a scholarship worth at least $15,000 to attend the prestigious Danish academy with a special focus on gymnastics.

Teresa, 17, was the successful applicant to receive the year-long Ollerup scholarship.

Gymnastics New Zealand puts out applications on behalf of Ollerup offering one scholarship for coaches in New Zealand.

A six-month scholarship has recently been added.

Gymnasts all over the world endeavour to be accepted into the school, the ultimate gymnastics school for Scandinavian countries.

The application process included a questionnaire, references and a Skype interview. She found out she was successful two weeks ago.

The gymnast from Cherrywood says the opportunity is perfect fit for her.

"I don't have a clear idea for my future and I am ready to go on a new adventure and I really love gymnastics," she says.

She also loves travel and has already visited Italy, Hawaii, the US and Australia. This is her first trip to a Scandinavian country.

"It was fireworks going off in my head when I first found out I was going. I just wanted it so badly. I put so much effort into my application and trained so hard. It's something I wanted so much," she says.

Teresa has trained with Argos since she was old enough to walk. Her brother and sister attended before she was born.

She has done artistic gymnastics and specialised in tumbling, trampolining and aerobics.

She trained with Argos right up to senior level artistic gymnastics (level seven). At one stage she was training 20 hours a week. She currently specialises in tumbling.

Her greatest accomplishment has been receiving the silver medal twice, at two national championships.

Teresa will travel to Denmark in August next year.

The scholarship will cover her tuition and accommodation for the year.

She will stay in a hostel and will undergo intense gymnastics training (from 7am-6pm), and learn of international youth leader education, coaching, team building, supervision, event planning and management.

There will also be participation in local and national competitions.

Argos head coach Emma Dewhirst says they are all delighted to hear of Teresa's scholarship.

"The scholarship is an amazing opportunity for her and will build on her abilities as a coach," she says. "The girls Teresa coaches admire and absorb her passion for gymnastics. You can really see this in the respect they have for her and they value her knowledge across the sport."

Teresa is looking forward to being surrounded by like-minded gymnasts.

She is also one of the Bayleys Dancers, performing at sports games.