It was a good start to the 2018 Trampoline League season with Alton members earning plenty of League points!

Following their appearance in the League Finals last year, Pete and James started solidly. After their initial two routines, both qualified for the group finals of their respective age groups, with James qualifying in 5th place and Pete in 2nd. James then remained in 5th with his final routine, while Pete used the opportunity to attempt a much harder routine, which didn’t quite pay off as he finished in 6th. League points are based on the placings after the initial two routines, which meant that James scored 40 points for coming 5th, and Pete received a massive 75 points for placing 2nd after the initial routines!

In the 11-12 years League 3 group, Jonty was taking part in his first national trampoline competition and did incredibly well. Everyone was delighted with his performance as he completed both routines and achieved 10th place.

Chloe Ellis, consistent throughout the whole of last year, was again in the points, securing 19th place in the large group of Over 19 Ladies. Her second routine especially showed what she is capable of, scoring a personal best with it and a whole mark higher than any routine she had completed previously.

Hattie was competing in a national Trampoline competition for the first time in a few years and improved on her last performance with the hardest routine she has competed to date. Hattie finished 45th in the second largest group of the event, and hopefully this performance is the start of her continuing to improve in both form and the difficulty of her routines.

Our only League 2 competitor, Alec Laurie, had a tough experience just getting to the venue! Being stuck in traffic for hours beforehand, Alec arrived at the venue in time to get one warm-up before competing. Despite this he managed to pull off both routines and earn himself 20 League points with a 10th place finish. A marked improvement over his performance in a University competition the day previously where he managed a total of 5 moves in the whole event!

There was a great team vibe across the competition, with team members staying at the event to support each other. Coach Lee Parrott described herself as “One very proud coach” after watching the display of our gymnasts and their camaraderie throughout. Well done to all of our competitors and best of luck for the season ahead!

As always, full results are available on the Trampoline League website.

CONGRATULATIONS to our four newest judges, who have all now passed their Level 1 Trampoline Judging qualification.

Jasmine Sibley, Vicky Othen, Judy Plumridge and Kerry Wells (photo pending…) all took their Club Judge course course and assessments a few weeks ago, and all came through it with flying colours!

For Vicky, Judy, and Kerry this was an even more impressive achievement – all of them being parents with little prior experience of judging. They all worked hard and made extra time to practice with the club members, and it paid off as they are all now qualified judges.

The advantage of having more qualified judges at the club means that we can enter more members into competitions, and also allows the jobs to be shared out throughout the year, so the same people are not required to judge at each competition. We continue to offer support and guidance to all of our officials as well.

Congratulations once again them all!

Stuart Sharpe started his 2018 competition campaign in style by winning GOLD at the first English Championships Qualifier in Gillingham!

It was Stuart’s first national event since failing to finish a routine in the Spring Series competitions last year, and he quickly banished all memories of that with some controlled routines. Ranked in first place after his initial two routines, Stuart managed to still improve, and received his highest score in the Final to secure first place. This puts him in a strong position to qualify for the English Championships later in the year, while also demonstrating why he recently retained his spot in the National Disability Squad.

Philip Sharpe, Stuart’s Dad, was proud of his son’s “great performance”.

Well done to Stuart, and best of luck to him for the rest of the season!

Full results are available at https://www.british-gymnastics.org/event/9063/trampoline-and-double-mini-tramp-english-championships-qualification-series-1-2018.

Congratulations to our members James and Chloe, who have both recently gained new Trampoline Coach qualifications!

As well as being a competitor, James has been helping out in sessions and decided to take his Level 1 coaching course as soon as he was old enough this year. After successfully passing his practical assessment he received the good news that he is now a qualified Level 1 Trampoline Coach!

Chloe Foster was taking her Level 2 qualification, and after getting confirmation that she had successfully passed both her practical and written exams, she is now a certified Level 2 Trampoline Coach.

Both Chloe and James worked hard and deserved to gain their qualifications – a huge well done to them both! We would also like to thank everyone who provided support and mentoring to help them through, something we as a club we are proud to be able to offer.

We are thrilled to announce that Stuart Sharpe has retained his place in the Great Britain Disabilities Trampoline Squad for 2018!

