Commitments on signing day are one of the most exciting parts of the period. With a number of five- and four-star gymnasts yet to announce their commitment, this year’s signing day is going to be especially thrilling. Keep a watchful eye on the Canadians—they are the real wildcards of this year.
Ava Stewart
The Canadian Olympian came out of nowhere last year and made her international senior debut in Tokyo. This year, she appeared internationally at Italy’s Jesolo Trophy and at the Pan American Games, and won bronze in the all-around at the Canadian championships. She excels on all events but stands out especially on floor, thanks to her expressive choreography, as well as on bars, where she competes a unique dismount: a difficult front double pike.
Clara Raposo
- CGN Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Club: East York, Canada
- Videos: VT | UB | BB | FX
Gymternet favorite Canadian Raposo has undergone a litany of surgeries to deal with different injuries over the past few years, but she was recently cleared to start training without restriction. A team willing to take a chance on her given this history would get a potential all-arounder who especially shines on beam.
Cassie Lee
The Canadian elite has plenty of international experience, having competed at both the junior world championships in 2019 and at the world championships last year. She stands out especially on beam, where she performs a side aerial to layout step-out series. She won gold at the 2021 Koper Challenge Cup on this event.
Maya Zonneveld
The Canadian won gold in the all-around at 2020 Elite Canada and was a member of Canada’s 2022 Commonwealth Games team. She excels especially on floor and beam, where her acro series is layout step-out layout step-out.
Tirzah Wise
Wise, who trains at Utah star Maile O’Keefe’s old gym, boasts a career high 9.850 on bars and 9.750 on both beam and floor. Her gymnastics is not super difficult but it’s clean, and she’s training a Yurchenko 1.5 on vault. She’s competed at several elite qualifiers every year since 2019.
Kendall Abney
Abney’s 2022 season was a comeback year after she missed 2021 due to surgery on both arms. She understandably struggled with consistency in the first few meets of the year, but she slowly gained her composure back, finishing first on vault and third on bars and in the all-around at regionals, qualifying to nationals. She boasts a career high 9.750 on bars.
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Article by Rebecca Scally, Emily Minehart and Talitha Ilacqua
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