Who can you thank for the enrollment boom the Fort Frances Visserettes and Boys Gymnastics Club has seen since Mirel and Mirela Bica joined on as coaches three years ago?
Their three-year-old daughter Julianne, that’s who.
A little confused? Well here’s the story as to how the married couple of six years got here:
Mirel and Mirela are both from Romania. Mirel from Resita, while Mirela is from Galati (around 800 km apart).
Mirel was a national and international gymnast for the country for six years (winning the European-vice championships in 1983), but an accident on the high-bar fractured his spine in two places and brought an abrupt halt to his career as a gymnast.
He then began coaching the junior girls’ national team in Romania for two years and had five world, and or, Olympic champions go through the program, and even coached the Tunisian national team for one year.
Mirela was a national competitor, earned a degree in gymnastics at a Romanian university (that’s how serious the sport is over there), and then began her coaching career. She met Mirel at a meet the two were coaching at, got married, and settled in the city of Focsani.
“All my life, I lived in a Jeep,” said Mirela on her years of travelling and the various countries she’s been to.
This is where it gets tricky (take deep a breath now)—Mirel had signed with the Belgium team as a technical director, and because of legislation, they had to wait a year for the working permits. So in the mean time, they decided to head over to the Philippines Gymnastics Association.
To sign the contract with Belgium, they had to leave their jobs in Romania, so they signed with the Philippines thinking that when the documentation came through with Belgium, they would head straight there.
When their contract with the Philippines expired, their papers in Belgium were ready. But the government had then just recently legislated that you can’t hire somebody from outside the European Community, and Romania was not yet part of the Union.
Now exhale.
“I like to look at the bright side of things,” said Mirel. “Because at that point, we were under no contract and we were under no obligation and we decided we can now have a baby.
“Before, we just lived in big cities, and I had been in over 40 countries, and it was a very, very nice life. But it was an active life, and it was impossible to raise a child in those circumstances.
“And at that point, Julie was born, and the club here contacted me through the Internet asking me if I was available, and because we now had Julie, all of our priorities changed. So I said no more high-level gymnastics, let’s go and find a small, quiet place where we can raise Julie,” he added.
And the happy family hasn’t looked back.
When they first arrived three years ago, they had six kids competing with 25 using gymnastics for recreational purposes. Now, those figures have risen drastically with 42 competing and 130 registered with the club.
“I just want to stay here forever. The children seem to like it here, and there are more kids that are coming. And more, and more, and more,” said Mirela with a smile as her hand made a circling motion.
Their influence is evident in Fort Frances and to experience it, all one has to do is head over to the club and step inside.
Inside you’ll find children varying in age from three to 13-years-old (during only one evening session visited), doing things with their bodies that not even the Power Rangers could dream of performing. At their age, most kids are sitting on the couch watching Hollywood movies, these kids are doing things that most of the stuntmen wouldn’t even attempt.
“I like to flip,” said 11-year-old Brittany Reutzal, who has been in gymnastics for seven years. “It’s really fun, and I like it a lot. You have to think about what you’re doing and try your best.”
And the girls with a little bit more experience don’t just flip; they can do a continuous string of them. The girls don’t just balance themselves; they can balance and perform artistic elements on a beam that is only four inches wide. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
They will be able to demonstrate those talents soon enough as they will have their first competition in Thunder Bay next month, and will have a few others until they host their own, “Springfest”, on April 2-3. Anyone interested in registering can do so by Feb. 20 by contacting Mirel or Mirela at 274-6244.
“Gymnastics is the most complete sport. It doesn’t matter what form you’re doing. From artistic, trampoline, rhythmic, aerobics—everything can help improve anything in your body and mind,” said Mirel.
Added Mirela: “It’s interesting what you can do with yourself, and it’s not like other sports. I know that every sport is interesting, but with gymnastics you can try out your balance on the beam, you can swing on the bars like a monkey, you can flip over a table. There’s so much diversity, and it’s so full of things, that a child cannot get bored here.”
They are dedicated to their jobs and that’s evident with the serious, but fun, tutelage they give. They come from a country in Romania that treats gymnastics “a little big bigger than hockey is in Canada,” and are hoping to keep the number of children (or adults) growing and growing.
“As a coach, I like gymnastics, because it gives me the chance to work with kids and modulate and create that little spark within. And I would like to believe that spark will grow into a big fire,” said Mirel.
“It’s part of my life. It is my life,” he said of how important gymnastics is to him and how serious he takes his job. “I’m here, because I choose to be here. Gymnastics is a way to live. It’s not only a sport to me. It’s not a motto or anything, it’s just the way I see it.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
