Our very own Sylvia Comber was recognised at the 2017 National British Gymnastics Awards evening as she came Runner-Up in the Volunteer of the Year category. It was an incredible evening which saw some of the most inspirational people in the gymnastics community celebrated.

Sylvia attended the event with our Chairperson, Vicky Othen, and got to rub shoulders with World Champions and Olympic medalists, such as Bryony Page and Claudia Fragapane. Sylvia herself was recognised for her invaluable contribution to both club and region, with her efforts spanning well over two decades. Her category was won by Susan Robertson, with Sylvia and Su Killeen as runners-up. To be shortlisted from the millions of people involved in the sport around the country is an absolutely fabulous achievement and fully deserved in our eyes.

Sylvia received a lot of support upon hearing about her achievement. Former ATC coach Dawn Batchelor described her as being “a star to the hundreds of people coached over the years and to all the coaches and judges you have supported”, while Vicky Othen praised her, saying that getting “down to the last three is an incredible achievement and very well deserved… [Despite not winning] she is still a superstar in all of our eyes.”

Well done Sylvia!

To read more about the fantastic evening, visit the British Gymnastics website.

A fantastic morning of routines and awards as we held our Club Championships on Sunday October 15th. The event began with DMT and ended with an exciting and thoroughly entertaining Synchro competition. We invited every single member of the club to take part, whether they were a competitor or recreational bouncer, and the turnout was great with two-thirds of our club members taking part.

It was a wonderful example of the talent at the club and a chance for the younger members to see what they can aspire to, as they took part alongside our experienced competitors.

There were plenty of personal successes throughout the morning, from those first-timers all successfully completing their routines, to those who had worked hard to compete a harder routine performing brilliantly to complete them. There was a huge amount for parents, coaches and gymnasts to be proud of!

Our annual awards were also given out during the presentations, with some worthy winners. One of the highlights was one of our newest competitors, Kerryn, winning the award for Highest Form Score of the Day after a dazzling performance!

• Most Improved Recreational member: Ella
• Most Improved Competitive member: Scarlett
• Most Improved DMT member: Scott
• Highest Trampoline Form Score of the Day: Kerryn
• Highest DMT Form Score of the Year: Scarlett
• Highest Trampoline Form Score of the Year: Katherine

Thank you to everyone who helped to make the morning a success, from setting up/taking down the equipment, judging, marshalling, coaching, to making some delicious cakes to help raise money for the club. Let’s hope we can build on the successes and the potential shown here into 2018!

It was joy for James as he joined fellow ATC member Pete in qualifying for the 2017 Trampoline League Finals following a successful competition in Gillingham.

Four members took part in the 4th Trampoline League event of the year, and it proved to be an incredibly positive day with some excellent performances all around.

James knew that he needed a good performance to have a chance of qualifying for the League Finals, being held at the Olympic Park in December. James produced two excellent routines in the 15-16 years League 3 group, and while he narrowly missed a place in the final on the day, the 10th place he secured earned him enough League points to qualify for his first National Finals and an opportunity to compete in the London event!

Pete Walley knew he had already gained enough points to secure himself a place at the Finals, and he capitalised on the opportunity to practice his routines in competition by coming away with a 3rd place medal! This was the first ATC League medal of the year and Pete was absolutely delighted when he heard the news and got to take his place on the podium.

Chloe Ellis was yet again competing in a huge group with over 30 other gymnasts in her League 3 19+ years category. Chloe produced her best score of the year to come 19th. This meant she finished the year in a very respectable 37th spot and can be proud of her achievements this year.

Alec Laurie took a break from writing his University dissertation to take part, having started the day on the cusp of qualifying for the Finals in his first season at League 2. Unfortunately a mistake on the final move of his Voluntary routine meant that he finished in 10th spot on the day. The other results meant that he just missed out on qualifying for Finals by one place.

Well done to all of the members for their achievements in League this year, all of whom should be pleased with their performances. Congratulations and best of luck to Pete and James as they can look forward to competing in the League Finals on December 2nd and 3rd!

Full results from the event can be found on The Trampoline League website.

Stuart Sharpe came 4th after successfully finishing his routines in a recent Friendly competition down in Taunton.

He was invited along to the event, hosted and organised by Whirlwinds Academy Trampoline & DMT, which saw a number of clubs from the South-West all taking part. Stuart competed in the Open category along with other national competitors, and gave a great account of himself.

A huge thank you to Whirlwinds for running a great event!

We will be running our internal Club Championships in the morning from 10am on Sunday 15th October 2017.

The event, which promises to be a fun, friendly and exciting morning featuring the competition and then presentation of our annual awards. It is open to all of our club members, whatever level they may be. Every single person will have an opportunity to take part, as we will be running all levels.

For the first time at our own competition we will be running DMT. As well as Individual Trampolining, all of our members are also welcome to take part in the Synchronised Trampolining competition as well!

