- Three young gymnasts from Cape Town’s Wasabi Gymnastics Club won two silver medals in the Junior Mixed Trio section at the All African Games held in Cairo, Egypt.
- Their coach, Salaamah Davids, praised the hard work.
- Despite facing challenges such as inadequate training facilities, the gymnasts excelled, showcasing their talent and determination on an international stage.
Local aerobic gymnasts returned home with pride after winning two silver medals in the Junior Mixed Trio section of the All African Games held in Egypt from Friday 13 to Friday 15 September.
Jordan Vally (16), Hally Hendricks (17) and Leah Slimmert (17) from Wasabi Gymnastics Club in Zeekoevlei arrived back in Cape Town after a successful trip on Tuesday 17 September.
Their coach, Salaamah Davids, who has more than two decades of coaching netball and gymnastics experience under her belt, said a lot of hard work went into their performance.
“There’s a lot of hard work that goes in but there’s also space for much improvement.”
With the correct training, Davids forsee’s the teenagers from Lotus River, Grassy Park and Pelican Park going far in their individual disciplines. “They are very talented and we certainly don’t have to stand back for the world out there. With the proper training they can go very far in life.”
She added that the team learnt a lot from the teams in Egypt “who took almost every medal”.
READ: The latest print edition of the People’s Post here
“Aerobic gymnastics is very big in Egypt and they have many coaches. The team wants to improve themselves to get out of the circumstances they are in and to succeed in life.”
Disadvantaged communities
Wasabi Gymnastics Club at Zeekoevlei Primary School was established 20 years ago to give learners in disadvantaged communities an opportunity to excel in gymnastics.
“It can be very hard for us to train and motivate children to keep them from the evils in the world and in the gym instead,” she said. “You have to train them to think of the positives out there.”
She praised the team for excelling while facing various challenges.
said Davids. “We currently have over 50 kids at our club and it starts from the age of six.”
Some of the challenges they face include training on hard surfaces and not the recommended wooden floors, she adds.
“High performance children must train on a wooden floor, but we don’t have that and it is very tough for them, but they are still good at what they do.”
The club caters for various gymnastic disciplines such as artistic, sport aerobics, skipping and gym.
On social media, Gymnastics South Africa congratulated the senior and junior teams who participated in Egypt.
“Double silver for team SA’s aerobic gymnasts at the 2024 Aerobic African Championships in Cairo, Egypt,” the post read. “The aerobics gymnasts returned home with two silver medals in the mixed trios sections. We are extremely proud of the performances our gymnasts put on display.”
Seniors, who participated include Jahnika Woodman (AG Individual Women), Tshepiso Motone (Senior Individual Men) and Kutlwano Maine (Senior Individual Women) who finished 4th in their respective categories.
