- April 23, 2024
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Competing in gymnastics can help athletes of all sports, says Pat Gray, owner of Sky High Gymnastics.
BY ANDREW O'BRIEN | SPORTS EDITOR
Chandler Edwards took off in a full sprint. As he reached the end of the single-lane trampoline runway, he catapulted into the air. His hands were extended out to his side, and his face was still, total concentration.
Edwards launched into a pit full of colored foam squares. He emerged from the pit with a smile, his teeth on full display. It was back to the beginning of the runway. Next time, he’d do a flip into the landing zone.
This wasn’t an activity during a birthday party, though. It was just another practice technique last week during the boys gymnastics program at Sky High Gymnastics, a facility that has been in Ormond Beach about three years, according to owner Pat Gray.
“Originally, we weren’t going to do boys, but they would come in and watch their sisters, waiting to get on the trampoline, and it just grew from there,” Gray said last week, as several gymnasts landed on the floor, making a thudding sound that echoed through the facility located at the intersection of Nova Road and Hand Avenue.
The gym’s primary focus is on female students, with about 120 in total, ranging in age from 18 months to 16 years old.
The boys program, which fluctuates between about eight to 12 gymnasts, is taught by USA Gymnastics certified instructor Alex Fanning, a 17-year-old former gymnast who grew up in Ormond Beach.
Fanning, who will be a senior at Seabreeze High School this fall, started gymnastics when he was 13, because he was doing karate and “wanted to learn all the cool flips.”
But once he flipped, he couldn’t stop.
“(As an athlete), it helps everything,” Fanning said. “It builds muscle and flexibility everywhere.”
The boys program meets 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays. During a session, gymnasts gain strength and conditioning by doing flips and rolls, working on the rings, bars and parallel bars, launching off the trampoline and working out during floor exercises.
Flexibility leads to fewer injuries, Gray said. And that’s why athletes of other sports, especially football, want to get involved in gymnastics.
“The key thing is to know how to fall in any sport,” Gray said.
Sky High Gymnastics is a member of USA Gymnastics, which is the pathway to the Olympics. The girls program enters into competitions; the boys program currently does not.
But that could change in the future, Gray said.
“At some point, yes, because we have a couple of boys who have really improved,” she said. “It takes so much time in the gym and a lot of endurance and strength training.”
Fanning participated in one competition about three years ago, held at ESPN's Wide World of Sports, in Orlando. He took first place in every category. Now, he teaches four days a week at Sky High — both boys and girls.
Fanning, who competes in track-and-field and weightlifting at Seabreeze, said gymnastics work everything, calling it the most “physically demanding sport out there.”
Gray said she hopes to continue to grow the boys gymnastics program.
“The bottom line is, get the boys into the gym, keep their weight down, keep them healthy and make it fun,” she said.
Visit www.gymskyhigh.com, or search “Sky High Gymnastics” on Facebook.
