State gymnastics championship unites young athletes

More than a hundred teams and a thousand gymnasts turned out for the first-ever state gymnastics championships held this weekend at the Westin Hotel in Palm Desert.

Talented young athletes from across California showed off their skills and competed to qualify for the regional level.

Fifth grader from Palm Desert Parker Stevens said she has been doing gymnastics since she was three years old. She’s home schooled and trains 36 hours per week.

“My favorite event is floor because I was in cheerleading before gymnastics and it’s like second nature for me,” Stevens said. “I think I did really well and I got a 38 all around so I definitely qualified for regionals,” she said, noting the top score possible is a 40.

Event sponsor and co-owner of Powerkids Gymnastics Jeannette Frederick says they’re happy to host the event.

“They are able to come here and show their skills they’ve been working on the whole year. If they qualify they get to go on to regionals which is against other states and we do very, very well because we’re so good here in Southern California,” Frederick said.

Frederick said the championship had an unexpectedly large turnout, too.

“There’s just so much talent here and it’s great we can have it here in the desert because a lot of times our teams are having to travel other places all the time to go to these high level meets. So being able to host it here is very special for the desert,” Frederick said.

To find more information on how to participate in Powerkids Gymnastics, visit their website here.