Congratulations to our coach Kimberley McDowall, who has just passed her latest course and gained her Level 2 Trampoline Coach qualification!

Kimmy re-joined us back in September, following a few years out of the sport. Her experience and ability at coaching, not only Trampolining but an array of outdoor activities, came in handy and she successfully passed her practical assessment as well as getting her logbook signed off.

Thank you to all of the gymnasts who practiced with Kimmy throughout the course, especially Alice, Gabriela and William.

Well done Kimmy!

We are so proud of every one of our members who took part in the regional round of the 2023-24 BSGA Trampoline Championships. They all brilliantly represented their schools as well as the club!

Santi (12th) and Nancy (33rd) were all competing for the first time, and the first time they finished all ten skills of their routines was such a joy!

Immie (6th) was attempting a somersault in a competitive environment for the first time, and we were all delighted when she landed it at the end of her routine.

Natalia (10th), Effie (15th), Phoebe (32nd), Beatrice (43rd), Ada (45th) and Orin (13th) have so many positives to take home.

Medstead School, Perins, Sherfield School, Selborne, The Butts Primary School – your pupils were fabulous!

The support and love shown by all of our members to each other throughout the whole day was so motivating and demonstrated what a lovely group of gymnasts we have.

We would also like to thank James Acott for judging all day, Mike and Clare Wakely for coaching on the competition floor, and Kerry Wells for co-ordinating the entry, along with Janet Payne from the Southern Region and Heights Trampoline Club for organising and hosting the event.

Alton members were among the 360+ talented gymnasts who had qualified for and took part in the Southern Regional Trampoline & DMT Team Qualifier and Club Cup Championship.

In the Club Level 1 group, Ada came 2nd, followed closely by Phoebe in 4th. Natalia’s beautiful routines earned her a 3rd place finish in the Club 2 group. William came 4th at Regional Level 1 following his highest scoring routine to date.

Both Effie and Oscar were competing in Trampolining and DMT and both successfully came away with gold on the DMT! On the Trampoline, Effie secured a top 10 finish in her large Regional Level 1 group, while Oscar added to his trophy haul with a 3rd place finish in his Regional Level 2 category.

Huge thanks to our coach Kerry, who did a wonderful job supporting our gymnasts all day. We couldn’t have done it without her!

Thank you to Janet Payne, the Southern Region, and everyone at Eastleigh for organising the event and well done to every single gymnast. Everyone who competed today did so well to qualify in order to enter the event and should be proud of what they all achieved.

Our largest entry in many years descended upon Eastleigh for the second Southern Regional NDP Qualifying competition of the year.

In all, the event saw Alton members win 10 medals, and there were 9 gymnasts who achieved the qualifying score to progress to the Regional Team Qualifier and Club Championships in July.

There were solid performances on both the Trampoline and Double Mini-Trampoline (DMT). Across the Trampoline categories the following all scored above the qualification score for the next event: Effie, William, Oscar, Alice R, Ada, Natalia and Alice J. Doubling up on their success, both Effie and Oscar also secured the qualification score on the DMT.

In addition to this, Immie (4th) improved upon her performances from last season, Zach (5th) did well competing and somersaulting in his first competition having only started a few months ago, William (2nd) won a medal on the DMT, while Alice R (4th) can be proud of how she overcame a mental block to successfully complete all of her DMT passes.

Special mention as well to Orin (1st) and Beatrice (14th) as two of our youngest ever competitors and showed more confidence up on the trampoline than those more than twice their age!

As always, we’d like to extend our thanks to our amazing volunteers on the day. To coaches Kerry Wells, James Acott, Clare Wakely and Mike Wakely, plus parents Rachael Jennings and Alison de la Pena, who were all superbly supportive both in coaching, judging and marshalling on the day. Our gymnasts wouldn’t have this opportunity if it wasn’t for their time and commitment.

Coach Kerry gave “a massive congratulations to all of our competitors. It was wonderful to see such a large number of entries from Alton and great to see the support between our competitors.”

A huge well done to our fabulous members today at the first regional competition of the year!

There were medals for Ada and Phoebe, which was brilliant brought a lot of smiles!

