While their days as international competitors are behind them, former Colombian national team members Ashley Ortiz and Manuel Sarmiento still carry that same excitement to the gym as coaches, transitioning from their primary background in cheerleading to the world of Canadian gymnastics.
Arriving in Sudbury in the winter of 2023, this young couple (Ortiz is 25; Sarmiento is 29) have become mainstays with students at the Sudbury GymZone, gradually building their resumes as gymnastics coaches all while maintaining the dream of guiding a local cheerleading squad into competition some day.
“Cheerleading is really big back at home,” said Ortiz. “There are multiple gyms and we have our national team.”
In fact, both Ortiz and Sarmiento have medalled with Team Colombia on the world stage, taking part in a sport that has roots on a global level, with huge numbers in the United States and some pockets in Canada – though none in Sudbury at the moment (though the pair are practicing weekly with five very interested young athletes at this point).
“There are different divisions of cheerleading in Colombia, just like here in hockey or gymnastics,” Ortiz said. “There are competitions for high schools, competitions for universities and competitions for all-star cheerleading teams.”
The notion of a crossover between gymnastics and cheerleading is hardly a stretch, keeping in mind that this is not your “on the sidelines with pompoms” image of what a team might look like in performing their routine.
“It is similar but not quite the same as team gymnastics,” Ortiz said. “Gymnastics is more technical; everything must be clean. Cheerleading is less technical, but very fast paced.”
Certainly, elements of a gymnastic floor routine can be found on any stage hosting a cheerleading meet, though bars and beams and vaults are nowhere on the premises.
For Sarmiento, his journey to cheerleading and gymnastics started simply.
“When I was 12, maybe, I saw some guys doing backflips and just asked them how they learned to do it,” he said. “My friends pushed me to do harder and harder skills.”
By the time he had reached university in Colombia to study physical education, Sarmiento knew he wanted to coach. And considering he arrived in Canada with virtually no knowledge of English and little experience with the sport of gymnastics, his progress as a gymnastics coach has been nothing short of amazing.
Sarmiento listened and shadowed and questioned and learned.
At the core of it all is a delightful young man who boasts a comfort level in connecting with his students, even as he sometimes searches for the exact right word.
“We had a little bit of gymnastics coaching experience back home, but never at a really high competitive level,” Ortiz said. “When we started here, Alex and Tia (Alexandra Larocque and Tia Richter – Sudbury GymZone Club directors) saw something in us and trusted us.
“Manuel has always been a great coach, a really good coach at supporting people.”
Still, it was not as though the ultra-fit South American was without reservations.
“It was a big opportunity, but I was nervous,” said Sarmiento. “I did not know the sport really well – plus, my English.”
As many can attest, language barriers can often be overcome by sincere genuine care, a willingness to show that you are fully and completely committed to the development of the young athlete entrusted to your guidance.
That, Ortiz and Sarmiento have in spades.
“The people here have been great in supporting us,” Ortiz said.
And as anyone who has undertaken the challenge of assembling a two-high pyramid or a diamond pyramid or a starburst pyramid with their teammates in a top-end cheerleading competition knows, great support is the key to success.
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Greater Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.