Petition calls for elite gymnasts to be allowed to train despite new COVID-19 restrictions

Several Ontario athletes have become increasingly worried about how the latest COVID-19 restrictions will affect their ability to move forward in their sport and gymnasts are no different.

Elite gymnasts preparing for the upcoming season were devastated when it was announced they would once again not be able to train until at least Jan. 26, but they won’t return to the gym how they left it.

CEO of Futures Gymnastics Centre Lorraine Currie says with gymnasts, a three-week break means they will need nine weeks to get their skills and strength up to where they can compete.

“When you’re an elite athlete, that’s even bigger issues because there are so many factors in their training. It’s not just you know, people at home, do your push-ups. It’s not nearly as simple as that,” said Currie.

“They have prehab and rehab that they do during training to prevent injuries. The equipment’s not at their house, they can’t get in the facility, they can’t get with a coach to work on it. And so, there are very big ramifications.”

Not only has this set back the gymnasts who were hoping to get a scholarship to a post-secondary school, but it is also keeping Ontario from being represented on Team Canada.

“So, they’re losing scholarship opportunities. They’re losing funding, or losing national team status,” said Currie. “Ontario is normally a very strong contender for national team members. And but because we’ve had so few competitions, so few opportunities to train, we’re losing ground to the rest of the country.”

Currie said gymnasts have not been able to compete for the last two seasons and the upcoming season is also in jeopardy, thanks to this latest lockdown.

Under the modified Step 2 the province is currently in, all indoor sport and recreational fitness facilities have been forced to close, except for athletes training for the Olympics and Paralympics and select professional and elite amateur sports leagues.

“Normally, you can pretty much guarantee a scholarship at a certain level of ability. And this time around, there’s been far fewer opportunities to meet with coaches,” added Currie.

She says it’s a real disappointment as Canada was just starting to make a real mark in international competitions and Ontario is being left out of that because other provinces have still been training.

Currie has launched a petition in the hopes that the government will allow them to train in very small groups of five athletes at a time.

“Our facility is 34,000 square feet. Five kids could be in there in completely different areas of the gym, doing some of their programs with their coach and not lose as much at least, you know, not get so far behind,” explained Currie. “It would help with their mental health aspect as well because there are lots of kids that have just given up. It’s just too hard to climb that mountain for the third time.”

The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) has been allowed to continue to practice and play their games during this lockdown, which Currie says feels like an imbalance.

“We know one of the biggest reasons is because they want to get drafted. But them getting drafted is the same as us getting scholarships. They work very hard to get those scholarships and there are prolific scholarships in the US for this purpose. And they don’t even have any competition video show.”

At this point, seven qualifiers have been postponed in Ontario due to the lockdown and there are plans in place should restrictions be lifted.

“If it goes beyond the three weeks obviously that affects more competitions and more timelines. So, they’ve got a plan B to in hopes of saving the season, and they even have a Plan C. And then Plan D is there are no meets,” said Currie.

“We would lose so many athletes because it’s just too hard for three times in a row to lose your entire season. Working that hard and not getting any of the benefits is really hard on the kids.”

Megan Centeno is a 13-year-old gymnast with Flyers and said although she can’t compete this year due to an injury, she is worried that not getting into the gym to begin training again could have an impact on her future.

“I’ll have the delay and like already that I’ve been off for like three months now. So it’s been quite a bit of time. But yeah, so I feel like getting back will be a little bit harder than it was the last time but I’m sure I can push there. We know. We’re givenness we’re tough.”

She and the other gymnasts usually spend upwards of 20 hours a week in the gym, Centeno admits, and the latest restrictions have been extremely disappointing.

Centeno said they are still training at home, but can only do basic technique, strength training and stretching.

“It’s very hard to replicate that at home where you have very little equipment. So, there is a drop in strength even with how much we do keep it up at home, it’s not enough to take us back.”

This latest round of restrictions, Centeno said, has had a big impact on the gymnasts’ mental health. “It really does have a big mental toll on everyone … because you are in that gym so often that like [it] becomes your home. And once that is taken away from you, you feel like a piece of you is missing.”

The petition has now reached over 3,300 signatures.

“We know that there are safe solutions to allowing them to come into the gym, and finding safe ways to do that,” said Currie.