You’ve just got to love his determination. Most parents sit on the sidelines while their kids do gymnastics, but not Ashley Mills. This 47-year-old father from Melbourne, Australia, puts his all into learning gym skills with his daughter, Alex.
The dad-and-daughter duo has earned legions of fans on their social pages.
Described as a typical 14-year-old, Alex was just six when she started doing gymnastics and is clearly a natural. For several years, Alex trained hard for 32 hours-plus every week.
In the early days, when she came home from gym class and showed some of her skills, Ashley began joining in with her. Ashley says there is definitely a spontaneous element to their training sessions.
“I’ve always had reasonable balance, so we just had some fun with it,” said the dad. “It’s really quite random—if the weather is nice, we pull out the Airtracks and have a play. We do the majority of our fun on the front lawn these days. Alex got a bit big for the inside skills.”
The two obviously share a fantastic bond, and their videoed efforts are great to watch.
Ashley and Alex’s efforts elicit plenty of giggles, plus Band-Aid and trophy emojis. The comments are also peppered with people adoring both dad’s perseverance, and daughter’s patience. Little brother Byron joins in sometimes, too.
“The online response has been truly amazing!” said Ashley. “People just think it’s the best thing ever, but to be honest, I see it no different to shooting hoops or riding BMX with Byron. You just do these things with your kids.”
During the pandemic, Alex took a step back from competitive gymnastics but is now right back at the gym training properly again. The family is extremely proud of her achievements.
“I have a real appreciation for what Alex does at the gym! It’s a ridiculously hard, dangerous sport, so I admire her commitment and determination,” said her father.
Ashley describes their relationship as “a normal father-daughter relationship, with ups and downs as all fathers have with teenage daughters.” And the determined dad has his own winning moments. What’s the move he’s most proud of having mastered?
“For me, I think the flyaway video that we did was my favorite and most challenging skill I attempted. Actually stuck it too!!” he said.