See you all there!!!

It was 4-from-4 as four ATC members took part in the third Trampoline League event of the year, all of them earning League points thanks to some excellent performances, and all four are still in with a chance of qualifying for the League Finals at the end of year!

James was competing in his first ever National Trampoline competition and he can be very proud of the routines he completed, including a voluntary with a higher difficulty than any he had competed before. He finished in 9th place in the 15-16yrs League 3 group, earning himself substantial League points.

Chloe Ellis made an excellent account of herself as she competed in the 19+ Female League 3, which was one of the largest groups of the event, consisting of nearly 50 competitors all vying for points. Chloe improved on her score from the previous League competition, finishing in 23rd place and adding to her League score for the season.

Following his successful performance at the Welsh event, Pete Walley went one place better and achieved 4th in the 19+ Male League 3 group. Pete qualified through to the final after coming 7th after the first two routines. He then pulled out an impressive routine with a higher difficulty to move up into 4th. The points he earned from his performance is enough to earn him a place in the League Finals in December even though there’s still one more event to go! Well done Pete!

Finally, following a successful season with Portsmouth University, Alec Laurie took part in his first League event. Two solid routines in the higher Mens League 2 group earned Alec League points and place in the final, qualifying through in 7th. He then remained in 7th after completing 9 skills in his final routine. His successful first outing means that he currently sits 12th in the overall League table with one more event to go.

Well done to all of our members on their performances. The Trampoline League themselves, declared the competition as “the largest trampoline qualifying event ever held in Britain”, and they all performed brilliantly!

Full results from the event can be found on The Trampoline League website.

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that our very own inspirational Sylvia Comber has been shortlisted for the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award at the prestigious 2017 British Gymnastics National Awards evening.

The presentation evening takes place on Saturday 21st October and is dedicated to the people who deliver excellence in our sport, from outstanding medal-winning gymnasts to the passionate workforce and volunteers. British Gymnastics Chief Executive Officer, Jane Allen, said: “Our annual National Awards provide us with the perfect opportunity to acknowledge outstanding performances and contributions and say thank you to the many people who contribute to gymnastics.”

We are so proud of Sylvia and for her tireless efforts to support the club and the sport of Trampolining over the years, and wish her the best of luck at what promises to be a fantastic evening.

A huge thank you to Chrissie Pollard and the team at The Breeze radio station, who have awarded Alton Trampoline Club £250 through their fantastic ‘Community Kickstart’ scheme.

We were nominated and ‘The Breeze’ announced live over the radio that they had decided to award us the funding. The money will be incredibly helpful and will be going towards our Double Mini-Trampoline section, in which we have recently had three National Finalists, including one winning a bronze medal. We are hugely grateful to ‘The Breeze’ and the ‘Community Kickstart’ scheme for selecting us.

The ‘Community Kickstart’ scheme is providing fantastic support for good causes across Hampshire and south-west Surrey. More details can be found here.

A reminder that this weekend is the annual ATC BBQ! We have a new venue this time, heading over to Queen Elizabeth Park from 5pm for the fun and activities, hopefully in the glow of the recent Sunshine.

It will no doubt be a great afternoon, following the great time had at our previous events. We will have a barbecue running all afternoon and into the early evening. Bring your own food and enjoy an afternoon socialising, playing games or simply relaxing.

Having lost in the past two years, we expect the junior members will be looking for revenge against the adults in the Rounders rematch too!

All donations towards the barbecue will be greatly received.

See you there!!!

Congratulations to Scott, who won 3rd place and a place on the podium at the NDP Finals in Telford this past weekend!

It was a just reward for Alton member Scott, who had previously competed in three different National events, coming 5th on each occasion. This time around, Scott, competing in the NDP Level 3 13+ group, achieved his highest ever placing to win his first ever National medal in the sport! Head Coach Mike said: “You can see the improvement Scott has made since the first regional competition in January, and it is clear to see the work he and his DMT coach Sylvia have put in over the past few months. We are all so pleased for him and he deserves that medal.”

Alton Trampoline Club had three members competing in the Finals, all of whom were taking part in the Double Mini-Trampoline section. Scott, Katherine and Jonty had all earned their place in the Finals following successful performances at three separate Regional and National qualification events throughout the year.

Katherine was competing in her third consecutive NDP Finals, this time in the NDP5 15+ category. It was a close contest with Katherine scoring her season’s best, being awarded 9.3 and above from each judge across all of her passes. Despite this, she came 4th, such was the high standard of gymnasts in the group.

Jonty was the youngest ATC member competing, and this was his first experience of the NDP Finals, which saw him finish in 8th place in the NDP2 group.

It was a terrific achievement to have three of our members reach the National Finals and is testament to the increasing quality and number of competitors we have taking part in Double Mini-Trampoline. We are proud of what they, and all of our members this year, have achieved.

Results from the event can be found on the BG website.