Louella Chabal-T embarked on her rhythmic gymnastics journey at the age of 10, initially hesitant but later drawn to the sport offered at Dio.
“I think what eventually drew me into trying rhythmic, was the fact it was right there at school so I thought I would see what it was all about. The coach there was a Spanish lady called Anabel, she was so lovely and encouraging.”
At first, Louella was unsure about doing basic maneuvers in gymnastics, such as a bridge from standing. But after a few lessons and encouragement from friends and the coach, she found success.
“I remember feeling so happy, relieved, and almost eager for more of that feeling, of overcoming new skills and I think that’s when I knew I wanted to continue with this sport. My favourite part about the rythmic is that there is always something to improve, to achieve, to work on – there is no final ‘destination’ to reach.”
After finding a club to train with, Louella found it extremely challenging to get into the gymnastics world at the age of 10, as she was considered quite old for a beginner, so every skill required a lot of work and pain to develop.
Louella has now competed in two international competitions. Her first one was as a Level 4 gymnast, and it was an online competition during Covid. She competed with one apparatus (a ball) and won first place.
More recently, she completed at the LA Rhythmic Event, representing her club, Counties Manukau. Louella placed sixth overall, out of 40 gymnasts, all aged 10-15 years. She competed in the Level 7 category, and was very pleased with her results.
“In America, their competition season was coming to an end around that time, meaning that they had been practicing their program for about a year, but ours had only just started, so we only got our new routines a month prior to the competition. We also had to adjust them according to USA requirements to fit a different code of points/judgement system.”
“It sounds quite intimidating, but it was honestly just a wonderful experience, and even though I was quite stressed, it all went away when I stepped onto the carpet and felt the support from the other five girls from our LA Tour Counties Manukau Team. We supported each other throughout the competition by cheering as loud as we could for one another, and that was wonderful.”
