With our largest entry in years, our superstars did themselves proud at the recent Southern Regional competition, with a multitude of medals, qualifiers and personal achievements!

Among our 18-strong cohort were 7 junior members competing in the Southern Regional Assessment category. The category was aimed at those new to competitions with achievement based solely on the score from their best routine, with position against others irrelevant. We were delighted that all seven stepped up and produced routines scoring high enough to earn themselves medals! Berjin, Elsie, Hayley, Lauren, Lucy, Myla and Penny were all award bronze medals for their scores.

Following her excellent performance in the recent Zonal Schools competition, Natalia produced some more exceptional routines. Stepping up a level since last year, she won her ‘Club Level 3’ group and was presented with her well-deserved gold medal!

Having represented the Southern region last year, William returned to regional competition with great confidence, easily surpassing the qualifying score for a place in the Regional Final at the end of March. He also achieved a place on the podium and a 2nd place medal for his performance. The qualifying score is based on a combination of Form and HD (Horizontal Displacement), and William was the highest scoring gymnast in his group based on this. The medal positions also take into account the difficulty and Time of Flight of routines, and so William finished in 2nd place overall.

Also competing in other age groups at ‘Regional 1’ level were Riley, Effie, Olivia and Imogen. Riley, who only started club trampolining a few months ago, was competing for the very first time. After successfully completing his first routine, he stopped during his 2nd routine and finished in 6th place. He can certainly hold his head up high with his performance though, and hopefully this is just the beginning of his competition journey. Olivia too, despite previous experience in TeamGym events, was performing on the trampoline for the first time in competition. Following two complete sets of routines, she achieved a form and HD score of 45.95, which couldn’t have been any closer to the 46.0 qualification score! For Imogen it wasn’t her first competition, but it was the first time competing at this level. Despite a few nerves in her first routine, completing it clearly improved her confidence as she performed her second routine higher and with a much-improved score. She finished in 15th and also narrowly missed out on the qualifying score, just 0.1 adverse.

A composed performance by Effie in her large group of over 40 gymnasts saw her blitz past the qualifying score and she finished in 18th position. The day didn’t finish there for her however, as Effie then went on to compete in DMT. Successfully negotiating all four passes, she exceeded the qualifying score in this too, and she finished in 4th place to complete a positive day for her!

Joining the growing list of first-time competitors was Pedro, in the 11-12 years ‘Club 3’ category. Unphased by the occasion, Pedro came 3rd, while also achieving the qualification score and even managed a perfect 10 for his HD in his second routine!

In the female group, Ada and Phoebe both moved up having competed at a lower level in previous years. In front of the large and enthusiastic supporting contingent, both stepped up to the challenge, with Phoebe finishing in 12th and Ada receiving one of the largest ovations of the day as she landed her first somersault in competition to end in 7th.

It was a new experience for both Celia and Beatrice too. Both girls were taking part in the 9-10 years ‘Club 2’ category. For Celia it was her first regional event and for Beatrice it was her first time competing at that level. Both girls had a very similar experience, completing 9 moves in their first routine and responding brilliantly by finishing their second routines completely. They were within 0.05 of one another too, with Celia finishing 4th and Beatrice 5th.

Thank you to our fabulous coaching team for their support throughout the whole day and to all those who volunteered to help as well.

It was brilliant to see so many of our gymnasts taking part. We hope they all came away with a positive experience, we are immensely proud of every one of them. To them all: take a bow, you were tremendous!

For the benefit of our members, here are some important dates regarding training throughout 2025:

No training on the following:

• 14th & 15th February (half-term break).
• Saturday 1st March (regional competition).
• Saturday 29th March (regional competition).
• 11th & 12th April (Easter holiday break).
• 18th & 19th April (Easter weekend).
• 23rd & 24th May (half-term break).
• 31st October & 1st November (half-term break).
• 19th, 20th, 26th & 27th December (Christmas holidays).
• 2nd & 3rd January 2026 (Christmas holidays).

