The Kiwi team will compete at the Aloha GymFest as well as the Gymnastics in Paradise.
"I'll be representing New Zealand for the first time and it's my first time overseas," says the excited Havelock North High School-bound youngster who made the cut following trials while competing as a Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay step 8 representative at the National Gymsports Championship in Auckland early this month.
The reigning HBPB senior women's artistic champion has surfed the internet to explore Hawaii "and it looks cool and it'll be nice and hot".
No doubt, it did help that in the backdrop mother Cheryl was an accomplished gymnast in Taranaki before she and Mark Johnson, of Gisborne, graduated from Victoria University in Wellington to settle in Hawke's Bay to raise a family.
Johnson has been competing since she was 5 and has four nationals under her belt as an HBPB member.
She is a member of the Omni Gymnastics club in Napier where Jane Sheldrake has been coaching her for four years.
"I think she has lots of experience," says Johnson, emphasising that emulating older girls at the gym put her in good stead although her mother was her initial port of call for inspiration and motivation.
At 13, Johnson has become one of the youngest gymnasts to be selected for the national development team and also the first female gymnast in a decade to hail from the Bay for the side.
Adhering to a year-round nomadic template to compete in Wellington, Gisborne, Auckland and Hamilton with like-minded youngsters in the vault, uneven bars, beam and floor disciplines is an integral part of her development.
"I love the vault because it gives me an adrenaline rush and it's also good to learn new things," she says, suspecting the vault also lures her out of her comfort zone.
Johnson received a reaffirmation of sorts that gymnastics was her thing while watching TV.
"I saw it during the 2008 [Beijing] Olympics," she explains, striking a chord with the passion and devotion of the Russian and American girls.
"I knew then that I could get there [Olympics]. I'm really determined to make it happen."
The netball mid-courter finds gymnastics helps her adapt to different codes with its physical, mental and emotional attributes.
Johnson trains four days a week while swotting at school and raising funds for her trip.
Her training partner is Omni club member Ashleigh Thorpe-Loversuch, a Karamu High School pupil.
Her money drive includes sausage sizzles and cakes stalls to reach the $7000 target to help pay for her uniform, flights and accommodation.
Johnson has set up a Givealittle page and has found the generosity of friends and acquaintances quite humbling after receiving money, time and ideas to help her attain her goals.
