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Emma Willis
| About Emma |
Date of Birth: 1992
Birth Place: Sarnia, ON
Home Town: Sarnia, ON
Club: Bluewater
Coaches: Dave and Elizabeth Brubaker
Favourite Event: Floor "Because I can show my personality and get the crowd interested in me."
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| Emma's Competitive Results |
2004 Elite Canada: 5th AA, V, UB, 6th BB, 8th V and FX (Novice)
2005 Canadian Championships: 17th AA, 3rd V (Novice)
2005 Top Gym International: 13th AA
2005 Elite Canada: 4th AA, 3rd V, 2nd UB, 5th UB, 7th BB (Junior)
2006 Gymnix International: 11th AA, 4th BB (Junior)
2006 Romanian International: 4th AA, 6th UB, 7th BB
2006 Canadian Championships: 6th AA, FX, 4th V, 7th UB (Junior)
2007 Canadian National Championships:
2007 Pan Am Games: 3rd T, 24th AA
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Junior national team member Emma Willis is making her mark on Canadian gymnastics with her innovative skills and world class difficultly. She began gymnastics at the age of two, and has been with her coaches Dave and Elizabeth Brubaker from the beginning, training at the Bluewater Gymnastics Club in Sarnia, Ontario. The Brubakers have developed Willis with world class skills on every event, including three skills which she is the first Canadian to compete: an inside stalder handstand and elgrip endo to handstand on the uneven bars, and a standing Arabian on the balance beam. Willis smiles when asked about these skills. “It felt really good,” she said proudly, noting that she was not aware she was the first Canadian to perform them until she had mastered them and her coach informed her. It also gave her the confidence to know that she would be able to continue to progress in the sport.
A turning point in Willis’ young career may have been when she learned her flyaway dismount off the uneven bars. She was having trouble mastering this important element, and before her coach Dave was to leave for a competition with another of his athletes, he told Willis that “a gymnast without a flyaway is like a hockey player without a stick.” This was motivating for Willis, who worked hard to master the flyaway in time for her coach’s return to the gym.
In addition to her signature skills, Willis has also mastered a layout Yurchenko-full on vault, a Tkatchev on bars, a piked full-in and Arabian double front on floor and most recently a double back off beam, which she showed at the 2006 Junior Pan Ams training camp.
| Dawn Patulli and Emma Willis
at Romanian International |
Willis already has plenty of international experience, and she marks her appearance at the 2006 Romanian International as her most memorable experience. She finished fourth all-around, which added to her confidence. “There were a lot of good gymnasts there from Romania and other countries and I felt that I fit in there,” says Willis of the experience.
Willis’ long-term goal is to represent Canada at the World Championships and Olympics. She and her coaches know this goal will take a lot of intensive training and that more international competitive experience will be needed to improve her chances. Willis will compete senior in the 2007 season, and will be age eligible for the 2007 World Championships as she will turn 16 before the end of the Olympic year in 2008.
Written by Christopher Scott
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