Other notable dates:

• Final session before the Summer holidays will be on Saturday 18th July (tbc – we will inform our members and update the dates on our website).
• Training returns after the Summer holidays on Friday 5th & Saturday 6th September.

Members from Alton bounced proudly in the Zonal round of the 2024-25 Schools Trampoline Championships last weekend.

Natalia, Imogen, Phoebe and Ada all competed while representing their schools and successfully completed their routines, in the event which saw pupils from across the whole of the South, from Cornwall to Kent, all taking part.

Natalia (Perins School) was competing in the Intermediate Years 7-9 category, and was performing a somersault in her routine for the first time. Displaying fantastic technique in both of her routines, finishing with a front somersault each time, she secured 11th place in her group with a highly respectable score above 50, and only 1.3 off of 5th place and a qualifying spot in the national finals.

Imogen (Selborne School) competed in the younger Intermediate category, and she also managed an excellent 11th place finish in her group. She even achieved an impressive perfect HD (Horizontal Displacement) score in her compulsory routine!

Ada and Phoebe were both representing Amery Hill in a group of nearly 50 competitors. Good routines from both of the friends secured them finishes of 16th and 33rd respectively.

Storm Darragh caused mass disruption to the regional round back in December, so it was great that the gymnasts all still had an opportunity to compete in this years’ Schools Championships, and they all made the most of the opportunity.

Well done to our newest coach, Zaki, who has successfully qualified as a Coach, passing his Level 1 Trampoline Coach assessment!

Zaki has been a member of the club for many years now, being an active competitor with accolades including being a finalist in the National Schools Championships a few years ago.

He successfully passed his logbook and practical assessment, aided especially by coaches Mike, James and Sylvia, who supported and mentored Zaki throughout his learning. We look forward to Zaki continuing the excellent support he’s been providing our members.

William gave a fantastic performance as he represented the Southern Region in the 2024 Inter-Regional Challenge Cup Final at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.

Having been invited to represent the region following his excellent performances in the regional competitions earlier in the year, William stepped out into the arena and produced two marvellous routines that saw him achieve both a personal best overall score and a voluntary routine with the highest difficulty of any routine he had competed before!

William managed a top 10 finish in his NDP Level 1 Men’s 13-17 years group, coming 10th out of 21 competitors from across the country.

Head Coach Mike praised William: “He has excelled in the last year, improving in every aspect and he should be incredibly proud of his achievement and performance. William sometimes doubts what he’s capable of and I hope this helps him realise how well he’s doing and gives him the confidence to continue getting better and better.”

Overall, the Southern region finished in 6th in Trampolining, 5th in DMT and 7th in Tumbling. Congratulations to the East region who came top in Trampolining, and to the West Midlands who came first overall across all three disciplines. Well done to everybody who took part, with special thanks to the amazing team in the Southern region who supported the large number of gymnasts and to Janet Payne, who looked after William on the competition floor.

We celebrated a successful Intra-Club competition at the weekend, with over half of our members participating and showing off their skills to the parents and families in attendance!

With well over 50 routines and passes completed across both the Trampolines and Double Mini-Trampoline (DMT) it was a busy morning. The competition was then topped off by some fantastic Synchro routines with, over 15 pairs, the largest number of pairings we’ve ever had at an Intra-Club, taking part!

The event was open to the whole club, and saw members as young as 5 years old taking part, with routines of all levels being performed, from any 5 skills all the way up to National Leave level, giving a great opportunity for all members to see what can be achieved and hopefully inspiring many more of our members to try competitions in the future.

Club Chairperson, Rachael Jennings commented, “the overwhelming support shown throughout the morning was truly heartwarming. We extend a huge thank you to everyone who took part and to those who cheered them on!”

The event also say the presentation for several club awards for effort and achievement over the last 12 months. This year the award went to:

• Most Improved Recreational Member: Hugo Ravenscroft
• Most Improved Competitive Member: William Oliver
• Most Improved DMT: Effie Lloyd-Jones
• Highest Trampoline Execution Score of the Day: Federica Vazzana
• Highest Trampoline Execution Score of the Year: Natalia de la Pena

These gymnasts all deserved the accolades following the achievements and efforts over the last year. Overall, the event proved to be exciting and enjoyable, and congratulations to everyone who took part.

