Gearing up for inaugural CARIFTA Gymnastics

The stage is all but set for the first-ever CARIFTA Gymnastics, which will be hosted at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingson, Jamaica, from November 29-30. Barbados will be represented by a  15-member team, led by long time coach Alison Jackson of Flip Gym.

Whereas she has been providing training in gymnastics in Barbados for three decades, and the nation has been represented internationally at various levels over the years, Jackson acknowledges that there is plenty of scope for growth locally.

“Well I have to say that we are at a disadvantage in terms of athlete selection,” she conceded. “I’m the only one that offers a competitive programme at the moment. So all of the gymnasts have been selected from my gym, through my staff. We sat and discussed and looked at results for the season to make our recommendations to the association who we think our top athletes are going to be in each level.

“Trinidad’s ahead of us in terms of how long they’ve had organised gymnastics classes going. So Trinidad alone has 17 clubs to choose from. So our group is very small, we only have 15 girls going, but we’ve picked the best of our 15 girls. So I expect to definitely be coming back with some medals for Barbados.”

CARIFTA Gymnastics has been under discussion for years now, and the inaugural championship will include Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Aruba, The Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands.

“It’s finally happening,” said Jackson, former vice president of the Barbados Amateur Gymnastics Association. “Jamaica is hosting the first one and we are going to be having most of the countries in our region follow the USA’s developmental programme, which is level-based.

“So there’s 10 levels, so they’re going to have that, as well as elite level gymnastics which is the International Gymnastics Federation or FIG level gymnastics. So there’ll be two streams, which is great because not all of the islands have elite level gymnasts as yet. So we’ll give all the kids who are eligible an opportunity to compete and represent their country at the CARIFTA Games at whatever level they’re at.”

Mainstream sports like athletics, football, and basketball tend to hog the headlines and public attention. Jackson expressed the hope that the advent of a regional competition for gymnastics will show people that Caribbean kids have other possible pathways to excel on the international stage.

“We’re hoping that it will broaden everybody’s horizons and bring more awareness to gymnastics generally within our own island and across the Caribbean. I’ve been coaching kids in Barbados for years. I’ve taken kids to the USA, I’ve taken them to training camps with the US national team coaches, I mean we’ve done lots of stuff, but everyone’s just thinking this is only starting now. But it’s been going on for a long time, so it’s just getting it out there and getting more recognition.”

Among the Barbados team, Za’nyah Bostic-White and Cyrina Walcott-Lloyd will compete in USAG Level 6. In the long term, the local federation is hopeful that CARIFTA Gymnastics will be a springboard to international representation at the highest level for homegrown talent. In the short term, the federation is already plotting to host the championship in coming years.

FULL TEAM: Jazara Lavine, Ciara Freeman, Za’Nyah Bostic-White, Daniella Small, Juliette Sonny, Mariah Gill, Cyrina Walcott-Lloyd, Oyinda Buluro, Amber Haynes, Dominique Thompson, Khaleesi Marshall, Sya Franklyn, Freya-Rose Smith, Thaliyah Dowrich, Mishka Mapp.

Head Coach Alison Jackson, Assistant Coaches Jelani Brice and Darius Fields, Team Manager Charmaine Walcott

(TF)