There was great success for sisters Federica and Elena who have both qualified for the National Finals of the 2017 Schools Trampoline Championships!

The sisters, both members of ATC, were representing Stepping Stones School in the Zonal round, having previously qualified through from the Regional round back in December 2016. An early start saw them and their family travel down to Taunton so that they could each compete in the Disability Novice category.

It was a slightly wobbly start for Federica in the Under 19s, but she held it together and finished her routine with a flourish and came away with the 1st place trophy!

Elena competed in the Under 14s group and completed a solid set routine, achieving 3rd place overall and securing herself a trophy and an invitation to join her sister in the National Finals!

Coach Lee, who made the trip alongside them, exclaimed that “both girls did well – one very proud coach!”

Congratulations to both Federica and Elena on their achievement and we wish them both the best for the Finals in Gateshead on Saturday 18th March!

The first Trampoline competition of the 2017 season took place at Milton Keynes at the weekend as Alton members made the near-200 mile journey with the goal of qualifying for the Regional Team Qualifier in March.

Alton members turned up, sporting the new club leotard and kit, and did themselves proud with a multitude of strong performances throughout the day.

11 members took part, and Alton came away with 10 who successfully achieved the required qualification score.

Our members were supported by coaches Sylvia, Lee, Stuart and Mike throughout the day. Following their qualification in DMT a couple of weeks earlier, Hattie and Katherine aimed to make it a double on the Trampoline. Both qualified through in the NDP5 category, with Hattie coming 5th in the 13-14 Girls group, and Katherine winning a trophy with an excellent 3rd place in a competitive 15+ age group.

In the NDP1 groups, Rosina showed her joy at landing her somersaults to come 11th, while Freya produced a strong first routine before unfortunately getting a zero score in her second to miss out on qualifying on this occasion.

Jonty was successful, with his two routines securing him 2nd place and a trophy in his NDP2 group. In the girls’ 13+ group, Becca and Jess were stepping up a grade from last year. Becca was determined to make up for not qualifying last year, and showed enough pizzazz to qualify and come 16th, with Jess achieving a top 10 finish coming 10th. They are joined by Ezri, Scarlett, and Izzy (in her 1st Regional Trampoline competition) who came 11th, 8th, and 6th respectively in the 11-12 years group.

Finally, Lilia, who has recently moved to the region, was taking part at NDP3 for the first time and she was also successful in qualifying, as she came 8th in the 11-12 years group.

A good start to the season and great to see the number of qualifiers for March in double-figures already. A big thank you to Orbit for hosting the event, and to everyone who traveled up to support our members on the day. The full results can be found below:

We are currently collecting the Sainsburys ‘Active Kids’ vouchers. This has been a great scheme for us in recent years as we have managed to purchase some useful matting and kit thanks to the generosity of those who have donated their vouchers to us.

The 2017 scheme runs until May 2nd. We have a box available during every training session and a huge thank you to everyone that helps and supports us by donating their vouchers.

The annual Alton & District Sports Council Achievement Awards event was held on Wednesday 25th January, and we are delighted that our members came away with four awards from the event!

Federica, Stuart, and Seren had all been shortlisted, following their achievements and hard work during the past 12 months. The evening saw over 50 athletes, coaches, and friends gather to recognise the valuable contribution being made to the Alton community across a variety of different sports and activities, including Trampolining, Hockey, Slalom Skiing and Rambling, to name a few.

Stuart was shortlisted for two awards: the Male Coach of the Year and Disability Sportsman. Following his exceptional year of competition, defending his title as British Champion, and serving as a role model within the club, Stuart’s parents were able to proudly watch as he stepped up and collect both trophies.

Federica was nominated in the Junior Disability Sportswoman category, for both her successes as a performer in Regional events and qualifying to the National Schools Finals, plus the additional volunteering she does, including working with her Mum as Joint Competition Secretary for the club.

Seren was shortlisted for Junior Volunteer of the Year. After qualifying as a Level 1 Coach while studying for her GCSEs, she has subsequently taken responsibility for her own group showing fantastic enthusiasm, commitment and ability, and the gymnasts under her guidance have shown great improvement.

All three members were chosen as winners in their categories, with the added bonus that they were presented with their awards by our very own Sylvia, herself a previous winner.

It was great to see and hear about the wealth of sport within Alton during the evening, and well done to everyone who was nominated for an award. We are delighted for Federica, Stu, and Seren – and that their efforts and accomplishments have been recognised. Huge congratulations to each of them!

2017 may have only just begun, but the season got into full swing at the weekend at Alton members did well in the first Double Mini-Trampoline Regional event of the season.

9 members took part, the majority taking part for the first time at DMT, and all aiming to achieve qualification for the Regional NDP Final in March. Following a successful day Alton came away with 7 qualifiers!

