General News
Below is the Competitive Boys summer training calendar.
Plan ahead and start looking at the schedule for upcoming seasons after the summer break. The Recreational Program at RGA has classes suitable for a wide range of age groups.
Altogether 17 gymnasts (men and women) participated from RGA at this year’s Provincial Championships that was held at the Langley Event Center from April 9-11.
Our athletes have won over 30 medals in various age categories during the three day long event and some of them have also qualified to compete at the upcoming Canadian Championships.
Congratulations to all our athletes!
For more detailed information about the results, please see under Programs->Competitive Programs->Competition Results.
Plan for some physical activity for the kids over the summer. Check out the schedule and return the completed registration form to reserve your space in the program before it fills up!
RGA Competitive athletes had a busy weekend before spring break with the women competing at the Zone 4 Championships (Spring Fever) in Delta and the men competing in Abbotsford at the Twisters Invitational.
Four of our girls qualified for the Provincial Championships and the boys showed again that they are ready to compete against the Province’s best gymnasts in Langley at the beginning of April.
For more detailed information about the results, please see under Programs->Competitive Programs->Competition Results.
Close to twenty athletes represented our club (girls and boys together) at the annual Carol Lenz Memorial Invitational Competition, which was hosted by Surrey Gymnastics and was held from March 12th – 14th.
Our athletes have won a lot of medals in numerous different categories with their outstanding performances. Just to mention a couple amongst the many, our young girls have won two golds , three silvers and one bronze in the large field of competitiors!
Three athletes of our men’s program have also qualified to represent Team BC at this year’s Western Canadian Championships.
For more detailed information about the results, please see under Programs->Competitive Programs->Competition Results.
(03/01/10) Robert Watson (Richmond) and Joshua Stuart (Richmond) each captured an all around title on Sunday at the 2010 Men’s Elite Canada in Gatineau.
Watson topped the field in the junior category while placing first on high bar and floor and second on parallel bars and third on rings.
“I came here wanting to do six solid routines and I did that but the big highlight was getting my best individual event score ever with my floor routine.”
BC swept the tyro podium, led by Stuart who also placed first on pommel horse, rings and vault as well as silver on floor and high bar. Scott Nabata (KATTS) and Zachary Clay (Twisters) rounded out the top 3, with each winning event medals.
In the senior competition Calgary’s Nathan Gafuik was the champion followed by Ken Ikeda (Twisters) who also captured gold on the pommel horse and parallel bars. Also competing the senior competition was Jason Scott (Richmond) who placed 5th in his first senior event.
Canadian men’s program director Jeff Thompson of Vancouver singled nine-year national team veteran Ikeda and rising star Scott for their performances.
“Ken is remarkable and is doing better routines than ever while Jason has been quite impressive with his clean all around gymnastics,” said Thompson.
Forty athletes competed in the Argo competition which was topped by Justin Karstadt of Futures Gym in Ontario. Sasha Bratty (Vancouver Phoenix) was second and added medals on floor, rings and high bar. Nicolas Bourne from Richmond finished 15th AA and got 4th on Floor, 14th on P.Bars and 13th on Floor. “It was a remarkable come back by Nico who showed good performance and a strong heart for the sport after he had a serious elbow injury last summer!” said coach Ferenc Szabo
Congratulations to all of our athletes for their great performances at Canada’s second most important competition after the National Championships which will be held at the end of May in Kamloops, BC.
Two-time Olympians Gafuik and Ikeda highlight Elite Canada meet
Posted Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Canada’s best male gymnasts, including two-time Olympians Nathan Gafuik of Calgary and Ken Ikeda of Abbotsford, B.C. hit the floor for the Elite Canada meet in Gatineau, Que., February 27-28.
Gafuik and Ikeda, both members of the 2004 and 2008 Olympic teams, highlight the men’s senior competition along with a strong group of 2012 Olympic hopefuls including Jackson Payne of Edmonton, Kevin Lytwyn of Burlington, Ont., and Jayd Lukenchuk of Saskatoon.
“All of our top guys have been working hard at adding more difficulty to their routines, and this will be a great opportunity to put everything together at a big meet,” said Canadian men’s program director Jeff Thomson of Vancouver.
