Prior to this year, if you were a member of the Bolingbrook Park District Illusions Gymnastics Team, you could only compete in meets as a team until you graduated 8th grade.  Under the direction of manager Laney Haupert, the team has made the decision to transition to the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to allow gymnasts that are in high school to continue to train and compete as a team at Bolingbrook Park District.

“This offers a whole new opportunity for gymnasts in Bolingbrook that wasn’t previously available,” said Haupert. “Anytime we’ve had gymnasts who want to continue with the sport in high school, we could only assist them with their skills individually, but not provide them with an opportunity to compete all the way through high school.  It’s very exciting to see what our team will be able to do with the added years.”

Making the change to AAU adds an element of credibility to Bolingbrook Park District gymnastics.  AAU is a non-profit organization that was created in 1888 and is recognized for promoting and facilitating 41 different sports for amateur athletics.

The Illusions Team will become a member of the AAU Central League and will compete in the Gymnastics of Illinois Junior Organization (GIJO), which will be their conference within the AAU Central League.  The conference is comprised of 29 other teams in Illinois, which includes a mix of private gyms and park districts like Romeoville, Schaumburg and Elmhurst.  In this conference, they’ll compete against top competition in the state with the opportunity to travel across the Midwest.

“AAU will bring about a lot of exciting changes to our program,” said Haupert. “We are excited to see what our gymnasts do with the added years of training and how they stack up against the added competition.”

The Bolingbrook Illusions Gymnastics Team is an award-winning team that is comprised of gymnasts ages 6-18 years old. They train at the Annerino Community Center (201 Recreation Dr.) in the gymnastics gym.  Team meets include competing in the four major apparatus’ of women’s gymnastics:

  • Vault
  • Balance Beam
  • Uneven Bars
  • Floor Exercise

The next session of gymnastics begins the week of August 23.  Sign-up for classes by visiting our Fall Digital Program Guide at www.bolingbrookparks.org. For questions and additional information about becoming part of the Illusions Gymnastics Team, contact our Gymnastics/Cheer/Ninja Manager, Laney Haupert at lhaupert@bolingbrookparks.org.