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City oj Roses
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VolumeXLIII
Number I
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Established ¡n 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
• Januaiy I, 2014
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Gymnist Saidah Wilson introduces acrobatics and tumbling to local youth.
photo by
Elevating Portland
Gymnast helps
kids, adults soar
D onovan M. S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
by
W hat’s that flying in the air? Well, it very well could be
you, momentarily denying the laws of gravity, if only for a
moment you become engaged in a sport coached by a
Portland gymnast.
Saidah Wilson is the energy-charged founder of Bridge
City Acrobatics, a new acrobatics and tumbling school that
operates out of the Peninsula Park Community Center in
north Portland.
It’s hard to believe when in conversation with Wilson
now, but the talkative coach said she could was just two
words shy of mute as a 2 year old. To help remedy her
reservations early-on, her parents enrolled her in a slew of
extra-curriculars in hopes that a more confident Saidah would
emerge.
One of those activities was gymnastics, and now as an
accomplished gymnast at 25, she still describes herself as
shy, but she is bursting at the seams to pass-off the joys of
gymnastics to others in Portland.
Wilson, a southern California transplant, is directing what
may be the only program in the Pacific Northwest exclusively
B ruce P oinsette
directed at gymnastics and tumbling.
From toddlers to adults, all are welcome toenroll in classes
that range from “Tag-a-long Tumbling” for the toddlers to
Grown-Up Gym” for the older and more experienced folks.
Wilson is not afraid to admit she has a certain affinity for
her youngest of pupils.
“When you teach kids you kinda get to bring back that
sense of excitement about working, or about trying some­
thing, about learning something new, about small progres­
sions, and that sense of wonder,” she says. “Like the fact that
they ve figured out how to point their toes alternately
without getting confused. It’s a big deal. Like every little
thing, it’ exciting.”
Coaching since she was 14, the ever-smiling Wilson says
the word “nice” is perhaps not best suited for her style of
training. Though maintaining levity is something she works
hard to maintain in both her children and adult classes, she
is adamant that working hard is a requirement for any of her
continued
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on page 2