About Me

My name is Sydney Kavanagh and I am 21 years old. Ever since a very young age I have been extremely active and interested in a large variety of sports, however, my favourite sport has always been gymnastics.

Gymnastics Career

When I was 4 years old I began my gymnastics career in the recreational program at Seneca Gymnastics. I quickly worked my way up and into the pre-elite competitive program at Seneca at 6 years-old. By the age of 9, I was in the elite level competition program at Seneca. I competed at many different competitions around the Province and thus became a Provincially ranked athlete. My strongest and favourite apparatus were vault and floor.

When I was 12 years old I was practising my bars routine in preparation for an upcoming competition and fell off the bars. As a result, I broke both bones in my right forearm. Upon healing, I decided I no longer wanted to do gymnastics; I wanted to try something new.

Trampoline Career

A year later when I was 13 years old I became extremely interested in competitive trampoline and joined Canada’s Olympic trampoline facility, Skyriders Trampoline Place, at the Provincial level. I competed at the Provincial level for 3 years and became ranked within the top 10 athletes, at my level, in Ontario. Soon after, I was able to make my way up to the National level. After a few additional years of competing at Skyriders Trampoline Place, it was time for me to go to University so my trampoline career came to an end.

Cheerleading

When I arrived at Western University and began to look at different teams and clubs, I immediately noticed the Western cheerleading teams. A few weeks later I tried out for Western’s all-girl cheerleading team and much to my content, I earned a spot on the team. I competed with Western for 3 years. During this time I developed a love for cheerleading and won the Collegiate National Championships once, and came second at the Collegiate National Championships twice.

Coaching

Since the age of 16, I have been coaching gymnastics, trampoline and cheerleading. I started out as a gymnastics coach at Richmond Hill Gymnastics Club where I taught gymnasts of all ages and levels. I then began to coach trampoline at Just Bounce Trampoline Club where I coached Provincial athletes ranging from level 1-6. Once I began University in London, Ontario, I began coaching cheerleading at CheerStrike Royals. At CheerStrike, I coach athletes of all ages and all levels (from the lowest level to the highest level). I also coach private tumbling lessons at the gym.

Each summer since the age of 18 I have been coaching at Camp Woodward, an action sports camp located in Pennsylvania, USA. Athletes from around the world attend Woodward in order to train amongst other athletes and be taught by world-class coaches. At this summer camp, I have had the privilege of coaching thousands of different level athletes in sports ranging from gymnastics, tumbling, trampoline and cheerleading.

To me, coaching is one of the most rewarding activities. You are able to share knowledge about the sport you love to other athletes with similar passions. The feeling you get when you teach an athlete a new skill is exhilarating as you can see the smile on their face grow larger.