Joey Humberstone says his interest in trampoline gymnastics started around the age of eight, when he would experiment with ever-more-dangerous tricks.
"I would just flip and hope it would work out," the 17-year-old Fort Langley resident says.
In the interest of safety, his family decided to have Humberstone conduct his experiments in a more controlled environment and enrolled him in gymnastics training.
Nine years later, Humberstone is the Canadian champion in his class and preparing to represent Canada at the world championships in Odense, Denmark next month.
He trains at Flip City with coaches Rusty Pierce and Arlee Schimdt, where he especially likes trying new moves for the adrenalin rush it produces, and has, mostly, managed to avoid serious injury.
That is, if you don't count the broken finger, ankle injury and a few other consequences of trying to go higher and do more while he's up in the air.
Since his first competition at the age of nine, Humberstone has acquired a considerable amount of neck jewelry, winning medals at events across the country and the United States.
The end-goal was to get a high enough score to make it to the world age group championships.
He accomplished that in Calgary this summer, taking the gold medal to become became the national champion in his category.
Next up, Denmark, and representing his country against the best in the world.
But it will cost around $6,000 for flight, travel expenses, living expenses during the competition like hotels, food, and other necessities as well as competition fees, and even purchasing specified gymnast attire.
An online fundraising campaign has been set up at http://e.gofund.me/ah373sck.
Dan Ferguson/Langley Times
Joey Humberstone grabs some air at Flip City gymnastics during a recent training session. The Langley teen is off to Denmark next month where he will represent Canada.