Effie smashed the qualification score in her first Trampoline competition, in amongst other excellent results, which saw Beatrice, Alice, Oscar, Gabriela and William also do well.

As ever at competitions, some things went excellently, other things not quite to plan.  To each gymnast who went up there and performed and supported each other, you are all amazing!

A big THANK YOU too to Clare, Sylvia and Mike for giving their time to support the team today.

Wow, what a day! Our members were fantastic at our annual Intra-Club competition. More than 70 routines across both the Trampoline and DMT, which saw skills, synchro, somersaults and smiles!

The event was open to all of our members, regardless of level and competition experience. It was an opportunity for those who have never done a competition before to gain experience in a friendly and relaxed environment, and to watch our more experienced gymnasts show off their routines and inspire them with what is possible. Every single one can be proud of how they did, as we are proud of them!

There was an exciting finish to the competition too, which saw over a third of all our club members pair up to take part in the synchronised event, with Tessa and Natalia coming 3rd, Effie and Zach coming 2nd, and Scarlett and Jonty emerging as winners.

The morning also concluded with our individual awards, alongside the competition medals. This year the winners were:

• Most Improved Recreational Member: Samantha
• Most Improved Competitive Member: Oscar
• Most Improved DMT: Elisabeth
• Highest Trampoline Execution Score of the Day: Scarlett Othen

A huge thank you to everyone who helped to make the morning a success. The raffle earning money for the club went well, and we couldn’t have run or even set up the event if it wasn’t for our wonderful coaching team and committee! To all those, we extend our thanks!

We’d like to welcome Richard Dale to our excellent coaching team. Rich has been training with us and we have been helping to support his development since last year, and we are delighted that he has successfully passed his assessment and gained his Level 1 Trampoline Coach qualification.

We look forward to Rich assisting our members. We have a great history of supporting coaches and Rich is a strong addition to our club, and our members will benefit from him.

Congratulations to our fantastic coaches James Acott and Kerry Wells who both passed their latest coaching assessments.

Following prior attendance on the relevant training courses, James was assessed on his Level 3 Module 1, while Kerry undertook her Level 2 Trampoline Coach assessment. Both demonstrated that they were excellent coaches and can celebrate another milestone with their coaching.

Thank you to the gymnasts that they coach, who went along to be gymnasts for the assessment. We love seeing and supporting coaches to develop, and if you have ever considered coaching or have any questions about how you could get involved then please feel free to get in touch.

We’d like to congratulate coach Frankie and her teammates, as the Great British junior mixed team came 3rd and won bronze medals at the TeamGym European Championships!

An exciting event in Luxembourg, which saw a lot of high octane and thrilling skills, full results can be found on the British Gymnastics website.

Frankie trains TeamGym over at Bracknell Gymnastics Club, and so congratulations to them and their coaching team for all their efforts too.

ATC members Alice R, Oscar, William, and Alice J were all in action, having previously qualified for the finals of the Southern Regional Championships and Regional Team Qualifying event.

Alice R was our only member competing in the Challenge Cup, with the opportunity to represent the Southern region later in the year.  It was a very close group, with Alice increasing her height since the last competition and so scored a more improved ‘Time of Flight’ score.  She finished in 4th place and qualified as first reserve for the Level 1 9-10 years group.

Our other members were all competing in different categories in the Club Cup.  In one of the tightest groups, with less than a single point between all of the medallists, Natalia did brilliantly to earn a bronze medal and place on the podium at Club Level 2 11-12 years.

In another high quality group, both Oscar and William achieved personal best scores in the Club 3 Mens 11-12 years category.  Oscar won a silver medal, finishing in 2nd, while William finished 5th.

Alice J was our youngest competitor of the day, and she can be pleased with her 6th place finish in the Club 2 Women 9-10 years category.

As always, we’d like to thank everyone for their support, with shout-outs to coaches James, Scarlett, Sylvia and Kerry for their efforts on the day, whether organising, coaching on the floor or giving the day to judge. James commented that “They all did very very well. Great routines from everyone” while Kerry exclaimed that they were all “amazing!”

This season it’s been great to see so many new faces at competitions and look forward to seeing how their enjoyment and successes will inspire other younger members moving forwards. Well done everyone!