Following a small setback in the British Championship qualifiers last year, Stuart showed brilliant motivation and determination, working incredibly hard throughout the year, and this has shown by his performances in other competitions and during his Squad training.

Stuart is a great advert for the club and its members, and we are so proud that he has been recognised for his ability and performance. The National Squad continues to improve under the guidance of its National Coach, Dawn Lawson, and we wish to congratulate every one of the deserving gymnasts and coaches who have been selected.

The full squad list is as follows:

Congratulations to Alex, Elliot, Lorna, Katherine, Hattie and Scott, who have all been invited to join the Southern Team following the results of the Regional Team Qualifier event at Eastleigh.

All six of them were competing in DMT and successfully achieved a top 2 position while also hitting the required qualification score for their category.

It was a day of mainly positive results, with 14 competitors from Alton having earned the opportunity to compete at the event, with some taking part in both Trampoline and DMT.

There were twists and somersaults galore, as in the DMT groups every single person completed all four of their passes. Spread across a range of age groups and levels, the results saw Elliot and Alex coming 1st and 2nd in the NDP Level 1 category, while Level 2 had Lorna coming 2nd, Ezri 5th and Scarlett 6th. Scott came 2nd in the Level 3 category, while Frankie came 1st in the 11-12 years group of that level although unfortunately didn’t quite achieve the qualification score. Hattie came 2nd at Level 4, and the highest scoring ATC was Katherine, who soared to 1st place in her Level 5 group!

In the larger Trampoline groups, Zaki is reserve for the Team as he scored well in the Level 1 group and came 3rd on the day. In the same group, Elliot almost managed to qualify in both DMT and Trampoline, finishing 4th, just one place below Zaki. In the girls 11-12 Level 1 group, Molly smashed her previous score and achieved 8th place.

In the Level 3 group both Frankie and Scarlett improved on their previous best to come 6th and 7th respectively. Lorna came 11th with Jasmine reaching 15th.

In the largest group of the day, coach and competitor Jasmine Sibley scored her best individual score in her first routine and while an unfortunate meeting with the mat in her second routine meant she didn’t score as highly in that one, can still come away pleased with her clear improvement as she finished in 24th in the NDP Level 4 13+ group.

Katherine, Hattie, and Eloise all completed their routines in a very competitive 15+ years Level 5 group, with Katherine and Hattie both being awarded form scores in the 8s for their first routines. Katherine finished 9th, Hattie 15th, and Eloise in her first season at this level came 18th.

Well done to all of our members, who did well to qualify for this event, and congratulations to the 6 who have been invited to join the Southern Team at the Regional Team Finals in June. Thank you as well to the parents and coaches who came along to support our members on the day, and to Judy and Alec, who gave their time to be officials at the event.

Elliot performed some terrific skills to come away with trophies in both Trampolining and DMT, as Alton members had a successful day at the final Southern Regional competition before the Regional Qualifiers.

This was the final opportunity for all Trampoline and DMT competitors to achieve the required qualifying score for the Regional Team Qualifier in March. Elliot, one of the our youngest competitors, scored well in his two Trampoline routines (including a perfect 10 for HD in one of them!) to come 2nd in the NDP Level 1 group. He then followed this by landing all four of his passes in DMT in the afternoon to win 1st place! His scores also meant that he qualified for the Regional Team Qualifier in both events. This was a great response from Elliot, who narrowly missed the qualifying score last year and was just one place away from qualifying for the Schools Zonals round a few months ago. His two trophies were a great reward for the hard work he and his Coach, Pete, have put in since then.

There were other members who were competing in both Trampoline and DMT on the day. This included Frankie, Lorna, Scott and Eloise. All four of them achieved the qualification score in at least one of the events, with Frankie and Lorna qualifying in both. Frankie, Lorna and Scott also all earned trophies for their DMT performance. Ezri and Scarlett unfortunately had to pull out, but both had already qualified at previous competitions.

Molly was successful in attempting a Back Somersault in a Trampoline competition for the very first time, as she secured the required score in the NDP 1 category, while the more experienced Hattie and Katherine both earning their place at the Regional Qualifier with their performances in the NDP 5 category.

