Gymnast, 14, from La Ronge excited to represent Team North at Sask. Winter Games for 1st time

Mackenzie Boyer was only two years old when she joined her first gymnastics class in La Ronge, Sask. Since then, she has spent much of her time upside down. 

Flips, handstands, tumbling — Mackenzie loves being on the mat. 

"I remember from a young age I was kind of self-taught and I remember doing my first backflip on the grass in my backyard. That's a good memory," said Mackenzie with a big smile on her face. 

Now at age 14, Mackenzie is competing in the Saskatchewan Winter Games for the first time. She is one of five members of the Prince Albert Aerials Club who are participating.

On Monday the team won the bronze medal, and Mackenzie competes solo on Tuesday. 

It was a long trip to Regina for the La Ronge gymnast, but she's no stranger to extensive car rides. For years, Mackenzie's parents drove her the five-hour round trip to Prince Albert for gymnastics classes. 

At first it was just her. But eventually she and a small group of girls made the trip down on Saturday mornings. They would wake up at 6 a.m. to be in Prince Albert for gymnastics class at 9 a.m. 

But that didn't bother young Mackenzie. 

"Usually we'd have a sleepover on that night, so we'd always be excited to get going in the morning."

Mackenzie said tumbling was the first move she nailed in class. But while gymnastics came easily to her, Mackenzie was very shy. 

"I think back in the day when she was little I didn't realize how nervous she was to meet people," said Mackenzie's mother and Prince Albert Aerials Club team manager Audrey Boyer. 

"I thought she'd be so excited and she was just absolutely petrified. She wanted to do gym, but she was scared of people," Audrey said. 

Turns out being part of a gymnastics team really helped with Mackenzie's