Levin Gymnastics boys team: Levi Huse, Blake Peters-O'Connell, Corban Stanley, Vaughan Makutu, Harrison Samuelu, and coach Aaron Van-Eijck.
Levin Gymnastics boys team: Levi Huse, Blake Peters-O'Connell, Corban Stanley, Vaughan Makutu, Harrison Samuelu, and coach Aaron Van-Eijck.
Levin gymnastics is enjoying a renaissance among boys, with enough athletes to form a representative team for the first time in almost a decade.
A boys team representing the Levin Gymnastics Club joined 260 other gymnasts - 198 girls and 62 boys - at the Levin Elementary Gymnastic competition at the weekend.
A girls team from the Levin Gymnastics Club of Darcie Sanson, Jade Milson, Gemma White and Ava Scott show of their medals.
Levin Gymnastics Club head coach Louise McCarthy said the ratio of girls to boys is traditionally about 70:30, a participation trend mirrored nationwide. Numbers could ebb and flow, but numbers were on the rise.
“It’s great to see the boys back competing,” she said.
Blake Peters-O'Connell show poise on the parallel bars at the Levin comeptition.
“The boys all want to be All Blacks, but gymnastics can teach them so much,” she said.
Gymnastics was a unique sport in that its core skills could be transposed and were an asset to any other sport - improved strength, discipline, spacial awareness, explosive speed and balance are perfect ingredients for life in general.
Waitarere Beach gymnast Darcie Sanson, 10, competing in the Levin Elementary Gymnastic Competition at the weekend.
The Levin competition had teams from Wellington, Manawatū, Hutt Valley, Onslow, Rimutaka, Twisters Wanganui and Kāpiti competing. McCarthy said Levin had hosted the competition each year for the last 10 years, except for the Covid-19 lockdown season three years ago.
There were a total of 260 gymnasts entered for the Levin Elementary Gymnastics Competition at the weekend - 198 girls and 62 boys.
She thanked the sponsors of the event and volunteers for their support. A competition of its size required a large amount of volunteers help.
Pitching in were New Zealand under-18 representatives Logan Curtis and Josh Teitelbaun, fresh from competing in Australia last month.
New Zealand under 18 gymnastics representatives Logan Curtis and Josh Teiltelbaun were on hand to help out juniors at the regional competiton held in Levin.
Among the judges was highly-respected Te Horo gymnastics coach Gavin Snowsill, the winner of numerous coaching awards with more than 40 years’ experience in the sport.
Judges Michelle Purridge and Gavin Snowsill at the regional gymnastic competition held at Levin.
Also helping out was top local gymnast Kana Komikado, 13, who will represent the Levin club at the national competition in Tauranga next month.
McCarthy said it was exciting as Komikado will be the first representative from the Levin club picked for national competition in more than a decade.
Kana Komikado.
Levin's Corban Stanley on the rings.
Luke Jones from the Kapiti club gets ready for the bar at the Levin gymnastic competition at the weekend.
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.
