The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THIS year has been filled with milestones for the sport of gymnastics and now another approaches as the country prepares to host the largest gymnastics competition in the Caribbean.

The Atlantis resort will host the fifth annual Atlantis Crown Invitational December 17-20 in the Imperial Ballroom.

Over 90 Bahamian gymnasts will compete among the approximately 870 registered athletes at the competition from Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and the United  States.

This year, three special guests will be in attendance. They are the Region 5 Elite Ambassador Team of Nia Dennis, Gabby Perea, Shilese Jones and Amelia Hundley, 2012 Olympian Sam Mikilak, and Svetlana Boguinskaia, the three-time Olympian with five Olympic medals.

Opening ceremonies take place 7-8:30pm tonight at the Imperial Ballroom.

Bahamian national team and Nassau ‘Nastics coach Trevor Ramsey said the event serves a vital role in bringing local exposure to the sport, particularly to young men.

“We are very excited to see this event returning. Currently we have few gym clubs as members of the federation. Men’s gymnastics is not as strong or as popular as women’s gymnastics and we are hoping it draws a lot of attention. Hopefully it will help a lot of our young men that come out and view the competition to know that they can come and be a part of this sport,” he said. “We are also excited about the fact that we will have the US gymnastics team here. The kids are extremely excited about getting autographs and photos with them. All of these things help to promote the sport and it really helps to give our kids the vision of where they could potentially be in the sport.”

The meet is directed by Al and Cindy Scharns, the owners of Branch Gymnastics and Kids Sports USA out of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Cindy Scharns said one of the highlights of hosting the event for the past few years has been the increased participation of Bahamian clubs.

“One of the things we are most excited about is to see the growth within your country. When we first started we had 20 attend, we now have 95 athletes,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the support from all three of the clubs here in the Bahamas. People have just gone the extra mile to do the things we need here while we are back in the United Sates and the quality of the meet continues to grow and expand because of that partnership.”

Tickets can be purchased at the Atlantis box office and for more information, visit www.atlantiscrown.com.

Adult tickets are available for $20, seniors (65+) at $15, children (6-16) at $10 and children under five are admitted free.

“We started out this event with approximately 325 athletes and we are now at 870 athletes. This number includes both males and females and we are very excited about that. The event has grown to the point where we are running two gyms side by side so there will actually be two competitions instead of one competition,” Scharns said. “One of the things we are excited about is the growth of the future. We have signed contracts and will continue to bring this event to the Bahamas through 2020. Trampoline and tumbling will be added next year. In addition to that, we do have connections with a few college programmes and they have asked to become a part of this event.”

The event continues to grow and this year Dr George Drew, head coach of the United States’ 2003 Trampoline ad Tumbling World Championships Team, is expected to visit the Bahamas with a view to adding a  tumbling and trampoline component to the event schedule.

Additionally, she expressed special thanks to the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture, Gymnastics Federation of the Bahamas and Atlantis resort for their continued support.