Gymnastics in Bermuda has been almost entirely dominated by girls.

Now national coach Duke Nelligan wants to change that.

"We have adding a boys programme," he said this week adding that anyone who watches the men's gymnastics at the Olympics can see what the sport involves.

"Look at the Olympics – those guys are incredible – they are off the charts. They are like ants – they are 10 times stronger than the average person."

Nelligan said they started the boys programme in February and then more youngsters became interested after watching the Bermuda Gymnastics Association put on a show at the recent Ag Show.

He said: "After we did the Ag Show we had half a dozen of little boys come out of the stands asking where they could go to do gymnastics. We had already started a boys programme in February and we now have 10 to 12 boys – all of a sudden people are saying there is an alternative for guys who don't want to do football, cricket or whatever."

As far as gymnastics being perceived of as a girls sport, Nelligan said: "Once they are around it they realise it isn't. One of the ways I kind of teach the boys is when they start to learn to flip – there is nothing feminine about that – it triggers something in your brain."

And he said that if after a time the boys do not want to carry on with gymnastics, the sport will help them in whatever other athletic activity they want to do.

"If these boys do not want to follow up with gymnastics they will have the basic knowledge of body awareness, strength and balance which will help them in any sport."

Men's events include floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and the high bar. In fact it was men that gymnastics was aimed at initially as it evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks, that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse and from circus performance skills.

Nelligan became Bermuda's national coach last year.