You just have to smile when you see Ethan, standing proudly in the gym, a strong and athletic 8 year old.   You’d never know he was born premature at 31 weeks at Sunnybrook Hospital, weighing in at a fragile 3 pounds and 15 ounces. Ethan was in ICU for the first two months of life!

 

Now, Ethan is an active Grade 3 student where his favorite class is gym. He also played hockey like his older brother who plays rep-hockey, but Ethan decided to give it up, as he liked gymnastics more!

 

He thrives in individual sports and activities, such as swimming and playing drums. Ethan really likes to challenge himself. He will even spend an extra hour at home practicing his handstands and routines. Ethan is that child that is doing handstands between a couch and a chair. He wants to build his strength!

 

Ethan’s parent’s enrolled him in the boys recreational program at age 4 at OGC, where he moved up to the advanced recreational level. He became very interested the competitive program as kids in the neighbourhood were gymnasts. He was so excited to join Keenan’s Developmental 8-hour group this season!!

 

Like most parents of competitive gymnasts, the Merretts have to juggle home life, work, and the travel commitment to and from the gym. Luckily, Ethan’s mom works from home so he can get to the gym from Mississauga in time!

While at the gym, Ethan enjoys watching the older boys and making friends with them. His greatest influence, the one who he looks up to the most, is Coach Keenan.   “He in inspires me and makes me feel confident.” Ethan enjoys Coach Keenan’s mini-competitions and the rewards that follow the most!!

 

According to Coach Keenan, what makes Ethan a stand out in the MAG program is his ability to remain calm and his readiness for instruction. He has great concentration when learning new skills and during conditioning.

Ethan’s inner strength proved to be an asset at his first Level 1 competition at the All Star Invitational in Brampton, this past February. On his first event, parallel bars, Ethan had a nasty fall on the dismount. With focus and determination, he was able to quickly regain his composure and finish off the competition well, getting stronger on each and every event.  What kept Ethan motivated? “Forget about it, he said to himself, and keep on doing the rest!”

 

Ethan’s ability to put the fall behind him and make a comeback did not go unnoticed by the judges. He won a special award on rings for best display of strength!

 

It comes as no surprise that Ethan’s favorite event is Rings! But why stop there? Ethan also wants to improve on pommel horse and work towards gaining more strength.   The key to success according to Ethan is to “practice and have fun”.