Jodie Hinks called it a wild and crazy year.
Back at the helm as head coach of the Prince George Gymnastics Club, Hinks doesn't have to look far around the gym to see the fruits of her labour in the past year.
She sees it in the two dozen or so medals Prince George gymnasts won the provincial championships, an all-time high for the club.
Within that competitive group, three of those gymnasts -- Reid Powers (Level 2 novice), Alia Wilson (pre-novice aspire) and Lina Goto (Level 5 open) -- had what it takes to be crowned provincial all-around champions. They did that while competing at home in at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre in an event their coach spent countless hours organizing.
Hinks took over the club's most competitive group last fall when Jennifer Schwandt (nee Fendelet) left on maternity leave. In all of her 27 years as a gymnastics coach, this ranks as one of the best ever for Hinks and for her efforts she was presented a special award at the club's year-end picnic.
"This season was fabulous, having three all-round champions was unbelievable," said Hinks. "I've never had three kids win provincials and have one of those three also attend Westerns."
In April, the club hosted the provincial championships, the first time Prince George has hosted the event since 2004. Crowds at the Northern Sport Centre far exceeded Gymnastics B.C. expectations and Hinks was elated to have three provincial champions in her midst.
"We had an outstanding organizing committee, a big group of us and we put on just a fantastic championships," said Hinks. "I don't know if it was because all the kids were at home but we totally crushed our best-ever medal count at provincials. It was in the twenties, at least double [the club's largest previous provincial total]."
Although not as high in calibre as the Western Canadian championships the Prince George club hosted in 2008, the provincial meet attracted more than 600 athletes, more than double that of the Western Canadian meet, and Hinks and co-organizer Lucia Fendelet and their committee pulled it off without a hiccup.
Wilson, 11, was the first Prince George gymnast to qualify for Western Canadians since Breeanna Fendelet last did it in 2007. Hinks accompanied Wilson to the Western event in Winnipeg and watched her win silver on the balance beam and share in the B.C. team's silver medal. The only thing in Hinks's resume to top that was a trip to the national championships in 2003 to coach Ashley Werbecky.
Hinks, a native of Prince George, was a provincial-level gymnast until she was 15. She got into coaching in 1986 with the local club, then known as Prince George Gympix. In 1988, Gympix amalgamated with the Prince George School of Artistic Gymnastics to form the Prince George Gymnastics Club.
Summer break doesn't last long around the club headquarters at Exhibition Park. They'll take the last week of July and first two weeks of August off before training resumes for the competitive and recreational groups.
Local interest in gymnastics has surged in the wake of the Summer Olympics in 2012 and the club's involvement in hosting provincials. Competitive and recreational programs and the summer camps are all near capacity and some groups have wait lists.
The provincial meet served as the test event for the 2015 Canada Winter Games, giving volunteers, many of who have no background in gymnastics, a chance to serve as minor officials and timers. Artistic gymnastics will be part of the first week of the Games, while trampoline gymnastics will be on the Week 2 schedule.