With both her brother and sister also qualifying, Jasmine made it a full house as she qualified in the NDP 3 group.

Last, but by no means least, Alex went one better than his last DMT competition as he got to stand on top of the podium and was rewarded with a 1st place trophy for his performance!

Well done to everyone who took part, and we are pleased that there will now be an increased Alton presence at the Regional Team Qualifier.

Full results from the day can be found here:

The 2018 East Hampshire Sports Awards was held last Thursday at our members Pete Walley and Elena were both shortlisted for awards.

Recognising the sporting efforts and accomplishments of sports people throughout East Hampshire, this year saw Olympic legend Roger Black MBE presenting the awards and speaking with all of the nominees.

Both Pete and Elena were awarded Runners-up in their respective categories. Pete had been shortlisted in the ‘Senior Volunteer of the Year‘ category, while Elena was shortlisted as ‘Junior Disability Sportsperson‘. Roger Black spoke highly of them both, and Pete spoke well when interviewed in front of the audience consisting of sporting talent from throughout the region.

It was a fantastic evening for Pete, Elena, and their families, and we are delighted that they were recognised for what they have done. They have both been terrific ambassadors for the club and should be proud of what they have been achieving and hope that they continue. Well done to all those shortlisted at the awards.

An excited Zaki secured 1st place in the first Trampoline Regional competition of the year! This capped a successful day for ATC members as all four competitors achieved the qualifying score for the Regional Team Qualifiers in March.

Zaki, Hattie, Scarlett and Jasmine all headed North up to Milton Keynes in a bid for a successful start to their trampoline season and attempt to reach the qualifying score of 46.0 for their routines.

Zaki was competing in the boys NDP1 11-12 years group and started brilliantly, with a perfect 10 for HD (Horizontal Displacement) in his first routine. He then showed great confidence in his second routine which, when all of his scores were added together, saw him romp home to first place with an overall score of 49.1!

While performing different routines, Scarlett and Hattie scored virtually identical scores to each other in their respective groups. Scarlett scored 49.05 in the NDP3 group to come 7th, whereas Hattie totaled 49.00 in the NDP5 category to reach 6th place.

Jasmine Sibley was back at a regional competition for the first time in years, following her return to the club as a Coach. Despite a slight wobble in her second routine she managed to get it back under control and it proved to be a successful comeback for Jasmine as she came 26th and, more importantly, she qualified with a score of 46.8!

Congratulations to all of our members for their fantastic performances!

The next competition takes place on February 25th in Eastleigh, where both Trampoline and DMT will be taking place, and is the second opportunity for gymnasts to qualify for the competition in March.

Alton members were recognised at the Alton & District Sports Council Awards last week for their accomplishments throughout 2017.

Four members from our club were shortlisted for awards: Scott for Junior Sportsman, Pete Walley for Male Coach, Elena for Junior Disability Sportswoman, and Mike Wakely for Male Volunteer.

It proved to be a successful evening as Scott, Pete and Elena all won their awards, with Mike coming runner-up in his category.

Scott was recognised, among other accolades, for his success at the DMT National Finals last year, with his fantastic podium place in the NDP3 group.

Elena’s magnificent performance to come 4th at the National Schools Finals in her first national competition was explained to the audience, as were some of her other accomplishments, including learning new skills outside of her comfort zone and her Synchronised Trampolining routine she performed alongside her sister, Federica.

Pete has improved considerably as a coach over the past year, working towards his Level 2 qualification, and Head Coach Mike recounted a story about how Pete’s relationship with his group had grown so that recently one of his group, rather than celebrating her own success, had exclaimed how proud Pete would be of her when she learned a difficult new skill she had worked with him.

Mike had been secretly nominated by the club and showed surprise when his name was read out in the Male Volunteer category, for his efforts as Head Coach for us in a coaching, mentoring, judging and supporting role. He came runner-up on the night and said “We are so proud of our club and what our members do and achieve. There’s a fantastic atmosphere here and I’m so pleased for our younger members that have been recognised for their achievements. They fully deserve it!”

Well done to everyone nominated and it was again great to see and hear about the sporting efforts and achievement of people in the local area, and thank you to Brian Scowcroft, Joe Walters, and the rest of the Alton & District Sports Council.