Gymnastic students enrolled in the U of C, Cochrane Gymnastics Centre showcased their strength, agility, and grace in front of almost 500 spectators at the 4th annual Gym Jam back on December 15th.

Gym Jam is a one-day event that provides recreational gymnasts the opportunity to compete but without pressure and stress found in a high-level competition.

TC Rogers, Manager of the University of Calgary Cochrane gymnastics program, shares this year was the first time in four years the event ran all day. "We had 130 athletes, and when we first hosted one of these four years ago, we started with 20 athletes. We then went up to 50 athletes and then we held strong at about 65, and just held the event in the morning. This year we doubled our numbers."

Attributing a jump in membership to a shift in focus, Rogers says they have gone from more of a play based program to one with increasing skill level. "We have about 800 members in our gym, and as the skill level is increasing, we're not just seeing kids stay until they are 8 or 9, but these kids are staying on until they are 15 or 16 years old. They are really enjoying the sport and feeling like they don't have to put in 25 hours a week to become a fairly high-level competitive gymnast. Instead, they can come in and learn some amazing skills but still do it with the notion they can have a life outside of the gym and that it can contribute to cross-training purposes."

With a growing club, the Gymnastics Centre decided to run their annual showcase all day long providing parents a sneak peek of their child's technical ability while each athlete was made to feel like a winner. "They're learning front handsprings, back handsprings, full twists, back layouts, front twists on the beam with no hands, back twists on the beam... lots of really fun skills but yet in an environment where athletes are pushed to do the best they can do. A lot of people will ask why does everybody get a medal at Gym Jam?! It's not everyone's dream to reach a gold medal but it's all about the journey of how they have worked so hard to get to the point where they have the confidence to be able to do some of the pretty intense moves in front of an audience between 400 and 500 people viewing each of the two sessions."

Rogers says the day brought a whole gamut of talent, including younger members witnessing the high calibre skills of the older athletes and an opportunity to perform a full routine on their own. "We saw everything from children with high anxieties who normally in their class have a hard enough time to be able to join the group in their class to where they got on the floor by themselves and do a full routine. What was really neat was the whole day was surrounded by the older kids really embracing the younger kids that are just starting to up and come through our program and really support each other."

Adding the amount of pride seen throughout the day, was the best part of it all. "That was my biggest highlight; the amount of pride that I saw in the gym, in the athlete's eye, and the parent's eyes. The comradery, building, and life skills that everybody was achieving on that day was just amazing."

Lastly, Rogers made a special mention that the Cochrane's gymnastics program is not just geared toward female athletes but in fact gaining more and more attention from boys. "When I first came we maybe had 12 boys in our program and we now have over a hundred because we have a really strong trampoline and tumbling program and that is the program they really seem to enjoy so it is great to see both sexes enjoing gymnastics. They are also the ones playing hockey, soccer, and all these other sports because what we are finding is gymanstics is the foundation of many sports."

If you would like more information about the U of C, Cochrane Gymnastics Centre, go HERE.