After 13 years of competing and coaching for Alton Trampoline Club, Francesca Hamilton is heading off to University. Cessie’s last session was this past Sunday 20th July, where it was an emotional farewell as she prepares to head off to study Sport at University.

It’s been wonderful to watch her develop as a performer, a coach, and a person over her time with the club. We would also like to thank her family for everything they have done over the years. We are sad to see her go, but wish her all the luck and success in the world in this exciting step in her life. She has been a great friend to all and has always been there to offer her support.

A wonderful day of competition took place in Gloucester this past weekend, as Aspire Springers Trampoline Club hosted a day of gymnastics and trampoline competitions for gymnasts with disabilities.

Six members from Alton Trampoline Club travelled West to take part, and for some this would be their first experience of a Trampoline competition. Some fantastic performances saw plenty of success and smiles from the gymnasts and parents alike, with the following results in their respective age groups:

• Marcus (Club Level) – 3rd place
• Leonora (Club Level) – 2nd place
• Robert (Regional Level) – 2nd place
• Alex (Regional Level) – 1st place
• Federica (Regional Level) – 1st place
• Dan (National Level) – 2nd place

Thanks to Sylvia and Andy for travelling to the event to support the gymnasts and to help out at the competition. We would also like to extend a huge thank you to Aspire Springers for hosting the event, and also Dawn Lawson deserves special mention for the work she put in to allow so many gymnasts to take part.

There was a warm and friendly atmosphere with competitors and coaching supporting each other, and it was a great event for everyone who took part.

The event was run as part of “I’m In” Disability Gymnastics programme by British Gymnastics, designed to provide opportunities for any to be able to take part in the sport of Gymnnastics. ATC are delighted to help support the programme with our all-inclusive policy, and the more people that are able to participate and try out the sport the better. Please contact us for further information, or see the British Gymnastics website to find out more.

Well done to Claire Goulden this past weekend, who was successful in passing her Level 1 Trampoline Coach assessment.

Claire has been helping out for over 6 months now, and having put in a huge number of hours through both coaching and completing the theory tasks required from the course, we are delighted that she has been rewarded by passing her final assessment. We look forward to watching and helping Claire continue to develop, and seeing our members benefit from the skills and knowledge that she offers.

Dan made the 600+ mile round trip up to Newcastle for the final Spring Event Series competition of the season on Sunday 15th June, along with Sylvia and his family. Having previously achieved 2nd and 3rd place positions at the previous events, Dan came 2nd in the TPD group, hopefully doing enough to qualify for the National Finals.

Gymnasts and clubs from around the country made the trip down to the Westcountry to take part in the 1st Regional Team Finals event.

Up to 3 gymnasts from each regional level and age group were invited to represent their respective regions. Alton TC were fortunate to have three members make the journey to represent the South: Chloe, Katherine and Mike.

Westpoint Arena, the largest exhibition and entertainment venue in the South West, known for hosting everything from rock concerts to the annual Devon County Show, was suddenly transformed into a Trampolining complex, with hundreds of spectators enjoying the action. With all four panels and the Double Mini-Trampoline providing constant excitement, the crowd were always kept informed by the busy and entertaining announcing by Olly Monroe.

Chloe was up first, and having unfortunately making an error in her set, showed great character to return and finish her second routine, finishing 12th.

With only two men having qualified, it was the South vs Scotland in the Grade 5 Over 17 Men where, despite two competent routines in front of friends and family, Mike came 2nd on his return home to Exeter.

In a large and highly competitive group, Katherine produced two good routines to achieve a top 10 finish.

Our coach Louise was also competing, and after a fall in her first round, recovered well to score the 3rd highest score in her group and gain more points for the South.

When the final presentations were made at the end of a full day, the Southern region achieved 3rd place. Congratulations to the South-West, and to all of their coaches and performers for being crowned overall champions. As hosts as well, there were a huge number of people who contributed to the smooth running of the day. Thank you to the South-West region for hosting, and to Janet Payne for organising the Southern Region at the event.

Finally, well done to everyone who competed. It was such a fantastic accomplishment to reach the Finals, and the event will have been on a much larger scale than many will have ever experienced before – you should all feel proud of your achievements!

Full results are available on our Downloads section or can be downloaded here: [wpdm_file id=23]

An exciting day of Trampolining saw over 200 gymnasts from across the Southern region descend upon Alton Sports Centre for the Regional Novice and Synchro competition on June 1st.

Designed to enable more inexperienced gymnasts to take part, Alton Trampoline Club had 24 nervous and excited competitors in the novice groups, many of whom were taking part in their 1st ever regional competition. Over a third of these fantastically managed to achieve podium places, with Lauren and Robert achieving 1st place in their groups! Many others also received medals for achieving a target score on the day as well.

As well as the individual event, there was also a thrilling Synchronised Trampolining competition, which saw pairs of gymnasts compete simultaneously with their partners, performing the same acrobatic skills at precisely the same time. With 40 pairs entering, the competition was fierce and provided many highlights for the crowd. 3 pairs from ATC took part and saw the pairs of Hattie and Eloise, plus Stuart and Mike, narrowly miss out on trophies by coming 4th and 5th in their respective groups.

With much positive feedback from those involved, there are plans to return to Alton again for more Regional events. The day could not have run without the help of a huge number of volunteers, who did a fantastic job throughout the day, from running the Tombola, to setting up, and presenting the happy youngsters with their awards.

Thanks as well must also go out to the Region and everyone from all of those clubs who gave up their Sunday to bring along gymnasts along for the day, whether coaching, judging or spectating.

A rewarding and popular day of Trampolining – well done to everyone involved!

The ATC gallery of photos also can be found at our Flickr account

Our results video can be viewed below, and the full results from the day can be downloaded here:
[wpdm_file id=22] (Novice & Synchro Results)

Huge congratulations to Lauren, who successfully passed her Level 1 Trampoline Coach assessment this past Bank Holiday weekend.

A fantastic achievement and an excellent reward for all of the hard work she has put in since starting the course at the beginning of the year. We look forward to seeing Lauren continue to develop as a coach and help our members to enjoy and develop in the sport.

Congratulations to Dan for achieving another podium place at the Spring Event Series event in Coventry. Some excellent routines throughout the competition by the group saw Dan finish 3rd, behind Jago and Nathan in the Men’s TPD Category 2.

There was an excellent team spirit shown by all of the competitors and coaches and it made for an enjoyable day. The three medalists were also presented their awards from Olympic Trampolinist Kat Driscoll, former British Champion Luke Strong, and world-renown freerunner and gymnast Damian Walters.

After over 16 years of coaching at Alton Trampoline Club, Simon Hall has decided to stop his regular coaching slot. With two young children, Simon is going to spend more time with his family. An ever-popular coach, Simon has shown a fantastic level of dedication and effort over the years and we wish him and his family all the best.

Hopefully he will drop in from time-to-time, and may even cover the occasional session. All of us at Alton Trampoline Club would like to thank him for everything he has done and the members he has helped to develop.

Well done to Dan for his 2nd place finish in the Spring Event Series competition held in Bath on Sunday 27th April. Dan successfully completed both routines and achieved his podium place in the TPD category.

With two more events to come, this is an excellent start to Dan’s season in the TPD category.