The Jasper Gymnastics Club has received some exciting news – the club has been chosen to host the 2011 Northern Zones from March 8 to 20, 2011, a trial competition for the provincial and western championships. 

Head Coach Nadia Wassef said this is the biggest event the club has ever hosted.

“It’s very exciting,” she said,  adding the largest competition the club has ever hosted was the Alberta Team Championships a few years ago. 

The club will welcome competitors from all over Alberta to their new permanent facility next to the curling rink in the Jasper Activity Centre. When they hosted the team championships, they were still using the multi-purpose hall at the Jasper Activity Centre, where they had to set up and take down equipment every day. The club’s new home in the curling rink during the summer months, provides them a permanent place to set up their equipment. 

Wassef said the Zones will bring in a large number of talented gymnasts to Jasper, which will not only inspire the local athletes, but bring revenue in to local businesses. 

“There’s a lot of sort of higher level clubs that are going to be coming to our gym,” Wassef said.

Jasper’s gymnasts do not get an automatic bye-in for hosting the tournament and have to re-qualify every year. They will have to qualify like everyone else in the province, and the competition is fierce. Wassef said she brings at least two to three girls to the competition every year, and hopes for the same in 2011. 

“It’s a tough go,” she said of the Zones. “It’s the most stressful competition of the year.”

Last year, Jasper’s Tannis Potter finished third overall in the province at the Zones, which bodes well for the team earning a win or two at home. 

If the club members do qualify, Wassef is looking forward to a great crowd turn-out. 

“Hopefully we’ll get the best cheering squad in the world out there to support these girls,” she said. 

Last week the gymnastics club moved their equipment back to their temporary set-up to accommodate renovations to the curling rink, but practices will continue. 

The club held a bottle drive on Sept. 25, where they raised $3,000 towards purchasing a new trampoline. The equipment will cost $8,000, and Wassef was pleased with the funds raised so far.