Gymnastics BC and the Delta Gymnastics Society have begun planning for a gymnastics celebration next spring at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
More than 1,700 participants from B.C. and Western Canada will participate in the Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships, the GBC Gymnaestrada and the annual Delta Invitational from May 5 to 8.
“Delta Gymnastics is currently celebrating their 40th anniversary and is known as a strong club that delivers great events,” said Gymnastics BC CEO Brian Forrester. “It is fitting that they are hosting this trio of events that will raise awareness and exposure for gymnastics in a fantastic venue.”
“We are very excited to host these three events over the course of four days as it will expose our participants to very different types of competitions and performances,” said Ana Arciniega, Delta Gymnastics’ executive director.
The Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships are hosted annually by the western provinces and territories. For many of the athletes competing at these championships, this is their first chance to compete as a member of their provincial team.
They help identify future high performance athletes and prepare them for competitions such as Canadian Championships, Western Canada Summer Games and Canada Winter Games. For other athletes, their participation in these championships may be the pinnacle of their careers.
The Delta Invitational is one of the B.C.’s largest annual club competitions. It includes the Cash & Carry Cup, a unique event where gymnasts compete for $7,000 in prize money.
“Unlike a regularly judged gymnastics competition, the gymnasts receive scores based more on the execution of their performance rather than the difficulty of the skills,” said Arciniega. “This allows top athletes of all ages to compete against each other in a friendly competition.”
In both the western and invitational events, the gymnasts compete in team, all around and individual apparatus competitions. Besides the competition, there will be opportunities for national training camps and other activities for athletes and coaches.
Gymnaestrada is a non-competitive form of group gymnastics. It combines dance with gymnastics skills and acrobatics. Its main focus is on mass participation and performance. Group routines are performed for the joy of participation rather than scores.
The event features both workshops and performance opportunities. All GBC clubs and those affiliated with BC Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, Special Olympics and more are invited to take part.
The organizing committee will be posting details of all three events at the Oval sometime this fall.
“We have already started with preliminary planning and will be posting updates this fall,” added Arciniega. “We will be looking for lots of volunteers to help us deliver these events so we hope our community can support us with this.”
