Siblings fly high

LAKEWOOD RANCH — With eight medals draped around her neck, 6-year-old Ally Frank walked off of the floor grinning from ear-to-ear.

After countless hours of training, the Kids SuperGym level 2 gymnast earned high marks during her first competitive season, including finishing first on the uneven bars and second in the individual all-around.

“I was so happy because I got really high scores,” Ally said.

Now with her first competitive season behind her, Ally will move up to level 3, where she will begin competing alongside her 9-year-old sister, Ava.

This season will mark not only the first time the two sisters have competed side by side, but also it will be Ava’s first competitive season.

“I felt really happy and excited because I wanted to compete,” Ava said. “When I’m older, I want to compete in the Olympics and be a gymnast.”

Ava and Ally began taking gymnastics about four years ago, following in the footsteps of their mom, Sharon.

“When I first heard about gymnastics, it sounded cool with all of the flips, the beam, bars and floor,” Ava said. “I decided to try it and I started to like it.”

Since then, the two sisters have developed a passion for the sport — particularly the uneven bars.

“I like the bars because there’s a lot of neat stuff you can do on it,” Ava said.

Ally agreed.

“I usually like bars because of all of the dismounts and (ways to) go off,” Ally said.

Over the past four years, the two sisters have worked alongside one another in hopes of improving the difficulty of their routines. And, this year, their hard work and dedication is paying off.

This past spring, Ally competed for the first time with the level 2 team, while her older sister perfected her skills to compete with the level 3 team.

“Ally did very well,” Kids SuperGym co-owner Pam Bolingbroke said. “You could tell she practiced at home. She’s a very diligent young girl. The character and maturity she shows is uncharacteristic of a child that age.”

“Ava is a very hard worker,” coach Lauren Flenniken said. “When she steps into the gym, she puts her game face on and she doesn’t get distracted.

“She cannot wait to compete,” Flenniken said. “Ava started at a higher level, so she’s excited to compete and to show everyone what she can do. It’s going to be exciting to watch her next year.”

This year, the two sisters have their sights set on landing the skills that have eluded them up until this point — a back walkover for Ally and a front handspring and roundoff back handspring for Ava.

Ava and Ally plan to take gymnastics as long as they can and hope to make the U.S. Olympic team one day, just like their idols Shawn Johnson, Gabby Douglas and Jordyn Wieber.

“If we got a gold medal then that would just be a dream come true to me,” Ava said.
Ally agreed.

“When I started watching the Olympics, I felt like I was competing in the Olympics,” she said. “When I grow up, if I win a gold medal I’ll be really happy and I’ll hang it with all of my other medals.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].