Eastern Representation

The club was proud recently that no less than 7 of its members represented East of England at the first ever English National Championships.  East finished in 6th place (of 10 regions) which is probably a fair reflection of the general standard of the region at present. The best result was in the men's trampoline where Scott Gregory and Stephen Page helped secure a Silver Medal. The other club members competing were Chrissie Law, Hannah McCann, Charlotte Webb, Kensie Sherlock and Natasha Holme.  You can read more on our website here.

Australian Youth Olympic Festival

With rumours having been flying for several weeks now that Scott Gregory was to represent GB at this event it was gratifying to finally see it confirmed today by BG:

"The British Olympic Association has announced the athletes due to attend the Australian Youth Olympic Festival early next year. Amongst the delegates, 16 gymnasts representing all 4 Olympic Disciplines.

"The Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) is a bi-annual multi-sport for Olympic aspirants between the ages of 13 and 19. It is organised and hosted by the Australian Olympic Committee, and importantly has the patronage of the International Olympic Committee."

Scott will be competing alongside fellow Olympic aspirant from Liverpool, Stephen Williams.

Annual Awards Evening

It turns out our Annual Awards Evening went well on Friday with some 70 members and their family turning up to enjoy good company and (some) good singing with the Karaoke. We also took the opportunity to run our AGM and although most committee places remain filled we are still looking for a Minute Secretary, Competitions Secretary and Parent Representatives.

To see more pictures visit our main website here.

Annual Awards Evening

Well, there are only a few days to go until our annual Awards evening at the centre and a huge number of you have said you are coming - that is great news since it means I will not have to sing during the Karaoke session! The evening will start at 7pm in two halves:

• adults and those juniors who are interested, will participate in as brief an AGM as we are able to make it. You are encouraged to look over the Annual Report in advance (click to open) in order to ensure it does, indeed, remain a brief affair, meanwhile
• the junior members, with some suitable supervision, will start off the karaoke session.

We will then come together for the awards presentations and an amazing video that Stephen Page has constructed. After this we will all (except me of course) participate in the Karaoke. The bar will be operating on a pay-basis throughout the evening although some snacks will be provided.

BBC Visit

For the second time this year we have been visited by BBC Essex Radio.

Last time the reporter popped along to find out about trampolining, this time the reporter was interested in the history of trampolining and the place Brentwood has within that history. To find out more visit our website here.

Jack Petchey winners

We finally got around to catching up with Jack Petchey recognition awards recently following summer holidays and preoccupation with getting into the new competition season and structure. This gave us a backlog to catch up on but all winners were highly deserving of their awards achieved for commitment in training and competitive performance.

Congratulations go to Georgia Walker, Daniel Frost, Joseph Dulieu-Hasler and Jamie Perry for the months of July to October respectively.

Annual Awards Evening

Following the success of last year's event we are again holding an awards evening early in December. 

This evening will commence with a brief AGM during which we plan to arrange for some entertainment for the younger members; this then leads into the annual awards where all Jack Petchey winners will receive their medals.  Following the awards the entertainment will continue until approx. 9:30.  

Regional & English Selection

Following the recent regional development & squad day the club hosted, it was pleasing to hear that many of our members are being selected to represent the region at the forthcoming Inter-Regional Championships and Home Nations Championships in Hull next month.

Following nomination by Eastern Region, Scott Gregory has been selected to represent England in the Senior Male team. No other Eastern Region trampolinists were selected.

The Eastern Region team for the English National Championships comprises 15 individual and 12 synchro places to which our club is contributing no less than 11! Those selected from Brentwood include:

Over-15 Individual male

• Scott Gregory
• Stephen Page

Over-15 Individual female

• Natasha Holme

Under-15 Individual female (the entire team in fact)

• Hannah McCann
• Charlotte Webb
• Kensie Sherlock
• Chrissie Law

Synchro Pairs - Over-15 male

• Scott Gregory (with Elliot Stratton - Stephen Page is reserve)

Synchro Pairs - Over-15 female

• Natasha Holme (with Natasha Wood)

Synchro Pairs - Under-15 female

• Chrissie Law (with Molly Hurford)
• Charlotte Webb (with Ellie Semon-Keene)

Congratulations to them all and good luck on 22nd/23rd November.

