Mayer is national tumbling champ

By Becky Uehling

Grant Tribune-Sentinel

From teaching himself tumbling by watching YouTube videos, to becoming a national champion in tumbling in a little over a year, you can say that Callum Mayer has come a long way, baby.

Callum, the 8-year-old son of Brad and Shelby Mayer of Grant, took top honors in the boys 8 and under tumbling competition at the United State Trampoline and Tumbling Association (USTA) National Championship competition in Lakeland, Fla., on June 13.

With his score of 33.4, Callum beat those in his age division to earn the title, according to his mom, Shelby. 

From YouTube To Nationals

When Callum started teaching himself tumbling last year from YouTube videos, his parents never thought it would end up where it has. 

“I definitely didn’t imagine that he would end up a National Champion in such a short amount of time,” Brad Mayer said. 

Shelby Mayer said once she and Brad realized how much Cal was dedicated to tumbling, and how quickly he was taking to it, they knew it was something they needed to help him pursue.

“We were so impressed with his fearlessness when learning new skills,” she said. “He would see (a new skill) on YouTube and go out in the yard and try it over and over again until he’d land it. He’s not afraid to try anything.” 

Cal’s coach is Jeremy Epting with Jeremy’s House of Champions located in North Platte, whom he started training with in just December 2021, Shelby said. 

Cal qualified for nationals after placing first at the Nebraska/Iowa State competition in Clive, Iowa in April. And, throughout the past few months, he has competed in three additional sanctioned meets in Iowa, as well as three unsanctioned meets in Nebraska, placing first in all of them, Shelby said.

When asked why he likes tumbling so much, Cal said because it is really fun. 

“I like learning new tricks,” he said. “I want to learn to land a double back flip next.”

And, when asked about his thoughts on winning Nationals, Cal said that it was really exciting and that he the trophy is “really cool.”

Paisley Mayer

Callum’s 11-year-old sister, Paisley, also competed at the USTA National Championchips, placing 19th out of 52 competitors in the division of Tumbling Sub-Novice Girls 10 and under

Paisley received a combined score of 35.9. She qualified for Nationals after placing 7th at the state competition. 

Future Goals

Both Cal and Paisley will continue to work with Coach Epting, and continue to improve their skills. 

“They will continue training with coach Jeremy and hopefully bump up to their next skill levels for competitions in 2023,” Shelby said. “As long as they continue to enjoy it and work hard, then we will continue to support them with this sport.”