Bunbury gymnasts selected for 2021 Western Australian Women's Artistic Gymnastics Country Team

16-year-old Holly van Herk, 15-year-old Jenna Zekic and 15-year-old Rory Postma will attend the 2021 Northern Territory Championships as part of the team, to compete in state levels six and seven.

Additional selections include 13-year-old Annabelle Behan who was selected to be a level six reserve, as well as coach Sian Szolkowski, who will attend the competition to coach for both her own and other athletes.

Ms Szolkowski said the selection was rewarding not only for the girls but for the team at the Bunbury Police Community Youth Centre because of the amount of effort that goes into perfecting gymnastics.

"You put a lot of effort into planning and practicing skills, so to see that pay off is pretty amazing. It's a really heartwarming moment because everyone spends so much time on the sport," Ms Szolkowski said.

Having been gymnastics coach for levels five and six/seven at the Police Community Youth Centre in Bunbury for five years, Ms Szolkowski said she had seen the drive, attitude and skill level of the gymnasts in the whole team dramatically improve.

"I can definitely see more fire in them. It's so hard being in a sport like this because there's so much willpower required. These girls are perfectionists, so getting an achievement like this is a big confidence boost."

"We've never had any Bunbury gymnasts make a state team before also. These girls are the first. It's pretty amazing," Ms Szolkowski said.

Artistic gymnastics is a sport where athletes perform short routines using different equipment, such as a beam, bar, vault or floor.

All four athletes agreed they enjoyed gymnastics for the social aspect, competitions, learning new skills and as a way to stay fit and healthy.

In order to be selected for the team, 34 Police Community Youth Centre gymnasts participated in the Western Australian Regional Championships at the State Gymnastics Centre in Leederville in July.

Ms Zekic, who lives in Busselton and travels three times a week for training at the Bunbury centre, said she wasn't expecting the selection process to go well for her because of how competitive the competition was.

"After seeing everyone compete, it was so nerve racking to wait weeks to hear if I had been selected. I'm really excited for the competition in Darwin."

Ms Postma, a year ten student from Bunbury Catholic College, said her parents put her into gymnastics when she was five due to being an 'energetic, annoying kid'.

"It's an exciting sport and it's a massive opportunity to be selected. I would definitely recommend it. I'm now more flexible than the average person," Ms Postma laughed.

Ms Behan and Ms van Herk are both students at Bunbury Senior High School and started gymnastics from a young age.

They found out they were selected (Ms Behan as a reserve) in July and said it was a great opportunity as they both want to continue gymnastics into adulthood.

The 2021 Northern Territory Gymnastics Championships were originally scheduled for August 20 to 22, but due to a three-day snap lockdown announced on August 16, the event was postponed.

To stay up to date on the competition, visit https://nt.gymnastics.org.au/.