'Once in a lifetime': 12-year-old Sault gymnast earns invite to elite training camp

At the age of 12, Ava Greener of the Sault Ste. Marie Gymnastics Club is already proving herself in international competition.

Greener put in an outstanding performance at the National Gymnastics Association National GymFest in New Orleans June 17 to 22.

She was one of approximately 275 athletes in her division and placed sixth in the top 10 gymnasts in her age category because of her high all-round score.

Greener placed second on the vault with a score of 9.7, placed first on the bars, fourth on the beams with a score of 9.55 and seventh on her floor routine with a score of 9.5.

“It was really exciting to get those high scores,” Greener told SooToday.

“I think that the floor routine is my favourite. You get to do a lot of moves and express yourself the way you want to. It’s one of the best parts of gymnastics.”

Her performance in New Orleans was a new personal best. 

It was also Greener’s first time competing in a tournament that size.

“I was definitely nervous but I was prepared because I had a lot of good training time. When you’re on, all you can think about is gymnastics. You can’t hear anything around you because you’re just so focused,” Greener said.

Though representing the Sault Ste. Marie Gymnastics Club in New Orleans as part of the only Canadian team in the tournament, Greener, a resident of Sault Michigan and a U.S. citizen, is now part of the U.S. national team for gymnasts in her age group because of her performance.

She will soon be getting a once in a lifetime chance to learn from some of the best gymnastics coaches in the world.

Greener, accompanied by her coach Kim O’Brien — Sault Ste. Marie Gymnastic Club head coach and competitive manager — will attend an exclusive gymnastics training camp in Crossville, Tennessee, Oct. 4 to 7.

“It gives her the opportunity to work with some of the top gymnastics coaches in the United States. At this camp there are coaches who are ex-Olympians. They get a national team jacket and there will be certain competitions that only she can go to as a national team member,” O’Brien told SooToday.

Greener will be one of approximately 50 young people selected to attend the Tennessee training camp.

“There’s going to be a lot more one-on-one attention. It’ll be super beneficial for her,” O’Brien said.

“That's definitely going to be fun and exciting because we've done training camps before but not one like this. Most of the training camps we do are locally or in Michigan,” Greener said.

“One of the most rewarding parts about this is that Ava stuck with gymnastics training through COVID. The border was closed so she was the one who had the least chance of training with us in Sault Ontario because the border was closed. So she had to be very self disciplined and train and work out at home. Everybody had to do some Zoom training but we were allowed to be back here in the gym months before she was able to cross the border to train with us,” O’Brien said.

“She’s a really great kid. At age 12 she’s an important part of this gym and the younger kids here look up to her, even at her young age.”

“We’ll be staying in athletes’ cabins in the woods,” O’Brien said of the upcoming Tennessee training camp.

“They use this training camp as a ‘congratulations, you guys were the top kids.’ It’s to give these kids a chance to train together and give them an opportunity to compete at future competitions, like really big meets in several states.”

Training camps such as these showcase young people like Greener as possible future candidates for college scholarships in the U.S.

“Opportunities like this you can't turn down. They are once in a lifetime,” O’Brien said, adding Greener’s parents are excited and fully supportive.

“They were like ‘yeah, we’re in.’ They want the best for her so I’m really glad they chose to let Ava go.”

Greener said she will continue to train and compete in gymnastics when she goes through her high school years and hopefully in college, excited about the possibility of earning a scholarship.

She added that gymnastics will always be something she enjoys regardless of her eventual career choice, listing math and science as her favourite subjects at Sault Area Middle School.

Greener travels from Sault Michigan and trains with O’Brien at the Sault Ste. Marie Gymnastics Club four times a week, four hours at a time.

“Sometimes it’s hard to come in every other day but it's definitely worth it. The gym’s my happy place,” Greener said.