Fourways Gardens teenager Ella Parry (14) is preparing to represent South Africa at the Region 5 Games in December after earning her place among the country’s top parkour athletes.

The Grade 8 learner at St Stithians Girls’ College is one of only two senior female parkour athletes selected to represent South Africa at the regional competition. Her selection follows an impressive performance at the South African Gym Games in Centurion, where she secured first place in the U14 freestyle category and second place in the speed run.

Read more: Paulshof parkour athlete attends inaugural competition in Japan

Ella’s journey into parkour began with a backflip in a classroom. “One of my coaches now, Thomas Ragget, came to give a talk at my school. At the time, he was 18 years old and had been chosen to represent South Africa at a competition in Japan. He did a backflip right in the classroom, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” she said. Ella said she begged her mother to let her take up the sport before eventually starting at 10 years old.

Qualifying for the national competition required competing at district and provincial levels. Between competitions, Ella trained two to three times a week, practicing skills such as wall backflips, front flips and the penny drop, which involves hanging from a bar by the knees before swinging down to a standing position. Now her attention is on the Region 5 Games, where she hopes to score between 23 and 24 points. She is also working towards mastering a fly-away – a move involving a swing on a bar into a backflip – which she hopes to have ready for competition.

Also read: Paulshof brings parkour to the community with first in-house competition

While the physical demands of parkour are challenging, Ella said overcoming fear has been just as important as mastering the skills. “I felt that giving myself a pep talk and saying things like, ‘You are so strong and capable’, gave me the confidence to do my wall backflip,” she said.

Beyond competition, Ella hopes to change perceptions about parkour and encourage more girls to participate. She launched her Instagram account, @ellaonthemove, after realising she wanted to help grow the sport, particularly among young female athletes. “Last year, I was the only one in my age group, so I was competing against myself. I felt like I didn’t deserve my medal,” she said. The experience strengthened her determination to raise awareness about parkour and demonstrate what the sport involves and what athletes can achieve.

Looking further ahead, Ella hopes to establish South Africa’s first extreme sports centre, offering activities such as parkour, BMX, skateboarding and rock climbing.

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