The Battlefords Gymnastics Club continues to head into uncharted waters.
This weekend will see Danielle Clark and Kelsee Douglas representing the club as part of Team Saskatchewan, as they will be competing in the Level 6 Duet category at the Western Canadian Regional Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Winnipeg.
“Just to be accepted at the event was our goal coming into this season, so it’s going to be pretty surreal once we arrive there,” Douglas said. “Everything else from here is an added bonus.”
“As this is our first time there, our main goal is to make sure that we are good representatives of the Battlefords at a major stage and to get our club out there to another part of Canada,” Clark added.
The pair, who are both coaches at the Battlefords Gymnastics Club, received their invitation to the Western Canadian event based upon their showing at the Capital City Gym Power competition in Edmonton earlier this year.
“To be invited to the event you have to attend at least one major competition during the course of the season and you need to reach a certain score, which we were able to do in Edmonton,” Clark said.
“I think that was a great tune-up for else before going to Winnipeg,” Douglas said. “The size of the venue is pretty similar in both venues, with the roof being twice as high as the one here in North Battleford, and we also got to see a team from Edmonton that we’ll more than likely be competing against this weekend.”
Since the Gym Power competition, Douglas has competed at an event in Saskatoon, where she got adjusted to a new scoring system that judges are using.
“There was a bit of an adjustment period to get used to a new point system, but I think Danielle and I have adapted well to it,” Douglas said. “There’s more of a focus on the performance side now as they want the routines to tell more of a story instead just showing off a skill or a dance.”
“We’ve made changes to our routine to make sure that it has more of a storyline, and we’ve also focused on having simpler balances and turns to our performance as well,” Clark said. “Since Kelsee got to compete under the new system and with her being our rhythmic coach here at the club, that’s really helped us a lot when it comes to adapting to the new judging format.”
The Western Canadians will get underway on Thursday and conclude Sunday.
Following that event, the Battlefords Gymnastics Club will be competing at the Saskatchewan Provincial Gymnastics Championships, which will be held in Prince Albert from May 11-13.
