With the inaugural Carifta Gymnastics Championships fast approaching, Barbados head coach Alison Jackson expressed cautious optimism about her team’s chances of topping rivals at the event, which will be held at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Jamaica.

Jackson, a long-time coach of Flip Gym, shared her views shortly after a 15-member team was named to represent the Barbados Gymnastics Association (BAGA) at the November 29-30 event.

She believes that despite Barbados being represented internationally at various levels over the years, the island is still yet to reach its full potential, and that scope for growth is again evident where team selection is concerned.

"Well, I have to say that we are at a disadvantage in terms of athlete selection. I’m the only one that offers a competitive programme at the moment, so all of the gymnasts have been selected from my gym through my staff. We sat and discussed and looked at results for the season to make our recommendations to the association about who we think our top athletes are going to be at each level,” Jackson said.

“Trinidad is ahead of us in terms of how long they’ve had organised gymnastics classes going. So Trinidad alone has 17 clubs to choose from. So our group is very small, we only have 15 girls going, but we’ve picked the best of our 15 girls. So I expect to definitely be coming back with some medals for Barbados,” she added.

The Carifta Gymnastics Championships, which has been under consideration for years now, will now come to fruition, with teams from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Aruba, The Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands set to take part.

“It’s finally happening. Jamaica is hosting the first one, and we are going to be having most of the countries in our region follow the USA’s developmental programme, which is level-based,” Jackson, a former vice president of BAGA, shared.

“So there’s 10 levels, so they’re going to have that, as well as elite level gymnastics, which is the International Gymnastics Federation or FIG level gymnastics. So there’ll be two streams, which is great because not all of the islands have elite level gymnasts as yet. So we’ll give all the kids who are eligible an opportunity to compete and represent their country at the Carifta Games at whatever level they’re at,” she explained.

That said, Jackson expressed hope that the advent of a regional competition for gymnastics will show people that Caribbean kids have other possible pathways to excel on the international stage.

“We’re hoping that it will broaden everybody’s horizons and bring more awareness to gymnastics generally within our own island and across the Caribbean. I’ve been coaching kids in Barbados for years. I’ve taken kids to the USA; I’ve taken them to training camps with the US national team coaches. I mean, we’ve done lots of stuff, but everyone’s just thinking this is only starting now. But it’s been going on for a long time, so it’s just getting it out there and getting more recognition,” Jackson noted.

Barbados team: Jazara Lavine, Ciara Freeman, Za’Nyah Bostic-White, Daniella Small, Juliette Sonny, Mariah Gill, Cyrina Walcott-Lloyd, Oyinda Buluro, Amber Haynes, Dominique Thompson, Khaleesi Marshall, Sya Franklyn, Freya-Rose Smith, Thaliyah Dowrich, Mishka Mapp.

Don't wish for it. Work for it.

That is the motto that United States-born Barbadian gymnast Olivia Kelly lives by, as she has always been motivated to turn her thoughts into actions.

In fact, at 17 years old, Kelly has her eyes set on accomplishing a goal which, if successful, will propel her budding career to higher heights. The goal? To be the first gymnast to represent the Eastern Caribbean Island at the Olympic Games.

Achieving such a dream is by no means impossible and Kelly, also known as "Storm," in gymnastics circles, positioned herself to bring it to fruition when she placed 10th at the PanAm Gymnastics Championships in Medellin, Colombia recently, and earned a spot to the World Gymnastics Championships for a second year consecutively.

The championships scheduled to begin late September in Antwerp, Belgium, serves an Olympic qualifier and, as such, Kelly is focused on ensuring her performance quality and the details of her routine are on point, while staying physically and mentally healthy.

"I’m not really aiming to do anything much different other than to stay healthy and keep training hard. My goals this year were always to just train hard, trust my training at Worlds, and hopefully qualify for the 2024 Olympics," Kelly, who has a number of first for Barbados, declared.

"I've devoted a lot to this sport and so I always want to be competitive, but my best is all I can do and if I do that, I will always be satisfied," she added.

At the PanAm Championships, Kelly, who earns her Barbadian stripes through her father, Tori, scored 12.867 for her vault routine, 11.867 on uneven bars, 12.267 on the balance beam and 12.467 for her floor routine, for an All-Around total of 49.468.

"Colombia, was so much fun and I’m very pleased with the performance. I definitely feel like I can work on little things for Worlds, but I think this was a great meet for me," Kelly noted.

That performance, she said, was a reflection of the lessons learnt from last when she made her debut appearance on the international stage.

"I gained a lot of experience from last year which was a learning year for me in the international field. At both the Pan American Championship in Rio and the World Championships in Liverpool, I fell on bars, but even then, I still had a great experience. So, coming into this year, I felt way more prepared and confident because of my 2022 season. 

"That season taught me that I can be resilient and bounce back in the next event. I’ve learned that I can push that negative energy back and really focus on what’s happening now instead of the past," Kelly reasoned.

While she is clearly identified as one of, if not the best young gymnast for her country, Kelly, who got involved with the sport at two years old, when she took tumbling and mommy-and-me classes, knows she still has some ways to go.

As such, the North Stars Gymnastics Academy stalwart, guided by coach Ashley Umberger, a former member of the United States senior international gymnastics team, is determined to continue working over 30 hours per week to improve physically and mentally challenges to realize her dream.

"The aim is always to be better than you were before. So, I am going to add some skills for Worlds and clean up my routines, as well as build up my mental toughness and my confidence a little bit more," Kelly, who is homeschooled with Florida Virtual Global School, ended.