Boys' competitive gymnastics program back in the Yukon after 15 years

A group of young boys tumble together on gymnastic mats.

Their moves aren’t overly complex — but they are reason for excitement.

That’s because these kids are part of something that hasn't been offered in the Yukon for 15 years: a competitive gymnastics program for boys.

“We're very excited,” said Kim Jones, executive director of the Polarettes gymnastics club in Whitehorse. “This is a program that, since I started as head coach here, people have asked for and we've wanted to get going.”

It wasn’t lack of desire or interest that kept a boys program dormant, it was finding the right coach.

“Men's artistic gymnastics is a brand, it's a completely different sport, so it requires different courses for staff training. So it's not quite as easy as to say, 'let's offer it tomorrow,'” said Jones. 

“We really needed the right coach and enough space to be able to offer this program more appropriately. We didn't want to restart it and then have it die because a coach left.”

Kim Jones is the Polarettes gymnastics club's executive director. She says it wasn't due to a lack of interest that a boy's program wasn't being offered — it was about finding the right coach. (CBC/George Maratos)

John Hall is in charge of the new program.

He first came onto Jones’ radar this past spring, when Whitehorse hosted the Western Canadian Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Hall attended the event as a coach with a team from Alberta.

“I heard that they [Yukon] were thinking of starting a men's program,” said Hall. “I was like, 'wow, OK, that sounds like a great opportunity,'” said Hall. 

Hall says the state-of-the-art gymnastics facility that was opened last year in Whitehorse also factored in his decision to come North.

In the end though, it was about