Greensburg YMCA gymnastic event: competing for a good cause

Fourteen-year-old Amelia Raible of North Huntingdon was competing against other young gymnasts in her skill level Saturday at the Greensburg YMCA gymnastics invitational.

Raible, a ninth grader at Norwin High School, is part of the 24-member Greensburg YMCA’s Aerials. They are among about 160 gymnasts from eight YMCA teams competing Saturday in the first of the two-day invitational competition.

The competition sponsored by the Greensburg YMCA drew teams from as far away as Lakeland, N.Y., in central New York; Brookville, Franklin, Ridgeway, Corry and as close as Uniontown, said Amy White, head coach of the Greensburg Aerials.

The invitational resumes today with the March In at 8:30 a.m., followed by the competition.

The event attracted girls ages 6 to 18, plus one boy, with competitors collecting medals for excellence in moves on the balance beam and floor exercises.

But the gathering serves even a greater purpose because proceeds from a raffle conducted at the “Flip for a Cure” will go toward breast cancer research. The event comes during national Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

It’s a cause close to White’s heart because her grandmother and an aunt suffered from breast cancer.

This is the second year for the Flip for a Cure. A basket raffle last year raised a few thousand dollars, White said.

“Some of the girls on the team also have been touched by breast cancer. It is important for us to bring awareness to breast cancer,” said White, a former Greensburg YMCA gymnast who has been head coach for three years.