Earlier this season, gymnastics coach Charlene Knudsen decided the girls she trains would forego most local competitions and instead focus their attention on events south of the border.
Gymnasts, from left, Amelia Briggs-Morris, Dana Potashner and Lindsay Solmon
From Knudsen’s perspective, the move would pay off by giving her athletes some valuable international experience and better prepare them for the Maccabiah Games in July.
With the Games fast approaching, Knudsen is confident her girls will show well in Israel.
As co-owner of the Markham Gymnastics Club, as well as coach of the Maccabiah junior (under-15) and open teams, she’ll be taking two of her club girls to Israel – Dana Potashner and Lindsay Solmon, both 13. Joining them on the junior team are 13-year-olds Amelia Briggs-Morris, Sabrina Barsky and Amanda Wolfe, all of Toronto.
The open team consists of Erin Berenbaum and Marlee Schinoff of Toronto and Dana Goldman and her sister, Danielle, of Montreal.
Last December, Knudsen and the junior girls competed in the Nadia Comaneci International Invitational in Oklahoma City. Potashner finished second all around, Solmon was fourth and Briggs-Morris won the gold medal for best performance overall.
In February, the Markham Club participated in the Vegas Cup and the team finished third.
A month later at the GTC Classics – Motown Madness in Michigan, the team earned another third-place finish.
To further prepare her charges for the Maccabiah Games, which run from July 12 to 23, Knudsen is consulting with a gymnastics judge “to put together the most amount of difficulty to give us an edge.” (Athletes who successfully complete a more difficult manoeuvre score higher than those who finish an easier one.)
“At the same time, we want to be clean, to stay on the equipment and stick,” she said.
Knudsen, who will be visiting Israel for the first time, said despite the expected tough competition from the United States and former East Bloc countries, “I’m expecting to go there and be on the podium.”
In past Maccabiahs, Canada sent one or two athletes who competed individually. Now, for the first time, Canada will field a full team in junior and open events, allowing the girls to compete on an individual level and to have their scores count toward team results.
Solmon, a Grade 8 student at the Academy for Gifted Children – P.A.C.E., said that the Maccabiah “is going to be a really big thing for me – my first time in Israel and my first international competition. It’s going to be amazing.”
Solmon said she’s particularly curious to visit the Dead Sea and other well-known sites she’s heard about.
As to the competition, for months she’s been training 22 hours a week and she’s seen a great improvement in her skills.
Potashner, a Grade 8 student at United Synagogue Day School, is also excited about the Maccabiah experience. “I hope that as a team and as individuals, the Canadian team will do very well. We’ll just try our hardest and have fun.”
She’s looking forward to meeting other Jewish athletes from around the world: “As Jews, you have a special connection and it makes me happy to meet people from around the world with the same beliefs and to share the experience together.”
Knudsen said the girls’ performance level is consistently good. “Lindsay brings great strength to the floor exercise and the vault, and Dana brings great strength to the bars and the vault.”
Like the young athletes, Knudsen is looking forward with relish to the Games. “I’m really excited to go with the Canadian team. This will be my first international podium competition [outside North America], and I’m interested in seeing the other countries and being part of the international experience and represent my country.”
Both Solmon’s and Potashner’s families will be accompanying the girls to Israel, and Knudsen believes that will add to the experience.
“It’s very special for the athletes to go to Israel and be part of the whole experience. It’s very meaningful for the girls to be in Israel with their families,” she said.