Regional Training

Last weekend saw 40 of the regions best trampolinists visiting us for a regional development and squad selection day. Eastern region has been running development days for a little while now (we hosted one last year as well) but this is the first year that we have decided to have a regional squad as well. As one of the few venues regionally with enough trampolines of competition standard it was decided to run a development and squad day together. The structure of the day involved performers working on drills and routines under the guidance of John Beer (one of the country's top coaches) and Sally Slinger (one of the top judges).

Competition Round-up

The past couple of weeks have seen us host the first competition in the region running the new routines and grades at Brentwood and also competing at the first official grading at Ipswich. Highlights from these competitions are as follows:

Brentwood Open

• Under 9 Club H - Lauren Bembrick-Taylor came 3rd closely followed by Georgia Tyrell;
  
• Under 11 Club H - Emma Martin won;
  
• Under 11 G Reg G - Rebecca Martin came 3rd and with Tegan Roycroft (18) and Megan Gannon (16) were 3rd-placed team of 5;
  
• Under 15 B Reg G - Joseph Dulieu-Hasler won this with Jamie Perry just missing in 4th place;
• Under 15 G Reg G - Abbie Goldsmith won, Charlotte Hussey 8th;
• Under 15 G Reg E - Lizzie Nicholls 4th;
• Over 15 G Reg E - Georgia Walker 2nd;
• Under 15 G Reg D - Chrissie Law 10th;
• Over 15 G Reg D - Emma Frost 7th;
• Boys Reg D - Daniel Frost 3rd;

None of our higher grades competed.

Read more here.

Ipswich Grading

• O15 M Reg D - Daniel Frost 3rd;
• U15 F Reg D - Chrissie Law 1st;
• U15 F Reg E - Lizzie Nicholls 5th;
• U13 F Reg E - Kenise Sherlock qualified to D;
• O15 F Reg E - Georgia Walker 5th;
• O15 M Reg E - Mark Hardiman 6th;
• U13 F Reg G -
• Megan Gannon 1st;
• Rebecca Martin 10th;
• Emma Martin 20th
• Team 1st of 9
• U15 F Reg G -
  
• Abbie-Jo Goldsmith 2nd and qualified to Reg F
• Charlotte Hussey 4th and qualified to Reg F
• U13 M Reg G -
  
• Joseph Dulieu-Hasler 1st and qualified to Reg F
  
• Jamie Perry 2nd and qualified to Reg F
  

Read more here.

Brentwood Sports Awards

Brentwood Trampoline Club had an excellent result at tonights Brentwood Sports Awards.  With nominations in a number of categories we were recognised in every one as follows:

• Brentwood Academy Club member (and £1,000 contribution) - Olive Law collected the cheque for us:
  
  
• Winner of Best Coach - Paul Kitchen:

• Winner of Olympic Hopeful  - Scott Gregory:

• Highly Commended - Community Club of the Year:

• Highly Commended Young Sports Personality - Scott Gregory:

• Highly Commended - Innovative Scheme:

Scott performs well in Kladno

The 36th International Trampoline Friendship Cup 2008 was held last weekend in Kladno, 20km outside Prague. Paul Kitchen & Scott Gregory attended with Scott performing in the Junior Boys (aged 15-17) and Senior Men Synchro competitions.

The Junior Boys competition was big enough to warrant 3 flights and saw Scott performing last in the last flight - after the preliminaries he was leading by 2.8 going into the finals. With such a lead he eased back on the difficulty in the final only to discover afterwards that the competition was, unusually, running finals on a zero start basis (this normally only applies to Senior competition) - this resulted in him having to make do with 2nd place by just 0.2!

