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Warm
Moment
Aida Esi Hayfron-Benjamin, second from left, shares a warm
moment with her mother, Laura Lee Brathwaite, centre, brother
Alexander Neale, front, sister Elena Neale, right, and Dashea
Ali after practice.
Coach
Dale Ali guides Aida Esi as she demonstrates the vault technique
which earned her a 10 at the Daytona Open Beach Classic on
February 12.
Photos:
Jovan Ravello
Aida
Esi Hayfron-Benjamin is something of a phenomenon.
At the age of 12 years, the Level 4 Olympia Gymnastics Club
member scored a perfect 10 in the vault at the Daytona Open
Beach Classic, held in the Daytona Ocean Centre on February
12.
“Esi”,
as she is known by her team-mates, started gymnastics at the
age five years, under Jeffrey Charles of Gymakron Gymnastics
and she later moved to the Olympia club.
Within two years, Esi progressed from Level 1 to Level 4 —
a feat that would normally take four years.
This by itself is indicative of her responsive nature and
what Olympia coach Dale Ali refers to as her quality to meet
challenges eagerly.
The Form One student of Bishop Anstey High School East of
Trinicty is also described as a disciplined, strong-minded,
highly motivated, self-confident individual.
At the Daytona Beach meet, she topped the 12 and Over Level
4 division, placing first on all four apparatus — 9.5
on the floor exercise, 9.55 on the balance beam, 8.9 on the
uneven bars and the historic 10.0 on the vault.
Her performance earned her the overall champion accolade,
ahead of 900 other competitors in the 6-8, 9-11 and 12 and
Over age groups.
Asked to demonstrate her technique on the vault, Esi almost
immediately went silent and with furrowed brow sprinted down
the mat and went through her paces effortlessly.
A “veteran” of 10 competitions since joining the
“Olympia family,” Esi’s first appearance on
the international stage was at the Jamaica International Gymnastics
Championships in 2003.
There she competed against gymnasts of clubs from Jamaica,
the United States and T&T and made two gold and two silver
medal hauls and was second overall in Level 3.
At the South Florida Fright Invite in 2004, she copped four
individual medals, an all-round trophy and was sixth out of
63 competitors in her first competition at Level 4 competing
against 52 clubs from the United States.
Esi has expressed a desire to represent T&T at a Level
10 competition and Ali pointed out that she was a prospect
for the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG) World
Championships, as well as for the Olympic Games, and seems
well on the way to realising her goals.
According to Ali, the “straight A” student is the
embodiment of the Olympia club’s spirit, which speaks
of producing all-round citizens who will make the country
proud.
The savvy coach asserts that Esi, together with her 52 clubmates,
strives to be the best she can be in all aspects of life and
that they compliment each other wonderfully.
That is evidenced by the general mood of the warm-up and Ali
credits is to each gymnast knowing that he or she is a vital
part of the future of the Olympia Gymnastics family.
Ali noted that Esi is already a role model to her younger
sister, Elena Neale, who at eight years, is already a Level
3 gymnast.
And Esi is also full of praise for her coach, calling him
an excellent coach who motivates her to be better, challenges
her and makes gymnastics fun even during hard times.
As T&T’s highest certified judge, Level 9, Ali knows
what to look for in his students. Esi’s mother, Laura
Lee Brathwaite, articulated what is obvious to all who see
him conducting training. “He knows how to get the children
to respond,” she said.
That is possibly responsible for the club’s 100 per cent
success rate in any competition.
Brathwaite, with a smile, calls her daughter a sweetheart,
a good sister and describes the eldest of her three children,
who also does ballet, jazz and tap dancing, swimming, and
plays the piano as helpful, “marvelling” at the
same time at her ability to keep it all together.
Esi and her clubmates are currently in training for the Gymnastics
Training Centre Invitational Qualifying Tournament in April
and the Olympia Gymnastics Classic on May 15 at the Woodbrook
Youth Facility.
Plans are already in place for the starlet to compete at the
Pan American Inter-Club Meet in 2006 and the Gasparilla Invitational
in Florida in February 2006.
Practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Jean Pierre Complex
in Mucurapo is more of a family reunion and it always ends
with a prayer, probably in keeping with the belief that a
family who pray together stay together.
Either way, with a supportive family behind her and the drive
that is already a distinct part of her character, Aida Esi
Hayfron-Benjamin seems set to vault over all obstacles on
her way to the top in her game.
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