FOG BLOG CANADA GAMES LOG: RYAN DWYER FROM P.E.I. JUGGLING HOCKEY & GYMNASTICS AT THE GAMES!

How this Canada Games athlete will juggle gymnastics and hockey in the same week Ryan Dwyer is also one of the flag bearers for Team P.E.I. Ryan Dwyer will be one of the busiest athletes at the Canada Games, competing in gymnastics and men's hockey in the same week.

The two sports were supposed to be on different weeks while the 2023 Winter Canada Games take place in P.E.I., but the 15-year-old decided he still wanted to move ahead when those schedules changed.

"Everything kind of worked out, so that's good," Dwyer said. "Unfortunately, I have to miss one hockey game. But it's cool that I get to do both still.

"It's been a lot of juggling schedules, but my coaches have been supportive, and if I have to miss something, they're totally on board. So, it's busy."

Dwyer's mother, Louise, said busy is definitely the best way to describe it.

"I think it wasn't so much of a decision, it was just a continuous journey for him," she said.

"He started both sports at the age of four, and it just rolled from there."

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Family connections

Ryan's love of both sports comes from his parents.

"I was a gymnast when I was younger, and so he started here in the pre-K program and loved it and he just continued," Louise Dwyer said. His father Gordie Dwyer played in the NHL, and is now the coach and general manager of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

He also coached the Summerside Western Capitals, the P.E.I. Rocket and the Charlottetown Islanders.

"He has been lucky with the support of so many coaches on his side," Louise Dwyer said.

"Especially with gymnastics, because it's not a team sport, he's had a little bit more leeway as far as his schedule goes ... Hockey's a bit more difficult, of course."