Pint-Size Prodigy:
Six-Year-Old Has
Skills to Turn Pro
He needn’t have worried. Steel City Parkour now has about
300 clients who come in for classes or to use the open gym.
The majority are between 10 and 30 years old – and some are
even older. People flock to the gym, he says, because of its “no
competition, no pressure” approach.
“It’s completely the opposite of a gymnastics program. No
one is judging you, and you’re not competing. You learn what
you can do, and then you learn to push yourself to do more.
If your form isn’t perfect, that’s OK. It’s about having fun,” he
says.
Students are divided into programs based not just on age,
but also on skill level. The beginner class is for 5- to 7-yearolds, but skilled children can quickly progress into a more
advanced group. The youth program is for 8- to 12-year-olds,
and there are also programs for teens and adults.
DiGirolamo and his instructors focus on teaching “body
awareness” so that students know how to run, climb and jump
properly and land safely. They train on soft foam blocks and
trampolines before progressing to more advanced acrobatic
skills.
“Parkour gives you the confidence to take on challenges
and still land on your feet. It’s the same philosophy in life, and
these are skills that you can use throughout your lifetime,” he
explains.
Steel City Parkour is located at 2080 Borland Farm Road in
Export. For more information, visit steelcityparkour.com or
call 724.799.1038. n
When Liam Bernadowski first set
foot in Steel City Parkour, he and his
parents weren’t sure what to expect.
The six-year-old had become
fixated with parkour videos on
YouTube, and had begun to use the
family couch as a practice surface. This, his mom
says, “drove us insane.”
“We tried to appease him with a trampoline in the backyard,”
Carianne Bernadowski says. “He began playing around in the yard
trying out different tricks. Before we knew it, he had an audience at
the baseball field, basketball court or anywhere there was a place to
practice.”
Liam, a kindergartener at Sloan Elementary School, wanted to
train at a parkour gym, but his parents told him one didn’t exist. They
enrolled him in a traditional gymnastics class, but quit immediately
after a coach told him he couldn’t do a flip off the trampoline because
of his age. He was five at the time.
That’s when they found out about Steel City Parkour.
“A friend of ours heard a parkour gym opened in Export, so we
called immediately,” says Bernadowski.
Within one session, DiGirolamo told the Bernadowskis that
Liam was ready for a more advanced class. They said that having
DiGirolamo be so open to allowing Liam to learn at his pace is
tremendously helpful.
“I think this provides Liam with independence and discipline,”
explains Bernadowski. “Steve is very open to teaching the kids,
despite their age, the skills they are developmentally ready to try.
Liam took to parkour easily and advanced pretty quickly, and Steve
recognized that and nurtured it.”
Liam, who is one of the gym’s youngest students, says he started
practicing parkour because “it looked cool to do.” He loves to jump on
walls and practice flips, and his favorite skills are the double back and
kong gainer, in which he uses a vault to propel himself into a flip.
“The hardest thing about parkour is probably the warped wall,”
says Liam.
His progress continues to surpass expectations, and he’s been
invited to attend “jams” as a special guest with professional parkour
athletes. He also has his own Facebook page, “Parkour by Liam,”
where his parents post videos to highlight his skills.
“We joke that he can’t tie his shoes, but can do a round-off back
flip with his eyes closed!” his mom says. “Once we saw how limber he
was, we were not surprised at how quickly he learned new tricks. He
practices at home and at the gym countless times until a new trick is
mastered. He has developed rapidly under Steve’s supervision.”
DiGirolamo has been impressed with Liam’s extraordinary abilities
and sees potential for him to pursue professional opportunities doing
stunts for movies or commercials.
“When he first came to class, he was more advanced than some of
our most advanced kids,” he says. “I’ve never seen anything like him,
and I’ve searched. He can do what adults can’t even do. He’s going to
be a pro in the sport, for sure.”
Murrysville | Summer 2016 | icmags.com 15