Coaching Staff

Sing
Xin
Xinhong J., NCCP III, Brevet judge

Prior to coming to Canada, Xinhong was a competitive rhythmic gymnast and member of the gold-medal-winning group team at her regional university games. She taught physical education at a Chinese university for 6 years and became a national judge and head coach for the university’s rhythmic gymnastics team. She has a modern dance background and was coached by her mother, a well-known physical education university professor. Xinhong came to Canada in 1992 to study at Carleton University and earned a Master of Arts in Psychology, to add to her Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education.

Currently, Xinhong has over 25 years of rhythmic gymnastics coaching experience. She is a certified NCCP Level III coach, a Brevet judge, and a mentor for the CAO of Coach 2 Coach Female Mentorship Program. Moreover, she was an NCCP course conductor for Gymnastics Ontario for many years. She has guided her gymnasts to win many championships at the regional, provincial, national, and international levels.

In 2006, Xinhong won the National Wild Rose Domestic Development Coaching Award. This award is given annually to one exceptional coach in Canada who works directly with gymnasts and develops programs and initiatives that build the sport from its grass roots. In 2014, Xinhong received the title of 2014 Female Volunteer of the year for Special Olympics Ontario-Ottawa. She has assisted many Special Olympic athletes to achieve their best and has coached five athletes to attend the Special Olympics World Games.

Olga
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Olga C., NCCP III

Olga was born in the town of Omsk, Russia. She started her rhythmic gymnastics training at the age of 6. Her training was very intensive with a weekly program of 30+ hours in the gym with some of the top coaches and gymnasts in Russia. By the age of 12, she was competing at the national level. She reached the level of master of sport and graduated university with a degree in Sport Administration. She has arrived in Canada in 2002 and became a coach at ORGC in 2003. She helped guide ORGC gymnasts to many championship wins at the provincial, régional and national level.
Keiko
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Keiko M., NCCP III

Keiko moved to Canada from Japan in 2002. She was part of the coaching team at the MEG RG club while in Japan. She joined ORGC as a coach in 2003. She has guided her gymnasts to many championship wins at the regional, provincial and national levels. As a child, Keiko had ballet training for 7 years since the age of 6. She then joined a junior high school rhythmic gymnastics club at the age of 14.In addition to dance and RG, Keiko studied Japanese calligraphy for several years. She also studied piano throughout her childhood.
Cleo
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Cleo P.

Cleo started artistic gymnastics at the age of three. At eight years old, she started training at the provincial level with the Ottawa Rhythmic Gymnastics Club. From 2008 to 2015, she won four provincial champion titles and two Ottawa Sports Awards for Gymnastics. In late 2015, Cleo moved to Toronto to join the Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team as Senior Group Member. She trained 25+ hours a week at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. Cleo competed in various world cups in countries including France, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Spain, Belarus, and Russia. Cleo retired from the National team after attending the 2017 World Championships in Pesaro, Italy. As well as competing as an elite gymnast, over the years Cleo has been involved in music bands, ballet, and traditional Chinese dance. Years of intense rhythmic gymnastics training has taught her hard work and determination which she now applies to her academic passions as she studies Engineering Science at the University of Toronto.
Sarah
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Sarah C., NCCP I

Sarah likes to bend herself in improbable ways. Still ridiculously flexible, she participates in most of her classes and definitely believes learning should be fun. (Since she coaches in her spare time, we’re pretty sure she thinks coaching is fun too!)A dancer and a gymnast from the age of 4 or 5, Sarah competed in rhythmic gymnastics for about 11 years and is a former Provincial Champion. She was also part of ORGC’s first National Duo and is a graduate of Canterbury High School’s Dance Program.She started coaching young and is going to hit the 10 years mark very shortly!Sarah continues to love dance and is now part of a performance Salsa and Charleston group.
Kristin
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Kristin P., Coach NCCP 1

Kristin has been a part of the club since 2004 at the age of 4, where she competed competitively for 14 years, until she was 18. She won many medals and one individual Championship in 2013 and multiple group Championships. She has been coaching with the club since 2013 and continued her love for coaching while completing her Bachelor’s degree in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, where she graduated in 2019.
Kateleen
Kateleen Jia, NCCP I

Kateleen has been a gymnast since the age of 7. Throughout her 10 years of competing, she has won many titles at the provincial and national levels. Kateleen was on Team Ontario for 2 years as a Senior level national gymnast. During this time, she was the 2018 Eastern Regional Champion in the Individual Clubs event, and won the 2018 Canadian National Championships in the Senior Group event. Kateleen also won the 2017 Ottawa Sports Award for Rhythmic Gymnastics. While being a rhythmic gymnast, Kateleen has participated in ballet, jazz, and traditional chinese dances. Kateleen is currently studying Biology with a specialization in Physiology, and a minor in Psychology at McMaster University.

Outside of rhythmic gymnastics, Kateleen continues to pursue her passion for movement and artistry by participating in the recreational Dance team at McMaster University.

Melanie (Mimi)

Melanie (Mimi)

Melanie (Mimi) L

Mimi started Rhythmic Gymnastics when she was 3 years old and started competing in the provincial level of 1B. She continued competing for over 10 years and achieved the RG Provincial Champion title for 6C in 2018. She also received numerous gold medals at other provincial competitions such as the Trillium Cup, Questo Cup, Kanata Cup, and Olympium RGC Invitational. Mimi was the recipient of the Ottawa Mayor Sports Awards (Athlete of the Year) for Rhythmic Gymnastics in 2018, and in the same year, she won a gold medal with her team as the Senior FIG Group of 5 at Elite Canada in Vancouver. Mimi currently coaches gymnasts at the recreational, provincial, and national level at ORGC and is a judge, coach, and choreographer for the Special Olympics.

Outside of RG, Mimi is a Biological Sciences student at Queen’s University and a professional musician in the Kingston Symphony. As such, she is able to make use of her musicality when choreographing and can analyze a routine’s artistry precisely as a judge. Mimi has also recently taken an interest in other dance styles including contemporary and hip hop.

New Coaches
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New Coaches

Amina S: NCCP 1
Melanie ( Mimi) L: NCCP 1
Mackenze J: NCCP 1

Former Coaches: Thank you for all the time and effort that you have put into coaching ORGC team these years.