Trampoline Place | Burlington BG's

Burlington T&T Athlete – Kieran Lupish lands gold in Double Mini-Trampoline (DMT) at World Championships in Tokyo

When Kieran Lupish landed his final pass in double mini-trampoline at the 2019 World Age Group Championships in Tokyo, he knew he had just earned himself a medal.

Everything leading up to his final pass, however, was far from perfect.

“I was having a really bad warmup on the pass. I was falling, and I couldn’t land it,” said the 16-year-old from Vineland, who added that athletes warm up in a separate gym before performing on the main stage.

When he entered the main gymnasium, he was told to wait a couple of minutes because the organizers were figuring something out. He eventually got the go-ahead to perform his final pass.

“When I landed and stuck it, I instantly thought I medalled,” said Lupish. “It was the craziest feeling.”

From there it was a waiting game. He came into the championships ranked fourth in the age group of 15 and 16, and performances are done in reverse order based on the rankings from the qualifying tournament.

After his pass, the three athletes ranked ahead of him still had a chance to outscore him.

“I saw the first kid land and thought, ‘That wasn’t the score that was going to beat me.'” he said.

He then watched the final two athletes perform.

“The last kid who went is really good and, when I saw him land, I was just waiting for the score to pop up,” said Lupish.

With his family watching from the stands, he looked up at the scoreboard and saw “second” next to the name of the No. 1 athlete.

“I was like, there’s no way this happened,” Lupish recalled. “I just remember my coach grabbing my shoulder and going, ‘World champ, buddy!'”

It was Lupish’s third time participating at the world championships for Canada. He fell short of the podium at the first two.

Five years ago, Lupish never thought he would be performing at the world championships in trampoline. He initially got into gymnastics and eventually became a high-level gymnast until he hurt his shoulder, which caused problems in a lot of events.

“I ended up getting bored with the sport since I couldn’t do much, so I ended up quitting,” he said.

Introduced to trampolining through his mother’s friend’s daughter, he decided to give it a chance. In just two years of the sport he was performing at the world stage, finishing fourth in double mini-trampoline at his first world championships.

What was the coolest thing about finishing first?

“Normally, when you come third or second, they don’t play your national anthem,” said Lupish. “They played the national anthem, and I just wanted to get up on the podium so badly I actually stepped up a little earlier than I was supposed to.”

He was one of four Canadians who participated in more than one event at the World Age Group Championships. He also performed in synchronized trampoline, but he and his partner from British Columbia had never practised together before executing their routine in front of the judges.

The next goal for Lupish is moving up from Canada’s junior double mini-trampoline team to the senior level when he turns 17. He said this year will be about gaining experience, and then he’ll aim for it all.

“If you win at the senior world championships, you’re the best in the world. Period,” he said.

Double mini-trampoline isn’t an Olympic sport, but it is something people in the field are pushing for since trampolining is part of the world’s biggest sporting event. If it becomes possible, Lupish hopes to represent Canada in 2024 or 2028.

T&T’s Interclub program builds skills & confidence

All she wants to do these days is bounce and we shouldn’t be surprised. As a baby, she cried when we put her in the swing or the Exersaucer, but would squeal with delight-—her chubby little legs springing up and down—as she bounced in her Jolly Jumper. Despite her love of bouncing, we lived in a semi-detached house in Bloor West Village in Toronto, with a postage-stamp sized back yard that could barely accommodate a sandbox, let alone an outdoor trampoline.

But then we moved out of the city and into a house with a larger yard, and lucky for us, our neighbours were getting rid of their trampoline. It was a beast to move—it had to be rolled across the road, and required a lot of muscle and patience to get the springs in place—and we had some initial regrets…until our daughter jumped the first time, and her face lit up the way it had when she was a baby in that Jolly Jumper. That was in the late summer, and soon school was back in session. But every day after school she’d be out there, sometimes with friends, sometimes with her daddy, jumping until it got dark. Even as the weather changed she’d be out there—in mittens and a hat, with her winter coat.

At the same time, we were searching for an activity to build her strength and burn energy and had tried a few sports she enjoyed but nothing had quite stuck. I remembered our neighbour had done trampoline training at a gym called The Burlington T&T and called to find out about their programs. We expected she’d try the recreational program first, but because she’d been jumping (and jumping, and jumping…) for a few months, she had mastered some skills on her own. Like a front tuck. And a back tuck with her Dad’s helping hand.

TnT was holding tryouts for their Interclub program, which focuses on developing body coordination, posture and kinesthetic awareness, while also gently introducing athletes to competition. Our daughter was excited and determined to learn what she needed to for a successful tryout, and so we spent another few days on our trampoline as she worked on her skills. Teresa Mikola—the head trampoline and tumbling coach—ran the tryout and was encouraging, enthusiastic and offered the push our daughter needed to attempt skills she was capable of but hesitant to try. Our daughter has been bouncing as an Interclub athlete for six months now and is always excited for trampoline training nights. Along with the skilled, dedicated coaching, the athletes also benefit from conditioning one night a week with a trainer. No question she’s a stronger and more confident athlete as a result!

Burlington Trampoline and Tumbling is offering tryouts for next season’s Interclub program (which trains 4 hours per week) on Monday, May 27^th. “The inter-club program is a great way to get introduced to the competitive sport of trampoline and tumbling without the pressure of competition because our focus is on learning and enjoying the challenge of competition,” Mikola says, explaining competition is about more than a medal or ribbon. “We’d like them to meet athletes from other clubs with whom they can progress through their competitive careers, learn from their mistakes as well as their successes, and develop work ethic in reaching their goals.”

For more information about TnT’s Interclub program (or other trampoline and tumbling programs), please contact the club or stop by to visit the facility.