Another stellar year by the Tamworth Gymnastics Club has been epitomised by a performance so special, it is believed to have occurred only one other time a state-level competitions this year.
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Piper Kirby’s perfect 10 on the vault at the recent level-four Junior State Championships, at the Sydney Gymnastics Centre, not only catapulted the 12-year-old into rarefied company but also helped Tamworth win division-one gold in what was a teams competition.
Piper’s coach, Jodie McGinnity, said getting a perfect 10 was “very rare these days”.
“So it’s very, very difficult to achieve that,” she said, adding: “It’s a unique thing, and we’re very proud of her.”
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Kirby’s teammates on the gold medal-winning team were Harriet Wilde, Isabel Zifodya, Sidney Turner, Lexi Monaghan and Evie Thornton.
McGinnity, a senior coach at the club with her parents, Jan and Stephen, spoke effusively about the club’s continuing success this year.
The latest state champions had continued a tradition of excellence at the club, she said, with the club “probably edging towards 100 state champions”.
“We’ve had a very successful year,” she said.
“We’ve just come off the national championships, where our level-seven team was actually the national champions on vault.
“So it’s also showing a continued tradition of strong vaulting within the club.”
The national club championships, a team event, was held on the Gold Coast in early October. The Tamworth Gymnastics Club team that won level-seven vault gold was Josie Douglas, Amber Downes, Paige Seaton and Maisie Wilde
The club won three gold medals at the level-five and level-six state championships in August, via Georgia Goodwin, Tori Monaghan and Scarlett Coppola.
In April, Seaton snared gold at the state titles for level seven to 10.
Seaton was one of four club members to be selected for NSW this year – the most in the club’s history. Joining Seaton at the national championships in Melbourne was Wilde.
Douglas and Downes represented a second-tier NSW team at the national event at Caloundra in Queensland.
The club also hosted the annual Tamworth Country Capital Cup in June, with this year’s event the biggest yet. It included a team from Singapore.
The club’s year concludes with their intra-championship on November 17-18.
On the horizon for the highly successful, dynamic organisation is a 2020 tour to either Las Vegas, Los Angeles or New York.
In 2016, the club competed in Las Vegas.