International Sport Ambassadors' Program

The International Sport Ambassadors' Program is an innovative development of the Physical Education and Sport Department at MLC. It was implemented in 1999; with stage one including a tour to the USA (basketball) and UK (hockey and netball). The personal growth, leadership and skill development that occurred as a result of these tours has continued to be exhibited by the students.

The MLC Gymnastics Club continued this tradition with stage two of the International Sport Ambassadors' Program. The Gymnastics Club undertook a tour of the USA in January 2001 and 2003.

Lynn Silcock (Senior International) and her coach Michelle DeHighden traveled to Sydney on January 6th to compete in the Australian Youth Festival. This is a biannual competition hosted by the Australian Olymipic Committee to promote competition to upcoming Juniors in all sports.
Lynn gained selection for the team based on her competition at a trial in December. She placed 8th all-round in the competition.

Nine MLC gymnasts and 3 coaches departed for the USA on February 5th for a 2-week competition Tour to the USA. The Tour was combined with 6 gymnasts from another Club in Melbourne (Waverley Gymnastics Club) and 2 gymnasts from the VIS Program. The gymnasts all competed under the Banner of the Victorian High Performance Clubs Tour. IN all there were 17 gymnasts and 5 staff traveling as a group.

The Team arrived in Vegas on Wednesday February 5th – only 2 hours after departing Melbourne. The flight was long, but uneventful. We were met at the Airport by one of the dad’s Bob Palmer from Gymcats. He had a 15-seater van and was our driver for the week. We stayed at the Silverton Casino – an older style casino away from the Vegas Strip.

Feb 6th – 7th

On Thursday & Friday we trained at both the competition venue and training gym.
Feb 8th – Competition.

The level 9 gymnasts competed in the second session of the day. The team came 3rd and won a trophy as well as a large chocolate chip cookie (Desert for the next night.) Tamara Gleave placed 2nd AA in her age group and Natalya McClung 4th AA. Full results are listed below.
The Level 10 gymnasts competed in the last session of the day. The team had a few falls, but some very good individual performances. Lynn Silcock placed 2nd All Around with an average of 9.40 per apparatus.

The competition was great for the girls. It had very large numbers competing and had a different format to those at home. It was a great learning experience for them. All gymnasts received a top 10 placing on an apparatus.
Feb 9th – Sightseeing

On the Sunday another of the gymnast’s dad took us out. He had contacts with most of the casinos and took us out for the morning to visit the Stratosphere Towers and Casino. There is a Roller Coaster and “Big Shot” ride on top of the Towers of the Casino. The girls were able to ride both rides, have photos taken and we were then taken out to lunch. This was a highlight of the trip.
Feb 10-17th - LOS ANGELES – Gliders Invitational – Charter Oak Gymnastics

On Monday February 10th we flew to Los Angeles. We arrived late in the afternoon and went to training for a strength workout.
Feb 11th – 15th – Training

During the week we trained at the Charter Oak Gymnastics Club. Their Elite’s were training at similar times and we were able to see them train. Tabitha Yim and Allyse Ishino are currently ranked 2nd and 4th in USA (Senior & Junior International).

We were able to spend some time going to the shops during the week, but most of this was taken up with training.
Sunday Feb 16th – Competition.

The Level 9’s were up first in the morning session. They competed well, but with a few more falls than the last competition.

The Level 10’s were in the midday session and competed very well. Lynn Silcock once again placed 2nd AA in her age division with Georgia White 4th AA. (15 years) Cassie Dobell and Rebecca Quinton placed 2nd and 4th AA in the 14 years age group. Aleea Newton won her age group (16 years) with Shona Morgan and Georgia Bonora placing 4th & 6th AA in the12-13 years.

The competition was a great success and all gymnasts learnt a great deal from the event.

Feb 17-19th - LOS ANGELES – Sightseeing, Shopping and Disneyland

We went shopping on Monday after a light training session in the morning. Later in the afternoon we were taken to the Park Inn Hotel across from Disneyland. We spent Tuesday at Disneyland and Wednesday at California Adventure Park across the road from Disneyland. The girls’ legs were very sore after spending 14 hours walking around. The girls took many photos and bought gifts for family and friends back home. On Wednesday night we said goodbye to 5 gymnasts (2 MLC and 3 Waverley) who were traveling onto Toronto the following morning. The flight left for home at 10.10pm and the girls slept most of the way home.

Feb 20-24th - TORONTO – Retroboogie Classic – Scarborough Gymelites

Lynn Silcock and Ashlee Woodward traveled onto Toronto with Zhuang Shu and the Waverley gymnasts. Lynn competed very well and won the Senior Division of the competition. Ashlee is recovering from a back injury, but placed 4th on the 2 events she competed on. The girls return home on Wednesday February 26th.

MLC Gymnastics Club conducted a Gymnastics competition tour to the USA in January 2001. The tour involved two coaches, a chaperone/manager and 11 gymnasts. The gymnasts were aged between 13 and 19 and ranged from Level 10 to Senior International standard. We had an honorary team member from the South Australian Institute of Sport who joined the squad for the tour. Visy Recycling was the Tour Sponsor and United Airlines the Major Sponsor. The generous support of Visy and United, additional support sponsors and donations provided the gymnasts with travel and competition uniforms for the two week tour, and subsidised a large amount of the travel and accommodation costs.

The team competed in Plano, Texas in an International Club Invitational called the WOGA Classic. Competing against some of the top Junior gymnasts in the USA and the National Junior Team from Russia, the MLC gymnasts placed 3rd and 6th as a team in the Elite and Level 10 Divisions respectively. The team had some outstanding individual performances, with eight gymnasts finishing in the top six. With over 600 competitors from the USA, Canada, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Mexico and Russia, the MLC team competed extremely well.

The team traveled on to Allentown, Pennsylvania, the home of Parkettes Gymnastics Club. Their invitational boasts 1300 gymnasts competing over three days of competition, and was an excellent competition for the gymnasts to gain experience. We trained for the week at their gym, and were interviewed for local television and newspaper. The MLC team placed 5th and 20th of 30 teams, in a field of 300 gymnasts. Due to the number of competitors the individual results were divided by age. The MLC Squad had three gymnasts ranked in the top 10 All-Around, and won a gold medal on Beam, with an additional four top 10 placings on apparatus.

The aim of the tour was to provide the gymnasts with the experience of traveling, training and competing overseas. Their performances were outstanding, and many favourable comments were made about their quality, mature approach to training and competition performances. The tour concluded with a stop-over in Los Angeles to visit Disneyland and Universal Studios on the way home. It was a memorable and invaluable experience, and an enormous success. Thank you to Visy Recycling, United Airlines, parents and staff of the MLC Gymnastics Club, and the Physical Education and Sport Department at MLC.