Fresh-faced and shy, she likes hanging out with friends, shopping and watching the footy with her dad. Her favourite TV shows are Glee and The Vampire Diaries. So far, so normal.

But there is something that sets her apart from other girls her age.

Eade is a talented gymnast, and trains 32 hours a week at the Victorian Women’s High Performance Centre in Prahran.

Her school, Lauriston Girls, is a partner with the Victorian Institute of Sport and supports her demanding training program. Lauriston is also supportive of the time Eade needs to have away from school to compete, which at the moment is a lot. It’s easy to see why.

Her sizable list of achievements is impressive. Recently she was named a junior finalist for the Victorian Sports Awards, asn was selected to represent Australia in the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games and is also a member of the Gymnastics Australia Junior national squad. Eade has competed around the world including Germany, France and Portugal, as well as in Australia, and has a bounty of gold and silver medals.

Her gymnastics career began when she started ballet at age four, but it wasn’t quite the right fit. “I wasn’t into it,” Alexandra says. ‘‘One of the other mums suggested that I try gymnastics instead.”

Eade’s mother then signed her up to a local club. “It was acrobatic, out there and exciting,” she recalls of the early days.

Although she still finds the sport exciting, its the challenge of achieving her goals that most appeals to Eade. Her coach Tracey Penaluna says girls often start gymnastics because it’s fun, but when they reach competitive level things become much more serious.

“It’s not fun training 32 hours, week in, week out,” admits Penaluna. “It’s the reward and the achievement after the hard work, that is why they do it. It teaches them determination.”

Once at home, Alexandra transforms back into a regular school girl, but you can guarantee that by the morning, she’ll be back in the gym training.

Naturally, Eade has set her sights high. Her long-term goal? “I hope to make the 2016 Olympic team.”