Adrianna Mckenzie is July’s Youth Athlete of the Month

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Fort Motors’ Youth Athlete of the Month has a strong dedication to sports, no matter what the competition.

Adrianna Mckenzie will be competing in her fifth season with the North Peace Gymnastics Association (NPGA) this fall.

Her mother, Krystal Mckenzie, explained the 10-year-old’s landing on the competitive team as a case of mistaken ambition.

“She started four years ago,” said Krystal to Energeticcity.ca. “We didn’t know it was tryouts for the competitive team. We just thought she was trying to make the recreational team.”

“[Adrianna] tried out and made the team. You have to do so many competitions per year per classification.”

Starting out in the NPGA InterClub program, Adrianna has now moved up to the Silver level of competition and could make the Gold level come fall.

Adrianna has “pushed herself each year,” according to her mom. However, when it came to larger competitions, she did experience a bit of stage fright.

“I don’t think she liked competing in front of people when she first started,” said Krystal.  “But she seems to really enjoy it now.”

Focusing on the floor, balance beam, uneven parallel bars and vault, Adrianna dedicates around nine hours per week to practice, even training at home when necessary.

Adrianna even participated in the provincial Compulsory and XCel GymBC Championships in Maple Ridge in April, where she took home eight medals. 

Aside from gymnastics, Adrianna also plays other sports, including volleyball, track and field and basketball.

However, according to Krystal, those other athletic pursuits occur when they don’t cut into her daughter’s gymnastics training time.

But, with most kids her age, Adrianna’s education always comes first.

“If Adrianna can maintain her grades and keep her grades up, then we support her with her sports,” said Krystal. “I told her in this day and age, school is very important.” 

“If her school starts to slack, then we might have to cut her training hours a bit. But it hasn’t affected her in four years.”

Adrianna will receive a $100 prize courtesy of Fort Motors and a feature story on Energeticcity.ca for being July’s Youth Athlete of the Month.

To nominate a local athlete for Fort Motors’ Youth Athlete of the Month, visit the Youth Athlete of the Month website.