Rising Star:  Meet WAG’s Lia Redick

37.7875. That is the very impressive score with which nine year old Lia Redick will be going to the WAG Level 6 Ontario Championships.  In all three of her qualifiers, this pint sized, Team 4 member, earned outstanding scores to match each of her amazingly solid routines, resulting in her being ranked 2nd in the Province out of 86 athletes in her category,.

“I liked my scores a lot!”, she tells me between bites of her snack as we chat during her training break. Her eyes are bright and dancing, her bubbly personality engaging.  There’s no doubt she loves what she’s doing and she’s humbly proud of what she has already achieved this season.

“I want to try and do exactly what I did in Woodbridge,” she says about her goals for Provincials.  In Woodbridge, she won five gold medals with an All Around score of 38.025.  If that’s not already a demanding enough goal, she enthusiastically ups the ante… “and try for a 39!”.  When she happily adds that she’s pretty confident going into Provincials, it is in no way boastful.  She’s just excited.  This mature, articulate, young athlete knows that she has done the work and that she is well prepared.  “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” she says. It’s a quote she saw on one of the lockers and took to heart.  With obvious pride and admiration, her dad, Craig tells me how she copied it down, put it up in her room, and consistently applies it to her daily life.

“Consistent” is definitely one way to describe Lia. She consistently hits her routines, she consistently puts up high scores and as verified by coach, April Chappell, she consistently pushes herself, which is why she was successful in jumping from level 4 last year, to level 6 this season.  “She is alwaysworking very hard on her own and has a strong desire to learn new skills and be the best she can be”, April says.

In fact, while it made her a little nervous, at her first International Invitational held in California this past January, Lia further challenged herself and successfully competed level 7 for the first time.  “I’m still better at level 6,” she happily admits with her ever present smile, but “it was so cool competing in California!”.

Lia also had the opportunity to attend a one-day Training Camp in Ottawa for 9-10 year olds last month.  “It was a lot of conditioning,” she says, and to qualify for the 3-day camp held in Milton in March, she had to earn points and place in the top 40, which of course she did.  For the first time ever, she traveled alone with Coaches April and Aleks, and fellow Oakville teammates Audrey, Silvia and Leona – no parents!  That’s a pretty big deal when you’re only nine.  And while she was a little intimidated at first, she loved sharing a hotel room with just the girls and had a great time.

“We worked on a bunch of new skills with new coaches”, she explains.   “We did some cool dances… And really hard conditioning, but everything else was super fun.”  And what happened every night after they all video chatted their parents? “The others were playing on their electronics…I was like…fast asleep!” she laughs.

This season has been full of countless highs and new experiences for Lia, and her love of gymnastics has continued to grow. When asked what it is that she loves about the sport, without hesitation and with her ever present smile, she answers, “It’s really fun!”

Lia loves to learn new skills, face new challenges and take risks; the greatest of which, in her opinion, was attempting a back tuck on floor by herself.  “I almost fell on my face!”   She laughs again, completely undaunted by the experience and  I can’t help but laugh along with her.  She’s just so outgoing and personable!

“She has a great positive attitude in the gym and is always making myself and her teammates smile,” April confirms.  It’s one of the reasons she was selected as the WAG athlete to be profiled.  “She is a good teammate.  She is always encouraging her friends and cheering them on if they are afraid or struggling with something,” her coach continues.

Lia herself, has been working on overcoming her fear of the giant-flyaway and walkover spring.  Not surprisingly, she has a positive attitude about it and is approaching it with a maturity beyond her nine years.  “April showed me a picture,” she explains, as we discuss how she motivates herself to push through it.  “It said ‘Fear can either break you down or build you up.’  I always think of that.”

Despite her fear of the giant-flyaway, bars is Lia’s favourite event and where she feels she demonstrates all of her best skills. She hits beautiful handstands, (that’s her on the bars on the Tryout poster,) gets consistent high 9s and likes “how you feel you’re flying for a second, then flip,” when doing the flyaway.

She feels her greatest achievement though, is on floor.  Getting her full twist on the tumble track is definitely a highlight for her.  In her opinion however, the toughest skill in her repertoire is the pirouette on bars because it involves great balance in handstand and smooth rotation of the hands and body.

Lia learns each new skill with the goal of being like her hero Simone Biles, who she claims is “the best gymnast in the world!”, and whom she admires because of her confidence and the way she pushes herself to do new things.  She advises other gymnasts who want to excel and be like her to try and do the same.  “Try and be confident.  Go for things you’re scared of, ’cause that’s what I do!”

Lia’s goals for next season are pretty straight forward.  She wants to get her spring-spring on beam and  compete level 7.  Looking further into the future, she has her sights set on being an Olympic Gymnast, or, like her other hero, Lebron James, she would like to be a basketball player, because she loves basketball and is a huge Raptors fan!

Lia also loves to sing!  In her life outside of gym, she sings karaoke and is part of the St. Dominic Church Choir where she sings twice a week.  She also loves to go camping and looks forward to Friday nights when her family goes out for a hamburger and 10 pin bowling.  “I LOVE bowling,” she says emphatically.  “But I’m not very good at it.”  She laughs and it clearly doesn’t matter to her whether or not she is good at bowling.  She just enjoys the time spent with family.  That includes her sister, Olivia who is a fellow gymnast and her best friend and family pet, Rufus, an English Springer Spaniel who resembles a cow.

Lia’s Grandparents also play an important role in her life and make a significant contribution to her gymnastics career. Lia is motivated by a desire to impress her Grandmother, who, like Lia, loves gymnastics, and her Grandpa has driven her to training ever since she started in the competitive program. He commutes 2.5hours Monday-Thursday, just to make sure she gets to the gym!  And it’s a labour of love.  “They are so proud of her,” her mom tells me.

At the age of three, Lia started her gymnastics career and now she trains 23 hours a week.  She has learned to manage her time wisely and is very disciplined, successfully balancing school and training.  She leaves school early Mon-Thurs and manages to keep up with all of her school work.

“We’re so extremely proud of her for everything, ” says Mom, Michelle.  “She’s so easy going and loves gymnastics, loves her teammates. She’s happy.  She’s surrounded by positive people, and we are so lucky to have April,” she adds.

Now, as the 2018/2019 season wraps up, we wish Lia luck at the Provincial Championships on April 13/14.  Oakville Gymnastics is proud to have her representing us and look forward to watching the development of this rising star!

Fast Facts about Lia:

Description of Self:                    Athletic, tiny, pet lover, love to eat all the time!

Favourite Movie:                  High School Musical 2

Favourite Song:                                    “Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink -First karaoke song I ever sang.  I was six.

Favourite Activity:                   Lego and camping

Best Family Outing:                  Camping and Friday night burgers and bowling

Hobbies:                                    Crafts with my sister, writing “The Audrey Diaries” with teammates and painting

Favourite subject:                  Art

Favourite Food:                                    Fresh baked salmon

Favourite Book:                                    The Babysitters’ Club Series

Ways to Relax:                                    Soak in the tub

Bedtime:                                    8:30pm