Congratulations to our coach Kerry Wells, who has been invited to join the Southern team as one of the regional coaches for the Inter-Regional Challenge Cup Final taking place this July. She joins coaches from all regions as the top gymnasts in each Regional level from across the country descend upon the Utilita Arena in Birmingham to represent their region, including our own William Oliver.

Good luck to everyone taking part, but especially to Team South!

Congratulations to Natalia, who became a 2024 Regional Champion by winning her Club 2 category at the Southern Regional Club Championships and Team Qualifier competition!

In an exciting event, virtually every single one of our members produced a personal best score as everyone performed magnificently!

The day also saw silver trophies awarded to both Phoebe (Club 2 11-12 years) and William (Regional 1 13-17 years) for their second place positions.

William’s exceptional routines also earned him in invitation to represent the Southern region in Birmingham in July.
In their respective groups Abbie finished 7th, Immie 13th (Club 3 11-12 years), Alice 15th (Regional 1 11-12 years), and Effie 9th (Regional 1 13-17 years). Effie was also competing in DMT and she finished 5th in an incredibly close group.

Every single one of our members can be so proud of their performances on the day and in qualifying to reach this event.

Thanks to coaches Kerry, Kimmy and Mike for their support and help on the day too.

Well done to all the gymnasts who took part, from clubs across the whole region, and congratulations and good luck to all those invited to join the regional squad.

 

Easter weekend saw our members once again shine at the second Southern Regional competition of the year.
In amongst the eggs-cellent performances were medals for Phoebe, Orin and Effie. As well as this, Effie also secured qualification scores in both the Trampoline and DMT events enabling her to take part in the Team Qualifier event in a couple of weeks’ time.

Success isn’t just measured in medals, as Immie, Abbie, Beatrice and Alice can all be proud of what they did and achieved at the competition. Whether it be pulling off the hardest routine they’d ever tried in competition, or competing in front of family members who had travelled over 100 miles in order to come and watch and support them, even when things didn’t go according to plan they were all magnificent!

Thanks as always for the wonderful support for our members throughout the day. James judged all day for us, Rachael and Kate were both competition marshalls, Kerry, Frankie, Clare and Mike all coached on the competition floor, plus the families in attendance all supporting one another. Special mention to Ada too, who wasn’t able to jump herself but came along and supported her friends throughout the whole day.

Thanks for the region and for Eastleigh for hosting. Best of luck to all of our gymnasts who have qualified and will be taking part in the Southern Regional Club Championships and Team Qualifier event in two weeks!

Our magnificent members did themselves proud at the first Southern Regional Trampoline & DMT competition of 2024.

There were so many positives to take away from the event, including some competing for the first time and others successfully completing routines at a higher level than they’ve competed before. While, like in every competition, some things went better than others, the one aspect that was consistent was the incredible support our members showed to one another throughout the whole day. This helped relax those who may have been a little nervous, and was a great motivator for everyone.

There were qualifying scores achieved by Natalia, William, Gabriela, Alice, Phoebe, Kristiana, Immie and Abbie. In every level, achieving a target score means that a gymnast qualifies to be able to enter the Southern Regional Club Championships and Team Qualifier event being held this April. All of those gymnasts surpassed the target score, which was terrific!

In addition to this, there were medals for Phoebe, Ada, William and Natalia! Both Natalia and William scored superbly with their routines, both being given over 50 points in total for their form and HD. Natalia finished 1st in the Women’s 13-14 Club 2 category, William finished 2nd in the Men’s 13-17 Regional 1, while Phoebe and Ada came 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Women’s 11-12 years Club 2 category.

Our thanks to everyone who supported the team at the event, including (but not limited to) James Acott for judging, Rachael Jennings and Kate Read for marshalling, plus Kimmy McDowall, Clare Wakely and Mike Wakely for coaching on the competition floor. We’re already looking forward to the next event at the end of March.