An 11-year-old girl from Perth is preparing to represent Scotland in tumbling after only taking up the gymnastics discipline less than eight months ago.
Ella Bloice will compete in the British Inter Cup Finals in Birmingham later this month.
She has excelled in tumbling since making the transition from artistic gymnastics in the past year, winning two gold medals.
Ella made her debut at the Scottish National Tumbling Championships 2024 in November last year, winning the club level 6 category.
On Tuesday she followed this up by winning in the regional level 2 category in this year’s championships, qualifying her for the British finals.
However, Ella, is also a talented dancer.
The former Community School of Auchterarder pupil will also represent Scotland at the Global Dance Open in Birmingham this month.
She has qualified in seven dances for the open this year and is set to start with the Scottish Ballet in August.
Proud mum Susie Bloice told The Courier: “Representing Scotland across two disciplines in the same year might not happen again.
“She has represented Scotland twice at the Dance World Cup and qualified to represent Scotland at the British finals this year.
“Three of these dance world championships were with her dance partner Larissa Wernsen.”
Sporting success has helped Perthshire girl with ‘severe dyslexia’
School can prove challenging for Ella due to her dyslexia, but she has also thrived in horse riding over the past eight months.
And Susie believes her daughter’s passion for different sports makes it easier for her to see the results of her hard work.
Last weekend she was the runner-up at the Scottish Lyrical Championships and had a successful audition for Scottish Ballet.
Susie added: “Ella is severely dyslexic and struggles to read.
“She finds school extremely hard, but she tries really hard.
“Because of that she has thrown herself into sport.
“Ella has to work so hard at school to achieve a fraction of what others have achieved.
“But she is naturally gifted and has a determined work ethic.
“There is so much potential for dyslexic children to make progress in arts and sports.
“Ella has always had an enormous amount of energy and has not been a child to read a book.
“She enjoys conditioning and training rather than sitting and watching TV.
“Dundee Gymnastics Club 2K and Inspire Perth have helped give her the drive to succeed.”
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