RANKIN INLET
The youthful members of the Aqsarniit Ujauttaq (Northern Lights) gymnastics club have a lot to look forward to as they leave Rankin Inlet today.

Gymnasts Abby Macdonald, left, AJ Libatique, Kylie Mae Aksalnik, Josie Panika and Troy Woodford are all smiles as they help fundraise by taping coach Lisa Kresky to the wall at the community hall in Rankin Inlet this past week. - photo courtesy of Lisa Kresky

The youths have been helping to fundraise for the past year to attend a pair of competitions in British Columbia to make up for gymnastics not being included in the 2016 Arctic Winter Games (AWG) in Nuuk, Greenland.

The first competition is in Vancouver from May 5 to 8, while the second is in Prince George from May 12 to 15.

The Aqsarniit Ujauttaq club held a mini competition at the Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik gym in Rankin on April 24 in preparation for the two competitions.

Club founder and coach Lisa Kresky said she's taking the club's entire 17-member team to the competitions.

She said a number of her young gymnasts had never competed before, so the mini competition was held to give them a chance to perform their routines in front of an audience.

"I wanted them to at least have one opportunity to get used to how a competition works and to perform their routines in front of a live audience," said Kresky.

"Vancouver's Richmond Olympic Oval is an extremely large venue, and there will be more than 1,500 gymnasts performing during the four days.

"We expect there to be a fairly large audience in Vancouver, so we wanted them to have an idea of what to expect when they get there."

Kresky said she'll be accompanied on the trip by coach Kristin Sawyers to help look after the young gymnasts.

She said although it was disappointing to not have gymnastics as part of this year's AWG, competing at the Games is but one part of the Rankin program.

"Our gymnastics program is much more than just the sport.

"We're into developing young individuals into leaders, and competitions such as the ones we're going to in British Columbia are just as big a deal as the AWG.

"So, yeah, no AWG for gymnastics was a disappointment, but at the same time, we provide the kids with other opportunities to make up for it."

Kresky said the fundraising efforts for the British Columbia trip have been nothing short of crazy.

She said the club has done tons of different things to raise money, including having a Go-Fund-Me account online, getting the kids to do numerous gymnastic poses around the community to make a calendar to sell, penny sales, bake sales, gym-a-thons and having herself duct taped to the wall at the community hall.

"We still have a little bit more to go but overall, we've managed to raise enough money to make the trip with the kids.

"The trip is more than just competing and, at both locales, we'll be involved in something called Gymnaestrada, which is basically gymnastics for all.

"That means people of all levels, ages and abilities can participate in large group performance routines that aren't judged.

"The themes are Circus in Vancouver and Lights, Camera, Action in Prince George."

The Rankin club hopes to attend the Canadian Gymnaestrada somewhere down the road.

The club also has its eyes set on the World Gymnaestrada in 2019.

Kresky said the youngest Rankin gymnast heading to Vancouver and Prince George is five and the oldest 17.

She said there are three kids who are 12 years of age or older, one who is five, and the other 13 are all aged eight to 11.

"We'll still be training when we return from these two competitions.

"Vancouver is hosting the Western Championship at the same time, so the kids will get to see some of the top gymnasts in Western Canada.

"Once they see these kids perform, I'm sure they're going to see moves they'll want to come back and learn.

"So, when we get back from our trip, we'll still hit the gym until school finishes on June 10 so they can start working on new skills for the coming year."

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