A top-15 finish is not beyond the realms of possibility for either Clara James or Danielle Wall at next month’s Junior Pan American Championships.

That is the opinion of Duke Nelligan, Bermuda’s head coach, who, along with assistant coach Mandi Baughman, will accompany the athletes to Aracaju, Brazil, where the championships will be held from March 26 to 30.

For both James and Wall, the championships will be the first big international event of their fledgling careers, but Nelligan is confident that they have the talent and temperament to handle the occasion.

“It’s going to be hard for both Clara and Danielle, as they have not competed at a meet of this magnitude before,” Nelligan said.

“Me and Mandi will have our hands full keeping their psyches in check and heart rates down, as 95 per cent of the sport is mental.

“We feel as though the expectations on this Island have been raised. It’s not just important to go to these events any more; it’s important that we show we’re making the progress necessary to be competitive.

“If these girls go there and hit their routines, we think that there’s a potential for one of the two girls to perhaps finish in the top 15.”

Nelligan admits a top-15 finish would be a “huge accomplishment” for James and Wall. Furthermore, it would place them on the reserve list for the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, this year.

Bermuda has never had a gymnast compete at the Youth Olympics, which will be held from August 16 to 28.

“If you finish in the top nine, you get to go the Youth Olympics,” Nelligan said. “That’s a big ask because they will be competing against the United States, Canada and the whole of South America.

“Should that happen, they would have to maintain their training level at a very high point as it would put them on the reserve list.

“We know that some gymnasts will not take the bid, some will get injured, so if either of our the girls finished in the top 15, the chances are they would be awfully close to going to the Youth Olympics.”

James and Wall, who are both 14, have prepared for the championships by competing at several meets in the US in recent months.

At the Abie Grossfeld Invitational in Bridgeport, Connecticut, James struck gold on the uneven bars and bronze on the balance beam. Wall won gold on the balance beam and bronze on the floor exercise.

Both athletes, who are too young to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer, also won medals at the Chicago Style Invitational.

The Bermuda Gymnastics Association is holding the Federation of International Gymnastics Level 1 Men’s and Women’s Artistic Academy coaching course at the Southside training centre this week.

It is the first time that Bermuda has hosted an FIG Academy and it hopes to stage Level 2 and Level 3 courses in the next few years.

The course, which is being attended by 21 local coaches and several schoolteachers, is being led by FIG experts Keith Russell, of Canada, Jose Sucart, of Puerto Rico, and Chris Evans, of Britain.