Members of Steel City Dance & Gymnastics, including athletes from Octorara and Twin Valley school districts, as well as Pope John Paul II Regional Catholic Elementary School in West Brandywine, Collegium Charter School in Exton and homeschooling programs, recently participated in the United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs (USAIGC) World Championships held in Orlando.

The gymnasts competed in both team and individual competitions. The participants first competed at the state level in May at JR Gymnastics in Broomall and at the regional level in Wildwood, N.J., on Memorial Day weekend before advancing to Worlds.

The competitors were divided into Copper 1, Copper 2, Bronze and Diamond teams. "It's based on skill level," explained Carla Perella, whose daughter, Jaida Hess, competes on the Copper 2 team. "Copper 1 is your developmental group. Copper 2 is more mature. Diamond is the highest level that Steel City participates in."

The following athletes competed at the event: Copper 1 - Edie Tritz, Ellie Marion, Keegan Chidester and Olivia Neroz; Copper 2 - Braylee MacCombie, Mina Krieger, Gianna Lewis and Jaida Hess; Bronze - Kara Haven, Kaylee Brown, Kiara Buchanan, Ryleigh Long and Madeline Kruzek; and Diamond - Lauren King and Simone Wilford.

Steel City's Copper 1 team earned third place overall at the competition. Four events are scored: balance beam, uneven bars, floor exercise and vault. "Depending on the participants' level, Copper 1, Copper 2, Bronze and even Diamond USAIGC levels (have) different difficulties," Perella said.

For all levels of gymnasts, USAIGC had an additional finals day where an individual gymnast could qualify for up to four events. Perella reported the majority of the gymnasts from Steel City qualified for at least one event in the finals. Two gymnasts from the Copper 1 team - Keegan Chidester and Olivia Neroz - qualified for all four events.

This is the first time in three years the World Championships has been held; the past two events were canceled due to the pandemic. "We've been waiting three years for this," said Perella. "Last year, we traveled down there, and they canceled it because there was not enough participants."

In addition to the competition, the youths enjoyed activities during Worlds, including free educational sessions with competition judges, swimming at the hotel's pool and biking. "They had a gymnasts' party and a T-shirt swap with a team from England," said Krissy Buchanan, whose daughter Kiara is the only one on the team who represents Twin Valley. "They had practices to check out the equipment just like at the Olympics because every (venue) is different."

Perella said that the teammates form strong friendships throughout the competition season. "They compete against their own teammates in the individual events. Even though they compete against each other, they still have bonding and are very supportive of each other," she said.

Steel City Dance & Gymnastics is located at 645 Sands Court, Suite 107, Coatesville. For more information, visit http://www.steelcitydanceandgymnastics.com.