Tumblers hit the mat with Chinese athletes

Tumblers Gymnastics Centre – an Orléans-based training facility offering both recreational and competitive gymnastics and trampoline programs – played host to a group of visiting Chinese athletes on Monday, Aug. 11, taking in a rhythmic gymnastics and sports aerobics demonstration put on by their Asian counterparts.

Decked out in brightly-coloured, glittering bodysuits and wielding rhythm balls and ribbons, the Chinese youngsters – aged seven to 13 – dazzled the crowd of approximately 50 Tumblers participants, staff and family members with their display.

The athletes hail from the Hangzhou Youth and Children Activity Centre, a recreational facility where young gymnasts train three times a week, and are visiting Canada as part of a cultural and sport exchange, explained coach Yu Mei Zhang and Bin Yan Li, head of the centre’s physical education department, through a translator.

The group’s week-long trip – their second to Ottawa since 2001 – will also include visits to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, the pair added. Hosted locally by the Ottawa Rhythmic Gymnastics Club, the relationship between the cross-country facilities was created in 2000 when a Rhythmic Club team travelled to China, explains manager Ming Li, returning again in 2004.

As for whether the timing of the Beijing Olympics played any part in the voyage, both Zhang and Li said “yes and no.”

The group had initially planned to come back to Canada last summer, though timing of that trip didn’t pan out, they explained. With the summer games ongoing, however, the opportunity exists to further promote sport and the philosophy behind the cultural exchange, the pair added.

The Tumblers, meanwhile, “loved (the demonstration),” described recreational co-ordinator Laurie Loh, who invited the group to perform after learning about them through her coaching position with the Rhythmic Club. “They thought it was very beautiful.”

Though the style and performance of the Chinese athletes is comparable to Canadian gymnastics, the funds injected by their government into sport versus those in Canada are markedly different, she continued.

“Let’s see how many medals we win at the Olympics,” Loh explained. “It’s very difficult to compete at higher than a provincial level (because of the funding).”

Keeping equipment up-to-date and in good condition, as well as hiring first-rate coaches, are some of the reasons clubs such as Tumblers rely on fundraising and the monetary influx from recreational programs, she added.

“(In China,) they’re getting so many kids involved in gymnastics,” Loh said. “It’s a mainstay – it’s a staple sport in (the country).”

Regardless of funding woes, exposing east-end gymnasts to a new culture and promoting an overall philosophy of unity made the event worthwhile, she continued.

“I like to bring different events and different groups to the club,” Loh explained. “(It shows them) kids on the other side of the world are doing exactly what they’re doing … they’re just like them.”