The Key City Gymnastics Club is sending five gymnasts to the BC Winter Games, which will get started in the coming weeks in the Greater Vernon area.

The athletes, between 11 and 14 years of age, are excited to get the nod to represent not only their club and city, but the entire Kootenay region.

Catherine Spencer, Jayleen Lim, Cherish Parisien and Mady Sandberg are all 14 years old, while Kayley Lim-Jayleen's younger sister-is 11.

Joining Mady is her mom, Melanee, who will chaperone the team as she also went to the BC Games when she was a young teenager in the late 1980s.

Garry Ricks, one of the competitive head coaches, said the team is well prepared and looks forward to seeing their hard work translate into a strong showing.

"When we did our trials, a couple of our kids were the top six in the province, just based on trials scores," said Ricks. "I think with the tweaking that we've done with their routines and the fine-tuning, I think that we'll see them peak better by the time the Games happen."

Of the five athletes, Jayleen has gone before, representing the club two years ago in Terrace and knows that her teammates will treasure not just their time in competition but the experience as a whole.

"I just told them it was really fun and that it was just a good time," Jayleen said. "And more [competition] experience."

And she dished out some advice to her younger sibling, according to Kayley

"She told me on the first day-since it's just a team day-usually on the second day, you're not as nervous since you're used to the equipment," Kayley said.

It will be Mady Sandberg's first trip to the Winter Games, and she's looking forward to spending time with her friends outside of competition.

Clinching a spot for the event reaffirmed that she's come a long way in the sport, said Mady.

"It means that I'm improved a lot from where I was a year ago," she added.

Melanee said she wasn't as strong as her daughter is in the sport when she went to the games in her youth, but noted that the Games is about more than just competition.

"You meet new people and put yourself in a situation that helps you grow," she said.

Cherish Parisien hopes her experience at the Winter Games leads to bigger and better things.

"I want to go to the Olympics," she said.

She's pumped about making it to the competition and hopes that a strong showing will open up opportunities for competition on a bigger stage.

Catherine Spencer's strength is in uneven bars, and she hopes to do well in her first Winter Games.

"I've watched my other teammates go to the BC Games before so it was kind of cool to try out for it," Spencer said." I kind of always wanted to go because I think it'd be a really cool experience."

If it's one thing Melanee hopes the girls take away from the experience is to be happy with their result, even if they tried their best.

"They're really hard workers and I think what really stands out, with the gym as a whole, is they're just really sportsmanlike," said Melanee. "They're really good to each other and they cheer each other on."

Ricks agreed, noting that they're all friends as well as being teammates.

"It's going to be a great experience for them, it's a great multi-sport Games," said Ricks. "Unfortunately, with the gymnastics schedule, we don't have time to see other sports, but they get to be in schools with other sport teams, ride up on busses with other sports teams. They have that camaraderie between them."