Chloe Ellis and Pete Walley both successfully picked up points at the first 2017 Trampoline League competition of the season.

Held at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff, both members were competing new voluntary routines, with Chloe competing a 9-somersault routine for the first time, and Pete including a double-somersault in competition for the first time.

The 19+ Ladies League 3 group was large, consisting of over 30 gymnasts. Chloe produced two good routines, which included a 9.7 for Horizontal Displacement in her first routine! She eventually came 19th, deservedly earning her first League points of the season. Her group was particularly tight, with only 3 marks separating 6th from 19th!

Pete was back again in the 19+ Mens League 3 category following his success last year at getting through to the League Finals. The hard work he’d put in since then showed, as he landed his half-out (double front somersault with a half-twist), earning a place in the final, where he again successfully completed his routine to achieve 5th place.

For both Chloe and Pete this was a great start to the season, with points securely stored. It was great to see them both building on their experience from last year and adding extra elements into their routines. It certainly made the trip over the Severn Bridge worth it for their families watching on!

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

It was time for the second and final Spring Series event for 2017. Unfortunately for Stuart, glancing the mat in his Compulsory routine prevented him from qualifying for, and attempting to win, the British Championships for the 3rd successive year.

We’re all still incredibly proud of his achievements. He’ll dust himself off and will no doubt become stronger and more determined from the experience.

Full results can be found at this link to the BG website.

Congratulations to James Acott, who successfully gained his Level 2 Coaching qualification! The assessment involved two theory exams, completion of a logbook, plus a practical assessment. We are delighted that James passed them all.

Well done James – fully deserved!

We are pleased to announce that as part of our continued commitment to providing a safe, rewarding and fulfilling place for children and adults, we have received confirmation that we have again retained our GymMark accreditation.

The GymMark / ClubMark accreditation is widely accepted as evidence that a club provides effective and efficient practices. We are proud of the work that we put in, the opportunities that we offer, and that we are able to display this status.

We welcomed ITV Meridian’s own Andrew Pate, as he paid a visit to the club to speak with Stuart Sharpe about his recent success and selection for the GB Disability Squad.

Andrew showed what a great sport he was, as he got involved for some bouncing himself – suit and all!

There was some great coverage for the club, and the full report was shown on ITV Meridian last week. A link to the 3-minute video can be found here:

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2017-05-05/sportsman-reaching-new-heights/

A huge thank you to Andrew and the ITV team.

In a week of great media coverage, we also featured in the Alton Herald as they also covered Stuart’s fantastic news! The article is also on their website and can be found on this link. It’s well worth a read!

The first National Spring Series event took place over the Bank Holiday weekend, which saw our own Stuart Sharpe competing for the 1st time since his victory at the 2016 British Championships.

Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out for Stu as, despite doing all of his skills, he clipped the end mat during both of his routines, immediately resulting in a zero score. They were two new routines for Stu, who has been working on a new voluntary routine which he tried for the first time and, had he completed it, would have been his higher difficulty to date.

There is still much to play for though, as Stu can try again at the 2nd Spring Series event in June.

Full results from the competition can be found at this link to the BG website.

We are absolutely thrilled that Stuart Sharpe has been selected for the GREAT BRITAIN TRAMPOLINE DISABILITY SQUAD!

It’s a huge accolade and reward for his efforts and success over the years, including becoming a two-time British Champion last year.

The focus of the squad will be preparation for selection for international competitions, which are due to arranged in 2018. Dawn Lawson, National Coach for Disability Trampolining, said that Stuart’s inclusion was part of her “mission to have the best team in the world” although warned him that the hard work doesn’t stop yet.

A delighted Stuart himself also wanted to say “HUGE thanks to Alton Trampoline Club and everyone else who has made this possible”.

The full squad list is as follows:

Congratulations to Stuart and to all of the gymnasts who made the squad – a wonderful accomplishment!

This Easter sees one of our coaches, Mark ‘Mc’ McDowall, stop his regular Sunday coaching session with us. Mc has been part of the club for many years, taking on a coaching role following his daughter’s enjoyment of the sport. Mc is now stopping in order to spend more time with his family (and no doubt going with them to watch more X-Factor Live!). We wish him all the best and thank him for his efforts over the years.

Alton again played host, as nearly 500 routines were completed by trampolinists from across the Southern Region in an attempt to qualify to represent the South at the Regional Team Finals in June.

It was a busy and exciting day with much to complement the excitement of the trampolining itself, including a raffle and tombola, A-Star leotards, DE Photos, plus Rachel Mealyer offering physiotherapy.

We ourselves had 16 competitors who took part on the day, which saw a mixture of results over the course of the day.

In the NDP 1 category it was 9th place for Molly in the 9-10 years group, while Rosina scored her best score of the season to come 11th in the 11-12 years.

NDP 2 saw the largest number of ATC competitors: In the 11-12 years Boys, Jonty was unfortunately unable to add to DMT qualification, performing the wrong shape in his final skill. Zaki meanwhile came 4th in the same group, just 0.7 off of the podium.

In the 11-12 year-old Girls group, solid routines from Izzy and Scarlett saw both girls finish in the top half, coming 6th and 8th respectively. The 13+ Girls was one of the largest groups of the day and this saw Becca finish 21st, Jessica finish 17th, and Lorna finished 12th after comfortably besting her score from the previous competition.

In NDP 3, both Lilia and Jasmine achieved their highest scores of the season as they each came 9th in their age groups. These were highly competitive groups with virtually every gymnast reaching the qualifying score.

There was success for us at NDP 4 as Scott came away with a trophy after two successful routines saw him accomplish 3rd place in the 13+ Boys! On this occasion he came ahead of James as unfortunately an incorrect skill saw him finish 8th.

The Girls 13+ group was the largest and arguably the most competitive of the day, with 32 gymnasts competing and the top 25 all achieved the minimum score required to have an opportunity of representing the region. Eloise was another Alton gymnast who achieved a personal best score at the event, as she finished in 21st place.

Our final two competitors took part at NDP 5. Katherine scored highly in the 15+ group with the majority of her scores at 8 and above to come a very respectable 4th and becoming a reserve for the Southern Squad, while Hattie scored well in her 1st routine to come 6th in the 13-14 years group.

A huge thank you goes out to everybody who was involved in any part of the competition. So many people gave up their time to volunteer on the day and the evening before, and all played their part on what turned out to be a successful and popular event.

Finally, congratulations to all of the gymnasts, both from Alton and other clubs from across the region, and the very best of luck to all those who will now be representing the South in a couple of months!

Full results from the day can be found below:

It was a performance to be proud of as Elena achieved 4th place at the 2017 National Schools Trampoline Finals representing Stepping Stones School.

Competing in the Novice Disability Category 1 Under 14 group, Elena had previously qualified through both the Regional and Zonal rounds to reach the finals. The 300-mile journey North to Gateshead proved worthwhile as she coped with the pressure of competing in the Finals to produce two excellent routines, much to the delight of her family watching on from the stands.

Head Coach Mike said “Elena can come away proud of what she’s achieved and in how much she’s improved. She and her coaches have worked really hard, and she was also a terrific representative for Stepping Stones School”.

Stepping Stones School congratulated Elena and called it a “great result!”

Full results can be downloaded from the North of England Trampoline Committee website.