Castlederg girl selected to represent NI in International Acro Gymnastics

10-YEAR-OLD Erin McGoldrick from Scraghey, Castlederg, is set to represent Northern Ireland at a prestigious international gymnastics competition this weekend.

Erin, daughter of Ryan and Michelle McGoldrick, and a pupil at St Joseph’s Primary School, Ederney, has been selected to compete at the upcoming Acro International Gymnastics Competition in Caledonia.

Erin, who has been a member of Splitz Gymnastics Club in Enniskillen for the past five years, was chosen as part of one of two elite teams travelling from the club to the international event.

Speaking about Erin’s journey, her mother Michelle said: “Erin has been attending Splitz Gymnastics club for five years now. My friend Una always said she thought Erin would be good at it, as she would watch Salish Matter on YouTube and copy her. I saw an advertisement for Splitz on Facebook and that’s how she started. She began with a Saturday class, moved into a development squad, and eventually earned her place on the main squad.”

This year marks Erin’s third year as a squad member. The selection process for the international team began two months ago and involved continuous competition and assessments.

“They compete every month, including Belfast and Dublin, right up until May. After regionals, the top three in each group are put forward for the Caledonia selection. The girls then attended squad training in Belfast for two consecutive weeks, and finally five groups were chosen to represent Northern Ireland,” Michelle explained.

Erin will compete alongside her teammates Annierose Bannon, Phoebe Rutledge, Jessica Hanna and Aoife McGuigan. Their coach is Jennifer Hanna.

The team’s training routine has been extremely demanding in the lead-up to the competition.

“They usually train three and a half hours, three days a week – Monday, Thursday and Friday – and Erin also has ‘top training’ on Tuesdays. Recently they have been training extra hours on Saturdays and Sundays too.”

The girls will fly out tomorrow (Thursday), take part in full-day podium training on Friday, and compete on Saturday and Sunday.

This is not Erin’s first international appearance. She previously competed in Southampton, where she also represented Northern Ireland. She is now classified as IDP1, the highest grade within her level.

The excitement surrounding the young gymnast continues to grow both at home and within her club.