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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports HALTON TRANSMISSION "Connected to your Community" 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com 23 | Thursday, June 27, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com OGC's Paterson headed to World University Games by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff For years, Cory Paterson had training partners to help push him. Teammates there for support, but at the same time fellow competitors, helping one another raise the bar in their training sessions. Over the years, some left the sport, others moved on to school. Only Paterson remained. With no other male gymnasts over the age of 14 at the Oakville Gymnastics Club, that's made the 18-year-old a bit of loner this year. But after a season of training on his own, Paterson is finally getting a chance to be a part of something bigger. The Abbey Park graduate was named to the Canadian team that will compete at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia. Though he has represented Canada in the past, Paterson said he's never competed in an event of this scale. "This is the biggest one by far," he said. "This will be a good experience seeing the best of the best. We've got a younger team, all 18-20 years old. It's a chance for some younger guys to experience the world stage." Oakville Gymnastics Club coach Greg Jackson, who will be part of the Canadian coaching staff, says it will benefit Paterson to be back training amongst a group of athletes at a similar stage in their development. "People usually think of gym- Oakville Gymnastics Club member Cory Paterson has been named to the Canadian team that will compete at the upcoming World University Games in Kazan, Russia. | photo by Hannah Yoon -- Special to the Beaver nastics as an individual sport because you're out there on your own competing," he said. "There's a benefit to being on a team with peers, though. Like any other sport, there's that peer pressure to step up and perform when it's your time. He only gets that environment when he competes at nationals." The three-time Canadian champion debuted at the senior level at nationals this year. One of the youngest at the senior level (a change in eligibility requirements would have previously given him another year in junior), Paterson was facing much more experienced rivals, some as old as 30. Still, he turned in a solid 15th place showing in a field of 30, finishing in the upper half in four of the six events. "I tried a bunch of new skills," Paterson said. "Some went well, some need some more work." The fact that Paterson was able to compete at nationals at all was fortunate after a scary fall from the high bar earlier in the year at an Elite Canada event. "He pretty much folded in half, backwards," Jackson said. "They were very concerned about him. They thought he might have broken his back." While there were no major injuries, the muscles still cause pain when he arches backwards. That has affected him most on floor exercises, forcing him to go with a lower difficulty routine, but Jackson said Paterson has compensated by performing clean routines. He tied for eighth on floor at nationals, posting the highest execution marks. Paterson is currently taking part in a training camp in Calgary before departing for Russia next week. The World University Games will also serve as excellent preparation for Paterson when he starts school at the University of Iowa in the fall. "This will help me get used to competing in front of bigger crowds," he said. Though he says he will try to land a spot for the Canadian team for the 2016 Olympics, Paterson said his No. 1 goal in the sport was always to earn a scholarship. And he's looking forward to joining his Iowa teammates in the fall. "Just training with guys my own age will be fun," Paterson said. "There it's more about the team and less about the individual. Everyone's pushing to reach their maximum potential to help the team." -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter @Herbgarbutt Some things are just better together. #itsbettertogether facebook.com/flyerland.ca @flyerland