Teaming with ex-clubmate, Matthew Wright, the Synchro saw an even closer finish with Scott & Matt ending in 2nd place by just 0.1.

Trampoline History

Many people may be unaware that for many years Brentwood was the trampolining capital of the UK.  This was all due to the endeavours of one man, Ted Blake, a Brentwood resident, who not only ran Nissen's UK business but was also heavily involved in creating the competition structure we now know.  Read more on our website here.

Trampolining all summer long

Yes - we are open all through the summer holidays! If for any reason you can't make your normal spot it is likely that you can come in another sessions to make up for it - just call to check or pop in on the off-chance.

National Finals - 2008

This was a long weekend with all trampoline disciplines and both grade 1 & 2 performers competing. We had 8 qualifiers for the event, 4 each at grade 1 & 2. With two being withdrawn on the day we had just 6 who competed and 3 of those made it through to the final round, one to be crowned grade 2 national under-13 champion! High level results are:

Competitor	Group	Place
Natasha Holme	U17 Girls G1	12/27
Gemma Philips	U17 Girls G1	-
Scott Gregory	U17 Boys G1	4/14 Final
Stephen Page	U17 Boys G1	11/14
Kensie Sherlock	U11 Girls G2	-
Hannah McCann	U13 Girls G2	1/44 Final
Chrissie Law	U15 Girls G2	30/38
Anthony Williams	O19 Male G2	5/19 Final

Read more details on our website here. Pictures and other material will follow.

Best trampoline club in town?

We always like to think that in Brentwood Trampoline Club we have something special and our success in being selected as a Brentwood Council 'Academy Club' and in achieving GymMark last year have helped support that view. It is now clear as well that competitively we are performing very well indeed.

Analysing our results over the recent competitive period shows that we achieve a higher proportion of podium positions at national competitions and achieve significantly higher form marks in regional competitions than some other local clubs. The results show:

	BTC	Club A	Club B
Average National entries (grade 1 & 2) 2008 to date	6	8	6
Average finalists	64%	39%	57%
Average medallists	44%	19%	27%
Average Regional Grading entries Oct 2007 to date	16	5	29
Weighted average set round form score	22.0	20.8	20.8

We might not be biggest but we certainly seem to be best!

Harlow grading competition

Yesterday just 9 of our members competed in the last ever regional competition under the current British Gymnastics competition structure. Five of them medalled with some strong performances all around.

Daniel Frost, Harriett Gill, Georgia Walker, Mark Hardiman & Emma Richardson all got trophies; Daniel, Emma Frost & Emma Richardson all posted new Personal Best scores whilst Nicole Ballantyne & Abbie Gunton survived first time nerves with some credit!

More detailed results are available on-line here.

Jack Petchey - May winner

Having spent a considerable time competing at Grade 3 our May winner pulled herself into Grade 2 this year and has flourished. Starting the season gingerly she has recently achieved consistent scores qualifying her to National Finals and also medalled. Well done Chrissie Law, the hard work you show consistently in training is paying dividends.

More about our Jack Petchey programme is available online at our website here.

Perth Gala - Medals Galore

Three of our grade 2 performers took the long road to Perth last weekend. Accompanied by mum's, head coach Paul (& Kendra) Chrissie Law, Hannah McCann & Kensie Sherlock (all of whom had already qualified for nationals) had differing objectives but principle was to final and get onto the podium. This they achieved with all three performing well, Chrissie took 3rd place and Hannah & Kensie both won. More detailed results are on our website here.

New Competition Structure - Further Update

Some further changes have been announced:

1. Minimum age requirements have changed such that grades E and below no longer require competitors to be aged 9 in the year of competition but instead must have attained age 6 instead;
2. There are some changes in membership levels that will be resolved through the club admin team in time for the new season membership renewal; and
3. The promised Competition Log Book has now been issued in PDF form.

More details and downloads are available on our website here.

