When GymSouth owner Cherry Dabney-Robbins put into motion plans for the Mardi Gras Invitational, her gym’s first big meet, she expected two or three of the state’s gyms to participate.

Instead, on Saturday and Sunday, all 11 of the state’s big gymnastics facilities will bring athletes to Vicksburg.

While Dabney-Robbins and her GymSouth team are used to hitting the road for meets throughout the state and in the surrounding region, they finally get a chance to shine in front of a home crowd.

“We were pleasantly surprised,” Dabney-Robbins said. “The gymnastics community in this state is pretty well-established. You’ve got some gyms that have been around for 30 or 40 years and have their meets at the same time, every year.”

The meet will start at 9:30 a.m. on both days, with five sessions on Saturday that will continue until 8:45 p.m. and two sessions on Sunday that will end around 2:30 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children under 12.

Dabney-Robbins expects around 225 athletes to participate, which surpassed even her highest expectations. Add to the mix parents, siblings and other family members and the number of visitors to the city for the meet could balloon to around 800 to 900, Dabney-Robbins said.

GymSouth has been in operation for eight years and Dabney-Robbins finally got the chance last year to add on to her facility, which is located off Wisconsin Avenue. The addition doubled the space available for gymnasts and equipment, which allowed both her competitive team and her recreational classes to train at the same time.

The addition also allowed Dabney-Robbins to host her facility’s first meet, which she hopes to make an annual event.

“For us in our first meet to get that kind of response, I’m really surprised,” Dabney-Robbins said. “We’re a relative newcomer.”