Missing at this year’s competition are veterans Brandon O’Neill of Edmonton, out with an injured knee, and the defending champion, Casey Sandy of Brampton, Ont., who is recovering from a torn achilles tendon.
Competition is also expected to be top notch in the junior category with several younger gymnasts knocking on the door of the senior team. including Robert Watson of Richmond, B.C., and 2009 all around junior champion Jaylan Birl of Mississaga, Ont.
“It takes a long time to develop an Olympic calibre gymnast, and Elite Canada is a key stepping stone along the way for our junior and tyro athletes,” says Thompson.
“We have a very strong group of younger gymnasts on the way up and it’s important to see how they perform when it really counts.”
Elite Canada, one of two major domestic meets along with the Canadian championships used to select national teams at the senior, junior and tyro levels, has extra weight this year as one of the qualification events for the Pacific Rim Championships in March in Melbourne, Australia.
The competition, which also includes an Argo class for under-12 gymnasts, takes place Saturday, February 27th and Sunday, February 28th, at the Frank Robinson arena in Gatineau (Aylmer).
Five athletes will represent our club at this prestigious event are: Alex Cookney, Nico Bourne (HP Argo), Joshua Stuart (HP Tyro), Robert Watson (Junior) and Jason Scott (Senior).
Good luck to all!
2010 Olympic Celebration…a success!!!
Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to clean and decorate the gym for this event. RGA members gathered to celebrate the upcoming of the 2010 Olympics. The boys and girls in the competitive program presented their routines in their new RGA track suits and uniforms which made the demonstrations even more spectacular to watch. In addition to our big winner for the Olympic Victory Celebration tickets, other members walked away with dozens of prizes. As everyone enjoyed cake and refreshments, they were amazed by the fantastic look of the new RGA website, which was also launched that evening.
See pictures here!
Robert on the Rings
16 year old Robert Watson competed at the Junior Pan-American Championships in Aracaju, Brazil in early November where he was the most successful male athlete of the 4 member Canadian Team. The Team finished 4th place behind Brazil, USA and Columbia.
Robert did not only finished 8th in the All Around competition but also qualified for three event finals (Floor, Rings, High Bar). After his great performance he ended up 5th on High Bar, 6th on Rings and 7th on Floor.
Out of over 15 countries in the competition there were only 5 spots available for all North, South and Central America to qualify for the first ever Youth Olympic Games in 2010 in Singapore. Robert, being in the top three amongst the 16 year olds, earned the right for Team Canada to be able to send one athlete for the games. Coach Ferenc Szabo Jr. says “It was a great experience for him and was very nice to see him to compete with so much confident being under pressure, but I guess that all the hard work he went through during the preparation finally paid off. Having him to earn a spot for Canada is also something that I’m really proud of.”
Watson placed fourth all around last month at a tri-nation meet against the U.S. and Germany in Colorado Springs and prevented an American sweep in the apparatus finals by tying for gold on the high bar. Watson’s high bar routine includes a triple-twisting double layout dismount that is only performed by a handful of the world’s top gymnasts. Other members of Richmond Gymnastics are also performing on the high end. 17 year old Junior National Team member Jason Scott was selected recently to represent Canada at the Valeri Luikin International competition that will be held in Texas, USA in the middle of December. Jason finished 3rd place at last year’s Canadian Championships and is a strong member of our Junior Team. Both Jason and Robert went through a lot of travelling this year for training camps in Canada, England, USA and China, but it doesn’t stop there! After the holiday season they will be travelling to London, England and Cancun, Mexico in early January and February with the rest of the Canadian Team to training camps to prepare together with the English and Japanese Teams.
“It’s been a great year for our club and athletes. Not only because of the results we could achieve, but also because it is a great environment for both young and old athletes to train together with 4 boys on the Age Group and Junior National Team in the program. We have over 20 boys in the competitive program who are happy and willing to work hard in order to try to achieve their dream in the sport of gymnastics. It makes me happy to see that we have a good selection of boys that we can build on in the future.” says coach Ferenc Szabo Jr.