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Local aerial gymnast hoping for sky-high results in Alberta

Apr 27, 2014 | 8:31 AM

A top-ranked local aerial gymnast readying for appearances on a national stage later this year is competing at the TG Alberta Provincials this weekend.

Brent Ertman, 15, who has been involved in gymnastics for the last five years, is currently ranked third in the province in aerial gymnastics. He received his high ranking after competing in the Canada Cup last summer, where he placed sixth all-around.

At the Alberta provincials, athletes from Alberta and Saskatchewan come together for the competition in trampoline and tumbling events.

“I’m really excited, but not nervous at all because I do it every year for the past five years I’ve been going. It just gives me a chance to really just prepare for nationals and bigger competitions that are coming up later in the season.”

He’ll be heading to two national competitions, beginning with his first-ever Canadian Gymnastics Championship appearance this May in Ottawa. This year’s Nationals will be special because it’ll allow him to try something new.

“It’s going to be good to see what’s different about it, and all the people competing and meet new people. It’s going to be great.”

Ertman trains for two days a week after school with his Prince Albert-based coach Kara Thorpe, and on the weekend with his Moose Jaw-based head coach. During his practices, he said after his warm-ups and passes, he pushes himself as hard as he can so he can prepare for competitions.

Thorpe, the recreational director at the Prince Albert Aerials Gymnastics Club, said that at the end of the year last year they closed the trampoline and tumbling program in the city. But a few athletes were interested in continuing their training in Prince Albert, so she entered a co-coaching partnership with the high performance coach in Moose Jaw – which means Ertman must travel to Moose Jaw for some of his training.

“It’s a unique experience that allows Brent to continue to train at that high level, maintain his community status in Prince Albert and not have to move. But it keeps him going at a high level and allows him to experience things like going to Alberta provincials, Canada Cup, and later on, he’ll be going to the National Championships in Ottawa.”

Gymnastics Saskatchewan has been supportive of the coaching partnership, Thorpe said. To that end, the organization has discussed the possibility of funding the purchase of communication devices to allow the coaches to do instant replay or live training sessions between Moose Jaw and Prince Albert.

“Gymnastics Saskatchewan is looking into what kinds of technologies are out there and how to best purchase them and bring them up to PA so that we can connect with Jamie [the head coach] a little more regularly than once every couple of weeks,” she said.

But this weekend, Ertman is looking towards getting through all of his passes and getting high scores.

“I mean, it doesn’t really matter to me if I place as long as I get through them, prepare myself, and use them as sort of a preparation for Nationals, and when I go to Nationals, I’m hoping to get podium, if I can, but if not, anything else is great, just because it’s my first experience.”

As for Ertman’s future in aerials, he said he’ll see where it takes him.

“For now, I’m just going to try to move up every year and just try my best, just keep competing and keep pushing hard and see where I go from there.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames