Karlee Wilson-Birks admits it got a little bit dusty in the Activity Centre on Friday night. The head coach of the Jasper Gymnastics Club is moving on to Nelson, B.C. and on Friday night she made it official, telling the crowd gathered to watch the club’s year end show.

“It was tough,” Wilson-Birks told the Fitzhugh a couple of days later. “They thanked me and they thanked Nadia (Wassef, the new head coach for the club) and then all the girls passed the mic around and they all said something really nice about me. I was an emotional wreck!”

Still, it was a happy moment, rather than a sad one, she says in retrospect.

“It was probably our most successful year-end show. The Activity Centre was packed, there were over 150 people... It was a really good moment in my life.”

It was only fitting that it was a positive, strong ending to the year, given that Wilson-Birks considers the season that recently finished to be the best of her seven with the Jasper club.

“In the last few years, it really started to build with some consistency,” she said. “This year is the year that will stand out the most for me. The kids that were competing were the kids that started with me. They started out not knowing how to do anything and to see them winning medals and ribbons and competing...”

Beyond the competitive level, Wilson-Birks is also proud of the progress that has been made on the recreational front as well.

“I think almost all of the kids in town have tried gymnastics at one point,” she said.

In her new home, Wilson-Birks will be given the opportunity to strengthen her favourite sport in another part of the world. She’s taken a job as the recreational coordinator for the Glacier Gymnastics Club. With 400 members, it’s a strong outfit for a community the size of Nelson (about 9,000).

“I won’t be head coaching, so it’ll be an adjustment,” she said. “It’s going to be challenging, there are quite a few higher level athletes so there will be a focus on competition.”

But just like in Jasper, there will be more to Wilson-Birks’ role than getting elite athletes ready for their time in the spotlight. The Glacier club is actively trying to develop gymnastics programs in the outlying communities in the Slocan Valley, as a means of improving the calibre of competition for their own members.

“I think it’s going to be an opportunity for me to help out in the nearby small communities,” Wilson-Birks said. “I’m really all about gymnastics for everybody so if we can do it will be really great.”

While she’s very pleased about her new job, it wasn’t Wilson-Birks’ major motivation for moving to B.C. Her parents have recently retired and will be living in Nelson, and her brothers plan to join the family shortly.

“We grew up spending the summers there and we all knew we were going to end up in Nelson,” she said. “The job just worked out, I kept looking for opportunities there because I was moving to Nelson.”

Wilson-Birks is sure that the Jasper club will be in good shape with her former assistant coach, Nadia Wassef, at the helm, but the club’s top performer will be missed next year as well. Paige Macdonald, who had a remarkable run of results at competitions this year, will be moving with her family to Calgary and has tried out for the University of Calgary club team, Wilson-Birks said.

Both are leaving on a high note, and for Wilson-Birks, it’s been an amazing seven years.

“I started out here intending to stay for the summer,” she said. “That was seven years ago. My time in Jasper was wonderful.”

She’s not gone for good, either. Wilson-Birks will return for the summer gymnastics camp and intends to do so in future years as well.

“That will help me keep the bond with the girls,” she said. Before Wilson-Birks leaves for Nelson on June 1, a farewell party will be held for her on Friday (May 11) at the Jasper Pizza Place from 6:30 until 9 p.m.