Ryan Jefferson took up trampolining in December 2016 after having to give up competitive gymnastics because of growth plate injuries in his wrists. The Northcross Intermediate pupil picked up the sport quickly, coming first overall at the National Championships in Christchurch less than a year later, in October 2017. In fact he was first in double mini trampoline, second in individual trampoline and third in synchronised trampolining.

This was clearly no surprise to those who know him well as he has achieved in a range of sports from a very young age. He was Player of the Year at East Coast Bays Soccer at age six; Age Group Champion at Bays Cougars Athletics at ages 5, 6 and 7; At 9 and 10 years old was a member of Glamorgan School basketball team that won the term league several times; Was National Champion All Round and National Champion on Rings at the Gymnastics National Championships from the age of 9 before moving to Trampolining at age 12 in 2017.
"I enjoy playing a lot of sports but chose at an early age to concentrate mainly on gymnastics,” explained Ryan in his AIMES Junior Excellence Award application in August. "I was training for 14 hours a week from the age of 8 until I gave up at age 12. I am so pleased that I have found another sport to be as passionate about and I enjoy it even more than gymnastics!”
In the first competition in Rotorua this year Ryan qualified for the Australian National Championships in Melbourne. The competition was held in May and is the biggest competition held in Australia. Ryan received a gold medal in the under 15 year old boys individual trampolining, a gold medal in the under 15 year old boys synchronised trampolining and came 5th in double mini trampoline.
Ryan says his goal for the rest of 2018 is to do well at the National Championships in Tauranga in October and also work on his routines to qualify for the world championships in Japan 2019. He has achieved the difficulty level required to qualify and he believes, as does his coach, that this goal is possible by continuing to work hard.
"I really love this sport, I cannot put into words how much, and I would train a lot more if I could. My long term goal is to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Each year I will try hard to qualify for the world championships which will give me a lot of overseas experience to help me achieve my goal for 2024.”
Since applying for this award Ryan competed at the AIMS Games in Tauranga in September which is a huge sports competition involving over 300 intermediate schools and over 10,800 athletes. In trampolining he won gold in the Mens Open Senior level and one of the judges was Dylan Schmidt, the NZ Olympic trampolinist (and Ryan’s role model). Ryan also competed in competitive gymnastics receiving silver in the open junior category and bronze in the open junior advanced category for tumbling. He was also part of the Northcross Intermediate Hip Hop Team which came 10th out of 25 teams.
"I am very grateful for this AIMES Award and it means so much to me. This award will help me to pay towards overseas competitions in 2019, including the Australian National Championships and also the World Championships in Tokyo which I am working hard to qualify for. I feel so lucky to be recognised for what I have achieved this year in trampolining and how much hard work and dedication I put into my sport."
Ryan plans to put the funds into a special bank account for trampolining, using it for his national and international competitions in 2019, including once again competing at the Australian National Championships and also hopefully Worlds in Japan. He will also put it towards a coaching course (he has completed 16 hours of shadow coaching) to become a coach next year.

Ryan Jefferson receives the Junior Excellence Award from the North Harbour Club – sponsored by Library Lane and NZ Force Construction – including a cash grant of $3,000.