NEWMARKET—Thirteen-year-old Reuben Negannegijig, originally from Aundeck Omni Kaning and Gore Bay and now residing in Newmarket, is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in the sport of trampoline and earning himself a spot on Team Canada.
“He moved to Newmarket over two years ago to train seriously in the sport of trampoline, wanting to achieve his dream of making the Olympics one day,” said proud mom Frances Hore. Since training in trampoline with airborne trampoline athletics, he has had many opportunities come his way including training with the Olympic Coach Dave Ross from Skyriders Trampoline Club. Reuben has attended many training camps and competitions all over Ontario, Canada and North America. Within a two-year period he was able to fly through interclub levels, provincial levels and is now competing in the second of four levels in the national stream.
“Reuben mobilized to the second level of the national stream in May of this year and now competes as a Espoir Level 6 men’s trampoline athlete, which leaves him one level away from a Junior/Senior Athlete—the highest level in trampoline,” Ms. Hore said. “This is a huge accomplishment for a 13-year-old young man.”
This past weekend, July 13-16, Reuben competed at the 2017 Canadian Championships at Durham College in Oshawa. His weekend was a huge success that boosted him into the limelight among his fans, clubs and coaches nation-wide. Reuben was ranked sixth in Canada in the Level 6 17-year-old and under men’s category at only 13.
Reuben competed in synchro trampoline with his teammate Josh Riswick and they won the gold becoming the national champions in synchro trampoline for 2017.
Reuben made his biggest accomplishment yet this weekend by becoming second in Canada in the 13- to 14-year-old age category which got him a spot on Team Canada where he will represent Canada at the World Age Group Championships in Bulgaria this November. Congratulations, Reuben!
Reuben’s career and journey is just beginning. 2017 still has many exciting experiences ahead for him. This September he will be travelling to Montreal for a weeklong Team Canada training session. This October he will be travelling to Portugal for six days for an international competition and in November he will be travelling to Bulgaria for a couple of weeks for the World Age Group championships where he will represent Canada. Finally, this December he will end 2017 at an international competition in the Bahamas.
“Reuben has shown complete dedication to the sport of trampoline, trains very hard day after day, week after week accomplishing goal after goal and all the while staying humble and grounded,” Ms. Hore shares. “With all this excitement around each corner he remains a normal 13-year-old with a busy schedule, but most of all enjoying the simple things in life like travelling back up North to where he calls home, Manitoulin Island.”
