Gymnastics Lane hosting mock meet Saturday

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Gymnastics Lane will be having a mock meet from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the gym located at 1533 W. Tipton St., in Seymour.

The facility is celebrating its 1-year anniversary at that location.

The meet allows recreational gymnasts the opportunity to show off their skills to an audience and experience a competition environment, said gym owner and coach Angie Mellencamp.

The nearly 40 students involved take 1-hour classes at Gymnastics Lane once a week, and have spent the summer learning their routines.

“They’ll do all four events,” Mellencamp said. “Vault, bars, beam and floor, and there will be awards at the end.”

The theme for the meet is “Flip Back in Time.”

Starting next month, Mellencamp said they will begin planning for a “Winter Wonderland” mock meet.

“Even if your kid is not ready for competition, but they want to get in and learn a floor routine and learn a bar routine, they can come in and register for the class and learn the routines,” she said.

With the mock meet experience, Mellencamp said she wants to see kids “get nervous,” so they know what it’s like to perform what they’ve been working on in front of other people, she said.

But the setting is more relaxed than an official meet.

“If they do get nervous, it’s O.K. for the coach to go out on the floor and spot them through something or talk them through something or show them what needs to happen next,” she said.

The response to the mock meets has been good and it’s especially beneficial for the kids, she added.

Local involvement in gymnastics is booming, even during the summer.

“We are seeing a lot of new enrollment and I’m expecting more as school starts,” she said.

Gymnastics Lane offers classes for children, both girls and boys, starting at 18 months old, teaching the basics, all the way up to 18 years of age and competition teams for both gymnastics and cheerleading.

Each program has its own director and staff. The facility, which serves 300 athletes weekly, is certified by United States of America Gymnastics and governed by the Junior Olympic Committee.

The facility also is used by both Seymour and Brownstown high school and middle school cheerleading squads and Seymour High School’s gymnastics team.

“We’ve needed a good program in this community that focuses on all different aspects the community has, boys, girls, recreational, competition and tumbling,” she said.

In February, Gymnastics Lane athletes will compete at a Disney meet in Florida. They also will attend an Olympic training camp, called Flip Fest, this fall in Crossville, Tennessee, where they get to work with Olympic athletes and coaches.

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What: Flip Back in Time mock meet

Where: Gymnastics Lane, 1533 W. Tipton St., Suite A, in Seymour

When: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday

Cost: Donation of two canned goods for Anchor House food pantry or $5. Kids get in free.

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