Sadia Wilson, one of Bermuda’s top young gymnasts, has withdrawn from the Junior Pan American Games in Brazil because she did not feel comfortable competing in the absence of her British-based coach.

The 13-year-old, who attends a gymnastics academy in Nottinghamshire, pulled out of next month’s competition after a request for her coach to accompany her was turned down by the Bermuda Gymnastics Association.

Duke Nelligan, the BGA head coach, said that integrating someone unfamiliar with the association’s set-up could have been detrimental to the team’s unity and harmony.

He admitted that he was disappointed that Wilson would not be competing but believed the decision had been in the best interests of the team of Clara James and Danielle Wall, who will represent Bermuda in Aracaju, Brazil, from March 26 to 30.

“Sadia was eligible for the event, her name went in and we did all of the paperwork for her,” said Nelligan, a former head coach at the University of Maryland who has been coaching in Bermuda for five years. “The real problem we saw was integrating another coach into a Bermudian team event.

“Sadia had the opportunity right up until her parents said they weren’t comfortable sending Sadia without her coach. I’m disappointed for Sadia. It’s not about the adults or about the coaches; it’s about our athletes having an opportunity.

“The distractions that could possibly have shown up would not have made for a harmonious group for the other two, who are trying to qualify for this summer’s Youth Olympics. As head coach, I have to make hard decisions. That’s what I get paid to do.”

Nelligan said that he was surprised by the request, considering that Wilson had spent several years developing her skills under his tutelage at the BGA’s Southside training centre.

“Sadia is definitely an athlete Bermuda is counting on for the future,” he said. “I worked with Sadia, I prepped most of the skills that she’s doing. It wouldn’t have been a stretch for her to travel with me.

“If we had sent a totally different coach [whom Sadia had never worked with], I could understand totally how she would feel uncomfortable and we would respect that.

“The problem was: how do we bring a coach in from another country who hasn’t worked with us.”

Wilson’s parents had offered to cover the costs of sending her UK coach to the event, but Nelligan said that still did not sit well with the BGA.

“I know the parents said they would foot the bill, but it would still fall on our shoulders to make sure all of the paperwork was done, all of the visas were done.

“[The organisers] only give us two credentials for the floor, so [the coach] couldn’t have been on the floor anyway when Sadia competed.

“If you can’t be on the floor, then why bring in another coach to sit in the stands and watch?”

Sadia’s father, Richard Wilson, said that his daughter and her UK coach had worked closely since last September and believed that she would have benefited from that continuity in Brazil.

“The coach would have been travelling to coach Sadia and make sure she was prepped,” he said. “She has trained Sadia since September and taught her over 15 new advanced skills.”

Wilson outlined her potential at last summer’s NatWest Island Games in Bermuda when she seized gold in the balance beam and uneven parallel bars.

Shortly after the Games, Wilson’s family decided it was best she moved to Britain to continue her development alongside other Olympic hopefuls at the Notts Gymnastics Academy.