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2004 Olympic gold medalist gymnast Kyle Shewfelt put in an appearance at the Polarettes Gymnastics Club Sunday morning.

He was at the Polarettes club to conduct a coaching clinic and do a meet and greet and book signing.

The Star spoke with Shewfelt Sunday at the club. He explained why he was in Whitehorse.

鈥淚 was invited to come and be a part of the Special Olympics festival or the gala last night. I have a deep connection to Special Olympics. I鈥檝e been co-chairing the champions network for quite some time. And I鈥檝e been a supporter of the organization since 2004. So I鈥檝e met (Special O Chief Executive Officer) Serge (Michaud) at several events. And it just so happened that he invited me to come up this year and the timing worked. And then I find myself here at the gymnastics club because word travels fast in Whitehorse. Kimberley reached out and I said 鈥榶es, let鈥檚 make it work.鈥欌��

Polarettes executive director Kimberley Jones explained how he ended up at the club.

鈥淚 heard on the radio that Special Olympics Yukon was bringing up Kyle and I used to be from Calgary myself, so I鈥檓 familiar with Kyle鈥檚 work and success and who he is as a person, his positive energy and I thought 鈥榟e can鈥檛 come to Whitehorse and not at least pop his head into the gymnastics club.鈥� So I reached out and asked him if he was willing to come by.

鈥淗e did a coaching clinic with our coaches this morning, which was really inspirational. And has a chance to stop by and meet a few athletes.鈥�

Shewfelt said the clinic was 鈥済reat. We reinforced the value of putting athletes first and having an athlete-centred environment that鈥檚 parent and coach supported. That鈥檚 something we鈥檙e really trying to push for and be the change that gymnastics needs. And so having those conversations with the next generation of great coaches is really important. And to just remind them 鈥� at the Olympics, my coach was such an amazing supporter, but also reminded me to trust myself, and the work. So you think in those big moments, what does a coach tell you? When the biggest pressure in the world is on your shoulders? A coach can go one of two ways. They can make the pressure more and make you get really scared in that moment, or they can help build you up and help you believe in your ability to deliver in that moment to remind you that you鈥檝e done it before.

鈥淪o that鈥檚 what I see my path now in gymnastics is helping the next generation of coach be really athlete-centred and ensure that the athletes are feeling when they leave the sport that they鈥檝e been empowered to move forward in their lives in positive ways.鈥�

Shewfelt is encouraged by the change he鈥檚 seeing in the culture of the sport, but said it鈥檚 not going to happen overnight.

鈥淚鈥檓 really happy that we鈥檙e now having conversations about the change that needs to occur in sport and I鈥檓 seeing the change happening on the ground. I think high-level, it鈥檚 gonna take some time. It鈥檚 a generational thing. You can鈥檛 just instantly change it. Because there are a lot of coaches that were raised in a system and a culture and an environment that was very, like, the 90s were different. They were. And it was about young 14-year-old gymnasts being these acrobatic stars at the Olympic Games.

鈥淭he sport has shifted, it鈥檚 changed. The average age is much higher now. It鈥檚 become more of a strength and power sport. And I think I want to help be a part of the change and I love the fact that we do talk about how to make gymnastic environments positive for athletes.

鈥淎nd from a coaching perspective, empowering your athletes to be decision makers and have autonomy and to be able to guide and learn through their experience in sport and not using your coaching powers over the athletes to make them little robots.鈥�

Shewfelt鈥檚 book, Make it Happen was published in 2020 before the pandemic.

鈥淥ne of my goals was to actually get to each province and territory to a gym club, to share some stories and to start bringing that positive message of athlete-centred environments that are parent and coach supported.

鈥淪o then the pandemic hit 鈥� I don鈥檛 know if you heard about it. So everything got delayed, and then we officially launched in June of 2021, just before the Olympics there. The book is full of messages.Kids always ask, 鈥榳hat does it take to get to the Olympics?鈥� Well, I tried to encapsulate all of that. This is like, my time capsule.鈥�

Hailey Spears was there with her daughter Lanaya Jennings to meet Shewfelt.

鈥淪he is an athlete with the gym who is definitely reaching towards one day being in the Olympics. She just wanted to meet Kyle today. She鈥檚 had a ton of Olympic questions as she gets more and more into it, so I think it鈥檚 a perfect opportunity for her to meet an athlete who鈥檚 done it himself.鈥�

Jones explained what it means to her to have Shewfelt at the Polarettes club.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an honour in a lot of ways to have such a positive influence, such a successful athlete come into our club. And the message he鈥檚 sharing is something that I really wanted to have our coaches hear as a whole because gymnastics has been going through a lot and I think that having positive role models in our sport, particularly positive male role models, with a lot of what鈥檚 happened in our sport, is super-important.鈥�

Jones said it was an opportunity to share a message that鈥檚 鈥渃ompletely in line with the values that we have as a gymnastics club.

鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 just been a really positive experience. Our coaches are energized. I can already see today they鈥檙e bringing even more fun into our programming today. And that鈥檚 exactly what our clinic was all about. And that鈥檚 the message we鈥檙e trying to share.鈥�

When asked how male participation in the sport could increase, Shewfelt replied, 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 this evolution happening in gymnastics where there鈥檚 ninja, and parkour and all these things that are gymnastics, they鈥檙e just not as refined or artistic. So it鈥檚 gymnastics with bent legs and flexed feet. That鈥檚 what I like to say, but it鈥檚 still Gymnastics. Gymnastics, at a foundational level is movement, it鈥檚 agility, it鈥檚 balance, it鈥檚 strength. It鈥檚 coordination, it鈥檚 learning how your body can move all the different ways that it can move and it鈥檚 learning how to be like this autonomous being and an awareness of what your body is capable of and how to how to move it, how to go upside down, how to be comfortable in the space that surrounds you. So I think every little boy should do gymnastics.

鈥淕ymnastics is a hard sport. If you don鈥檛 really love it, and you don鈥檛 want to commit your time to it, it鈥檚 hard to accelerate it because it is a sport that does require a certain amount of time. You can鈥檛 go once a week for an hour and progress to a high elite level. You do have to put in 20, 24 hours a week of training that鈥檚 really repetitive.

鈥淏ut I do feel that gymnastics is a sport that can help anyone at the foundational fundamental level, and I always look around and I鈥檓 looking around here today and I鈥檓 seeing these kids. And they might not be Olympic gymnasts, but maybe there鈥檒l be a cross country skier, or maybe there鈥檒l be a snowboarder, or maybe there鈥檒l be a diver. This is going to give them the foundation and the base to have confidence in the way that their body moves to move into other sports.

鈥淚 see that as a role in gymnastics. There鈥檚 a small percentage of kids that do want to do it at the competitive level. But there鈥檚 a large base of kids that do it at the recreational foundational level. It gives them a strong foundation to move forward in an active life and to trust themselves.

鈥淎nd I see it all the time. Kids that did gymnastics, they become better soccer players, better rock climbers, better swimmers. They have this agility and this knowledge of how their body works; they can transition into any other sport so easily.鈥�

As for what Shewfelt thinks of the Yukon, 鈥淚 love it,鈥� he exclaimed. 鈥淚鈥檝e been to N.W.T. before. But this is my first time to the Yukon and I鈥檝e only heard great things and I鈥檝e experienced wonderful hospitality.鈥