Annette Telfer dreams of the day when Trinidad and Tobago will be represented as a nation at International Gymnastic meetings. "That is something I have to push for to go as a national team. It is something definitely we have to have by next year."
Last Friday afternoon, the dedicated head coach of the "Tots 'n Tumblers" Gymnastic Club was in the middle of intense training with her twenty-three young gymnasts, ages ten to eighteen, who will take part in the San Juan International Gymnastic Festival from May 18 to 21, 2000.
Some swung in mid-air, others perched perilously on narrow beams, and there were those who tumbled on lower apparatus. "To be a competitive gymnast" explained Telfer "you have to do all four disciplines, floor exercises, uneven bars, balance beam and the vault." A large assortment of the most beautiful trophies which adorn the gym at No 31 Dundonald Street, is silent testimony to the successes enjoyed by Telfer's gymnasts over the past 15 years.
"We did all those wonderful things in St Andrew's Private School and moved over here one year ago. I gave up the programme there and now look after here only. We have done extremely well in the past, for that matter we have always done well in overseas meetings."
Auntie Annette, as she is called by every gymnast and parent, is passionate about gymnastics, which she never really studied formally: "Nobody studies it, you just kind of grow with it, I had always loved it, did ballet, went in to St Andrew's and the late Joan Knowles helped me put a programme together. She wanted to see the sport grow so I worked simultaneously with her gymnastic club , we took girls up to camp in Texas together, I miss her a lot as we were involved with the sport for about 18 years."
Representation by a national team, is obviously a subject very dear to Annette's heart: "I wish we had one, our Association is very young, we have no criteria, it is something we are working on and I hope we will have one in the very near future. We now have a competitive season which we did not have before, from January to July, and there are seven gymnastic clubs in the country."
With her coaches, Kristal Wharton-Lake, Michelle St Louis, Andy Charles, Kevin Bostic and Debbie Knowles, training continues apace as it has done for the entire month of April "from Monday to Friday, the children have been in this gym, They have shown amazing determination and are really looking good. This is the first time they will compete in San Juan and it's at the same venue that the 1996 World Championships were held. These are our most advanced children and there is no local competition for us at the higher levels. If I am serious about taking the sport further, I have no option but to go away and compete, corporate citizens have been helpful and we have had two fund raisers."
Since Telfer believes you must step up the ladder "you cannot go from the top to start", the Amateur Athletic Union in the United States was the first rung, a slightly lower level than the U.S.A. Gymnastic Association which follows their junior Olympic programme.
In 1997 after participating in two overseas qualifiers, Telfer's team walked away with six golds at the AAU National Championships in Orlando, Florida, won lots of team trophies, and the level two's placed second in the overall Championships "beating all the Americans. Again in 1998 and 1999 we have done well, and that is why we are very confident for this San Juan meet.'"
Telfer is very appreciative that the principal of the St Andrew's Private School gave their facility for many years so that she could teach anybody from whatever part of Trinidad. "Being in the gym does not prevent my students from being 'A' students at school, actually it teaches them to manage their time so that they excel in classwork, as well as in the gym, because they are no longer in front of the television doing waste of time things. There are some kids who did not give up a day of gym during the run up to the Common Entrance exam. They are committed and this is why I am so committed. They really really work hard."
"The sport teaches girls to be dedicated, and as teenagers it is an absolutely wonderful thing which makes them well-rounded and gives them the right start for life. Most sports do this but I can talk about this one in particular."
Telfer praised the parents who support the young gymnasts shuttling them up and down while holding down jobs. "I think they recognise in this day and age they have to do things like this. Our school system is not supportive of sports especially at common entrance level. I lost a lot of kids in that year with extra lessons on Saturdays, that's a toughie, a few survive and continue but they are the exception rather than the rule."
And so it is on to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where you have to be level four gymnasts and upwards to compete, since one to three are developmental levels. Wearing their red, long-sleeved leotard uniforms, Tots 'n Tumblers, the only club at level seven in this country, will compete against Australia, Barbados, Jamaica, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Sweden, U.S.A. and hosts, Puerto Rico.