Suhail Al Kurdi remembers the moment he watched 2000 Olympics in Sydney on TV, and asked himself: ‘I love gymnastics – why I can’t be there?’
“And so from that day on, I was determined to be a champion and I really worked hard for it,” he told EducationDaily.
“I always wanted to make myself my parents, family, my people, and my country proud of me and this is the best way to prove to the world you are capable of achieving what you want in life no matter who you are or
what you have been through – you have to believe in yourself and follow your dreams.”
Passing the baton to next generation of gymnasts
What started as an activity to get the energetic five-year-old “out of his mother’s hair” back in his homeland of Syria has turned into a lifelong passion that has seen Al Kurdi compete on a world stage for his country from the age of 16 and receive fitness accreditations in multiple countries.
But the conflict in Syria affected his educational studies and his gymnastics training – and it was a challenge that saw his ambitions sidelined in the quest for greater freedom and safety.
“My university was in different city, so I had to travel each time I had exams and when the war started it was very dangerous to cross from city to city,” he told EducationDaily.
“Training wasn’t safe at all in the beginning, we were training while we were hearing all the bombs and fire around the city, we were scared in the beginning, so we had to close a few times. Then when the war
went for a long time, we decided to keep training no matter what before I decided to move to Jordan to complete my training with the Jordanian national team.”
He then moved to Australia, in 2022, at the age of 35, “because I wanted to live in a country where I felt safe and had rights, where you never feel out of place or isolated”.
“In Syria, because of the war, we didn’t have big dreams. Every time I competed, I just wanted it to be my best routine. At the Y gym, I want to encourage my students to dream bigger because they can in Australia. Joining the Y Stafford team, I want to use my experience and background to expand and grow a thriving competitive program as well as a recreational program for the young athletes,” he says.
” I went through a lot in the past but what I believe is if I didn’t go through that though time, I wouldn’t be the
same person I am now. I wouldn’t have the knowledge and experience I have now, life pushed me to study and make courses in each country I moved to, so my knowledge kept growing. I never doubted myself, I always had the motivation and determination that one day all the hard work will pay off.”
To create gymnastics champions, it starts with championing gymnastics
While Australia has produced some of the strongest swimmers, cyclists and rowers in the world, when it comes to gymnastics, it only has one silver medal to its name from the Sydney games.
Al Kurdi is on a mission to help grow that medal tally, empower young people and simultaneously tackle the stigma around young men in gymnastics.
Today, for this world-class athlete, who shares his skills with young Queenslanders as a gymnastics coach at Y Stafford, making sure his sport isn’t overlooked by the next generation of Australian Olympians is important – and he’s helping train young gymnasts to go for gold.
“To me, gymnastics is the mother sport of all sports. Gymnastics gives you coordination, strength, flexibility, agility – all the requirements for the body to succeed,” says Al Kurdi.
According to AusPlay’s 2023 Report, only three in 10 under 14-year-olds participating in gymnastics are boys – with the majority of male participants giving up after the age of eight-years-old.
“Even though I experienced bullying for my sport, my passion never wavered. It taught me strength, resilience, and confidence, which I want to share with my students,” Al Kurdi says.
Motivating young minds
Six-year-old Oliver is one of Al Kurdi’s students and has been attending Y Stafford Gymnastics lessons for three months. As a young person with diagnosed anxiety, ADHD, and a language disorder, he has struggled with negative self-talk and being his authentic self when outside his family home.
“From the very first session, Suhail – or ‘Mr Hail’, as Oli and his friends call him – made Oli feel seen, heard, safe and willing to attempt new things and integrate with the class,” says Oliver’s mum.
“It has been amazing to not only see his technical ability increase in the short time with Mr Hail, but also see him become himself.
“Due to his anxiety, Oli is constantly masking in stressful environments which is hard to watch. But at the Y he is his most authentic self. After every session he comes home and gushes about his achievements and what he has done well, which he was never able to do before.”
For Al Kurdi, the real gold medal is the empowerment and good health gymnastics brings to his students.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re training for a competition or the Olympics. My students train for themselves first, and let their passion guide them from there,” he says.
Y Queensland, formerly trading as YMCA Queensland, has been working in local communities across the state since 1864. The Y is a vibrant, active community organisation, that seeks to make a positive difference by providing each and every person with the opportunity to be healthy, happy and connected.
Sporting achievements nurture self-confidence
Al Kurdi’s commitment to educating young athletes is driven by his own experiences on the podium – and the sense of achievement and personal pride that feeling brings.
“Because when you are standing on that podium internationally and you see your flag raising and hear your national anthem is played Infront of all the people…in that moment you have the best feeling in life,” he told EducationDaily.
“To represent your country and to achieve something for yourself and your people is a feeling that cannot be compensated for by any money or happiness in the world. So, I would love to help achieve that feeling for my young gymnasts.
“Plus, in gymnastics each time you learn a new skill you feel you more confident and believe that nothing can be impossible in life. So, it is very nice and satisfying for me to see that happen and for the self-confidence to grow in my gymnasts.”