In the NDP2 category, despite being new to the sport, Scarlett and Izzy showed great confidence and were neck-and-neck throughout, finishing in 2nd and 3rd with just 0.7 separating them after their four passes. Lorna also successfully qualified through in the 13+ group. Eloise and Jonty both produced three good passes, but unfortunately had one zero pass each. Both have a great opportunity though at the second Regional event next month.

Competing after his sister successfully qualified, Scott’s four strong passes meant that there were no sibling fall-outs as he also hit the qualifying score in NDP3 and came 2nd.

Finally, it was over to the exciting passes of our three experienced DMT competitors and former National Finalists. Hattie, Katherine and Stuart were all competing in different categories and their experiences counted for each of them, as they all stuck each of their four passes, achieving both the qualification score and also first place in their respective groups!

An excellent start to the season and congratulations to coach Sylvia and to all of the Regional Finalists!

Full results for the event can be downloaded below:

Congratulations to Chloe Foster, who is our latest member to gain their Level 1 Coaching Award! Chloe has grown up with the club, and successfully completed both her logbook and practical assessment to become a qualified coach.

Well done Chloe!

It was a great day for sisters Federica and Elena as they both came away with First Place trophies at the South-East Regional round of the National Schools Championships!

While they are members of ATC, both girls were competing for Stepping Stones School in Surrey, and the school can be especially proud of how well they represented them. Federica was following up on her fantastic performance in last years’ Championships where she qualified through to the Finals, while for Elena this was her first time in the Schools’ event. Competing in the Under 19s and Under 14s Novice Disability categories, both Federica and Elena supported one another and each finished both of their routines with scores in the 7s from the judges. ATC Coach Lee Parrott, who made the 150-mile round trip with them, was delighted with their performance and the “very good routines from them both”.

So it’s on to the Zonal round for the girls, which sees them travelling to Taunton on Sunday February 5th to compete for a place in the National Finals. Congratulations to them both on the achievement!

Full results from the event are available to be downloaded below:

Pupils from Amery Hill School came away with a trophy following the Southern Regional round of the 2016-17 Schools Trampoline Championships!

Ten Alton members took part in the competition representing their Secondary Schools, with Amery Hill seeing a contingent of eight taking part. It was the Under 14s Girls Novice team who saw success in the largest group, beating 10 other schools to win 3rd place and a trophy for their school!

With only two teams qualifying through to the Zonal round, it was incredibly close, with Amery Hill beaten by only the narrowest of margins with King Alfreds just 0.3 ahead, and Queen Annes School less than a single mark higher still.

There were some great performances, with Izzy coming 8th out of over 70 gymnasts in her first regional competition! The same group also saw Rosina score highly to come in at a successful 15th, with Jess close behind in 24th. While Lilia touched the mat in her voluntary routine, she contributed to the team score following her strong set routine which saw her score highly, including an 8.1 from one of the judges. Freya and Lewis were both competing in a regional competition for the first time, and while they each had their first routines marked out of less than 10, they recovered brilliantly to produce solid somersaults in their voluntary routines and can take much away from the experience.

In the Intermediate groups, Scott qualified for the Zonal round for the second year running as he came 2nd in the Under 19s Boys! Scarlett and Ezri, representing Perins and Bohunt Schools, each produced two good routines to come 11th and 15th in a high-quality group, which saw the top three qualifiers all scoring between 8.8 and 9.8!

Katherine was the only Alton Elite competitor and she did well for Amery Hill, scoring 8s in her set, and came 8th in another close group.

Well done to all of the gymnasts who took part, and good luck to everyone who qualified for the Zonal round. The full results can be downloaded below:

The 2016 National Trampoline League Finals took place over the weekend, and saw excitement, skills, thrills, and lots and lots of somersaults! Alton’s own Pete Walley had successfully qualified due to his performances over the season, earning the opportunity to compete inside the impressive Lee Valley VeloPark, home to some of most exciting events of the 2012 Olympic Games!

Pete was entering the Mens 19+ League 3 category, where there was great camaraderie between all of the competitors as they took their place in the centre of the unique arena setting. Pete was then successful in completing both his Compulsory and his Voluntary routine, which consisted of 10 consecutive somersaults – the first time he had ever attempted it in competition and the hardest routine in his group! With great risk comes great reward, as the extra difficulty meant that Pete was 3rd going into the Final routine, where all competitors had to produce one last routine. While Pete wasn’t able to finish all 10 skills in his final routine, he finished the competition in 7th place.

It is a huge achievement for Pete, who has improved considerably, and it was an amazing experience at such an impressive event. John Walley, Pete’s Dad, said he was “proud” of him, and he should certainly be pleased with what he accomplished this season.

For full results of the event, and to see Pete’s brief appearance in the League’s ambitious ‘mannequin challenge’, head over the Trampoline League website.

Good luck this weekend to Pete Walley as he competes in the Finals of the National Trampoline League, taking place at the Olympic Park in London.

Pete qualified through thanks to his success in the earlier League events and is competing on Saturday afternoon in the League 3 Mens 19+ category. It’s a fantastic achievement for him to qualify for this and we wish him the very best of luck!