If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know that I’ve taken a few days off work to attend the 2011 Women’s Artistic Gymnastics National Club Championships at the Australian Institute of Sport Arena in Canberra this week. It’s the last time they’ll be be managed by ACT Gymnastics. Gymnastics Australia will manage them from next year. However, it seems they may keep on being staged in Canberra.

I’ve been tweeting the hash tags #WAGNatClubChampionships and #DeltaBrisbane I am pretty confident every entry will belong to me

Two of my daughters are avid gymnasts. They previously trained at AIS and now are with Delta Gymnastics in Brisbane. Both have won performance (academic and sport) scholarships to a GPS school in Brisbane. They have talent. More importantly they love gymnastics. They love life.

Miss10 could not come to Canberra as part of the WAGL5 team. She has an elbow injury. She should be in the team and I know she’ll be disappointed. I would have loved for her to be here, she is such a delightful child. She is always smiling and encouraging others.

Miss14 is here as part of the Delta Brisbane WAGL8 team. She’s carried a number of injuries over a long period of time, she’s broken an elbow (avulsed medial epicondyle), she has bad knees and ankles and a strained back. Prior to this competition she strained her back again. Her mental toughness and determination is remarkable. I know she is in pain, yet during her routines she continues to smile and encourage others. After she’s finished an apparatus she reaches for her back and then lays down with a tennis ball under the sore area to massage it. I’ve seen her coach and the resident competition physiotherapist treat her after each apparatus to help her get to the next routine. As a parent, I sit in the stands and think about what she’s going through. I wonder if I should wander down and try to do something. I realise then that is more about me and my feelings rather than what is good for Miss14. She loves gymnastics. She has scars, they are her badges of honour. She is so strong. I love and worry about her mental toughness and determination. My mother says she reminds her of me as a kid. She says this in a positive way so I take it that way and hope Miss14 can apply the same level of determination to everything she does. Academically she’s bright, she excels at other sports, she knows what she wants. I only hope for her happiness. She tells me she wants to study physiotherapy and university. Miss10 on the other hand wants to be a surgeon.

In the end Miss14′s team came third overall. In previous years in previous teams they have come first. I ask if she’s happy. She beams and says yes. She knows her sore back has limited her. She understands, a place is a very good result. I am proud of her. I am proud of all three daughters.

Miss10′s team won all their events and won gold overall. They were a dominant force in that level. A Delta Force ha ha… I am sad that Miss10 could not be part of it. I wish she was here.

Delta Brisbane won Champion Club. This is well deserved. They are a fantastic club. Head coach and director, John Mitchell has a great philosophy to coaching.

I tend not to publish images of my daughters. I’m cautious about doing that. I will post some partial images and a couple of videos of the team cheering on their mates.

I’ve posted the videos to YouTube. I like the entrances when the gymnasts march on. They always looks so smart. If you look at the video on the entrance for the final presentation you’ll get a sense of the number of gymnasts who entered. Many of them had already left for their homes because it’s still school time. These are the top four or five gymnasts in each level from many of the clubs in Australia able to afford to send a team.

If you live in Brisbane and if your kids want to do gymnastics I highly recommend Delta Gymnastics. The coaches are wonderful. They have a fabulous outlook on life. They treat their charges well. They understand balance.

If you live in Darwin I recommend Gymnastics Metropolis. This is where Miss10 and Miss14 got their start.

Miss14 arriving Happiness

Miss14 and her medals

Miss14 departing Sadness

Cheering YouTube video

More cheering YouTube video

Entrance to the final presentation YouTube video

Presentation the to champion club YouTube video

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