Ella Fitzgerald, 15, Sophie Pritchard, 12, Summa Sidebottom, 14, and Rachael Polvere, 16, found success at a recent gymnastics tournament.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
A quintet of Shepparton gymnasts cartwheeled, leapt and double back tucked their way into one of Victoria’s premier tournaments.
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The 2025 Senior Victorian Championships was held at the State Sports Centre in Parkville near Melbourne’s CBD on May 16-18.
Shepparton Jets Gymnastics had five athletes qualify for the high-quality tournament, with Ella Fitzgerald, 15, Sophie Pritchard, 12, Summa Sidebottom, 14, Rachael Polvere, 16, and Ailie Hawker, 16, competing.
Jets Gymnastics centre manager Giles Pritchard said his gymnasts were thrilled to reach the championships in their respective levels.
“If we qualify, we go down to the Victorian championships every year,” Pritchard said.
"It is the biggest event for the girls on the Victorian competitive scene and it is something that they put a lot of work towards.
“The Australian levels program runs from about level two to about level 10 before going to future internationals and things like that.
“Level eight and above is what is called the senior division and for our girls going down it was their first year in that senior division.”
Level nine athletes Sidebottom (came first on floor) and Polvere (third on vault and fourth on floor) impressed in their first year at the grade.
Meanwhile, level eight athletes Pritchard (second on floor), Fitzgerald and Hawker came fourth overall as a team.
Having watched the girls work hard over the years, Jets’ centre manager said it was great to see his competitors find success.
“We were really thrilled and the girls were really thrilled to go down there and to perform really well against (athletes) at their own level from all across Victoria (was great),” he said.
“Very proud of their achievements and they work super hard, these girls train 16 hours a week.
“It’s their commitment, passion and hard work that gets them there and it’s a real tip of the hat to them.”
The business has been through some hard times in the past few years, but Pritchard said he was proud of how the athletes continued to perform in the face of adversity.
“We have had our ups and downs over the years; obviously we had COVID which meant that we had to shut down like many places around the place,” he said.
“A couple of years ago, we flooded at our old centre over in Mooroopna and had to move over to Shepparton, so it has been an interesting five or six years and the current economic climate doesn’t make it easy for any sport.
“But, I think we are going pretty well and have a healthy club in Shepparton and a competitive squad program.”
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