For Warrnambool-raised Mason, a 12-year journey now includes a stop at the Commonwealth Games.

One of three coaches appointed to Australia's women's Commonwealth Games team, Mason's mentorship played an essential role in bringing home seven medals, including three individual gold.

Mason, 39, said it was surreal to find out she would be a part of the team in June, before "pure gratitude and joy" set in.

"I can forever say I'm a Commonwealth Games coach," she said. "I was quite proud I'd achieved one of my dreams."

A gymnast herself, Mason got her start as a highly-energetic four-year-old after Judy Lumsden, a friend of Mason's mother Donna, suggested she join Warrnambool Gymnastic Club, now known as Warrnambool Springers.

"I just fell in love with it," Mason said.

An all-around gymnast with a talent for the beam, Mason rose through the ranks to reach a national level. Eventually she, then 15, moved away from Warrnambool and her family in search of a higher level of coaching before a back injury curtailed her career.

"I could have kept going but as a 15-year-old you just want to be close to your family," she said. "I made the decision to go home."

Finishing Year 12 at Warrnambool College, Mason went on to study sports management at the University of Ballarat. But it was here, at the university's gymnastic club, where Mason first dipped her toes in the world of coaching, taking on a part-time job to help earn extra money.

"I ended up really liking that so it ended becoming a full-time job and my uni kind of became part-time," she said with a laugh.

A one-year hiatus from coaching, with Mason returning to Warrnambool and holding a job at Bendigo Bank, was the reinforcement the caper was for her. Mason said accepting a job at Waverley Gymnastics Centre in January, 2010 was the best decision she could have made.

"They have elite gymnastics at Waverley, so that was my ambition and goal to work in the elite space," she said. "I haven't looked back."

Mason had to work her way up but credits the club's support in fostering her goal of getting to one or more of the world's three pinnacle gymnastic events; the Olympics Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

"They are all on my career goal list to go to and I've been able to tick one of them off now," Mason said.

In pursuit of a dream is a mountain of hard work and sacrifice amidst an unconventional working life.

"It's not your usual nine-to-five job," Mason said. "I'll start work at 7am and work until 6pm for three days of the week, and then it's a full day on a Friday and a half day on a Saturday. It's a lot of weekend work too.

"It's such an amazing sport but such a demanding one. The hours and hours of training that people don't see before they step out on the floor in that beautiful leotard."

The work is worth it for Mason, her passion always to help young girls become strong women. It's something that has only strengthened through her daughter Ayla, 3.

"Certainly since having (Ayla) it's made me want to do this even more to show her you can still reach your dreams and passions even though you're a parent," she said. "And my work is really supportive of that."

Mason's passion for the sport appears to be cultivating in her daughter, with the energetic youngster already involved in Junior Gym at Waverley.

A single mother, Mason also understands the importance of having robust support networks. She credits the support from family and friends for all they have done.

But while Mason does have her own career goals, she said it was never about "her" going to Birmingham and more about putting her athletes in a position to realise their dreams.

"I'm helping them achieve their goals and whatever happens for me is just a bonus," she said.

It's this symbiotic relationship between athlete and coach that plays a part in the composition of the coaching panel. Two of Mason's Waverley-based athletes in Emily Whitehead and Romi Brown made up the five-strong Australian team.

With the physical preparation done well before Birmingham, Mason said her role became about supporting her athletes on the floor.

"Just to be able to go with them and share that experience with them and be that person to support them with whatever they needed on the day (...) to be calm, confident and professional," she said. "Having that job and being on the floor was very special."

Spending a month overseas, Mason and the team's first stop was Paris for a 10-day training camp before flying on to Birmingham on July 23.

Competition ran from July 30 to August 2, with Australia claiming silver in the team all-around event, besting its bronze from the 2018 games. Whitehead, who made the individual all-around final, finished the week with an individual bronze on floor.

"It was the very final routine so there was massive relief after that," Mason said.

Brown, Mason's second Waverley athlete, also made the floor final in her first Commonwealth Games but had a fall and came eighth.

"Had she not fallen, she would have been up in the top three or four," Mason said. "She's got a lot more to give beyond this event. We're looking forward to World Championships for her later this year."

Mason understands the negative talk around gymnastics world-wide in the past six years in the wake of the Athlete A scandal. In 2016, USA gymnast Maggie Nichols (Athlete A) came forward to expose the sexual abuse of team USA doctor Larry Nasar and subsequent cover-up from Gymnastic USA.

Mason said gymnastics in Australia was also going through "a lot of change" but the future looked positive.

"We're starting fresh," she said. "To have really nice results come out of (Birmingham) is just great for Australian gymnastics moving forward (...) and to put Australia back on the map is really nice."

Mason said she was seeing more athletes stay in the sport longer, with Brown, 19, the team's youngest athlete after the typical retirement age previously was between 16-18.

She said there was also a more holistic approach with athletes, highlighted after decorated US gymnast Simone Biles stepped away from the Olympic Games competition floor in Tokyo last year due to her mental health.

"It's not just looking at it as how can we get the best gymnastics from them," she said. "It's how can we help them be the best version of themselves. There is so much beyond sport."

With Olympic-level sports working in four-year cycles, there is little rest for Mason and her athletes. With World Championships trials in September, Mason said 2023 was an important year for Australia in qualifying a team for the Paris Olympics.

But for now, she remains immensely proud of all her athletes achieved.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: