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GREENSBORO – Hundreds of gymnasts from throughout the southeastern U.S. were in the Piedmont this weekend for the first ever Greensboro Gymnastics Invitational.

The three-day event is the largest of its kind in the area.

Corey and Luretha Coon watched and cheered on their 6-year-old son Rycor as he competed on the rings Sunday.

All four of the Coons' children are involved in gymnastics, a sport their parents say helps them in all aspects of their life.

"It's a team sport, but it is focused very much so on the individual. So the athlete has to be very focused, and so that ability to focus on an event carries over to their school work," said their father, Corey Coon.

The Flip Force Gymnastics team joined more than 600 other gymnasts and power tumblers from around the Southeast, competing in invitational.

"You'll have kids who are down in the foothills, or they'll be over in North Raleigh, or they'll be over in Wilmington, and so when they meet up at meets like this, it's like, 'Hey how's everything going?' And they do. They want them to succeed and for us to succeed because it is all about competition," said Corey Coon.

This is the first ever competition for a few of these gymnasts, and now that they've got a little taste of the action, they say they'll definitely be coming back for more.

"I do want to try to stick with gymnastics and stay with it for a long time. It's just something I love to do," said 11-year-old Madison Riggs, of Clayton.

And that drive is even pushing some of the athletes to aim for the top.

"I want to keep on doing gymnastics into the Olympics," said 9-year-old Wyatt Coon.

The event kicked off Friday night at the Greensboro Coliseum with an athletic star-studded lineup for the opening ceremony that included Olympic medalists, record holders and Special Olympic stars like Lexington stand-out Carlton Morris.