I’ll tumble for you: Australian honours for Blackfriars gymnast

At just 15 years old, Blackfriars Year 9 student Jedd Hudson has already made his international sporting debut.

Jedd recently spent two weeks in Birmingham, UK, as part of the Australian Junior tumbling team at the 2023 Trampoline Gymnastics World Age Group Competition. He was one of only four males, and the only South Australian, selected for the U17 team.

“Mum got me into gymnastics in primary school and it just went from there,” Jedd said of his entry to the sport of tumbling. “I just like the adrenaline; it’s pretty fun.”

In tumbling, gymnasts perform a series of backflips, somersaults and twists along a 25m track.

Since taking up the sport about six years ago, Jedd, who also plays football for Blackfriars and Broadview and is a keen mountain biker, has become one of the most successful male tumblers in the State.

This year, the Tea Tree Gully Gymsports member won bronze at the Australian Gymnastics Championships.

He found out he had secured a spot on the National team just two weeks before getting on the plane to the UK.

“It (the world championships) was a good experience. There were some pretty good kids there,” said Jedd, who finished in 21^st place.

As for his future in the sport, Jedd, who currently trains three times a week, was hopeful of making the senior Australian team within the next couple of years.

“I’d like to make top three at worlds … that’s pretty hard, but it’s something to aim for.”