Jack Petchey - April Winner

Always cheerful and smiling, always getting involved, an exemplary Assistant Coach and a recently qualified judge, Sophie Banks meets all the requirements of a deserving Jack Petchey winner. On top of this she continues to train hard and is determined to improve her own performance on the trampoline as well as that of her coaching group. Well done Sophie!

Jack Petchey - March Winner

Charlotte Hussey has been with the club for what seems like years (and probably is). In that time she has been a determined and enthusiastic member always wanting more from herself and becoming frustrated when she can't produce what she expects. Recent results, including a 3rd place in the recent Brentwood Grading, have shown some payback for the years of effort and she is a deserving winner for the March award.

Session times during exams

As many members will be aware from prior years we are now in that period of the year when our session start times are affected by examinations both in the main hall and the Vincent Room upstairs. Some sessions may be starting up to an hour late during this time and you are advised to check our calendar online here to ensure you do not arrive too early - this calendar will be kept up to date with the latest information available to us. Other than the half-term week (where we will be as normal) exams will affect us until the middle of June.

Birmingham Gala Weekend - 10th & 11th May

With only 2 members competing each day this was a lightly attended competition but we had some good results despite that. Saturday saw Stephen Page & Natasha Holme competing. Both finalled and Steve came 2nd and 'Tash 5th in their under-17 grade 1 competitions.

Sunday was grade 2 day and Kensie Sherlock was in excellent form coming 2nd in the under-11 and Chrissie Law delighted to qualify to National Finals and take 8th place in the under-15.

More detailed results can be found on our website here.

The day the Mayor came to visit

Last night saw the Mayor of Brentwood, Cllr. Frank Kenny, his colleague Cllr. Joan Holmes, Deputy Chair of the council's Leisure, Sports & Culture panel, Bob McLintock, Brentwood's Leisure, Sports & Culture Advisor (and erstwhile Chief Executive) and Jo Cory, Sport Development Officer, visiting us for the 'official launch' of our new trampoline. This 'International standard' trampoline cost more than £4,000 and was bought using £1,000 from Brentwood Council (Brentwood Academy Club Scheme), £2,000 from Jack Petchey and the balance from our own fund-raising. The Mayor also presented Dave Kingaby and Paul Kitchen with their Jack Petchey 'Outstanding Leader' awards which were achieved for 2007 and 2008 respectively and resulted in the £2,000 funding referred to above.

The event gave opportunity for many photographs some of which are shown in the collage below:

The original photos can be viewed on Picasa here. To see our press release on this visit check our main site at http://www.brentwoodtc.org/pr_09may08.htm.

New Competition Structure - Update

British Gymnastics has now released more details about the new system coming into force in October this year (and which we will be using for routines, at least, in our September Open).

The announcement (downloadable here with a summary of the combined effects available here) introduces some more details but the most material changes appear to be as follows:

• promotion from regional grades G through to D will not now be based on a points system but will, instead, be by achieving a combined form score of 45.0 over two rounds. There are also some requirements about tariff that have not been defined;
• determining which grade performers will start at has been more closely defined although there appears to be an error inasmuch there is no provision for anybody starting the next season at regional grade F;
• all competitors in regional competitions ought to be aged 9 in the year of the competition.

This last change (which may be subject to regional discretion and is therefore being clarified) will affect several of our young development members and the effect on these will be discussed directly with members' parents when more is known.

A future change will also see marks introduced for the time the routine takes - this will reward the more confident, higher bouncers.

For other members the effects are largely as has been discussed with them during training sessions.

Eleanor Clarke on BBC with Sir Steve Redgrave

Member Eleanor Clarke was recently featured on the BBC Inside Out (East) programme where her battle against diabetes and its affect on her trampolining was examined.

The feature lasted 10-minutes in total and included some good video footage (available online for a limited time only on BBC iPlayer) of Ellie performing in training and at competitions and Paul encouraging everybody to get back to work (did he rehearse that?)!

Many members of the club will have been aware of the programme coming up having been around during its filming - perhaps the most memorable evening was on 10th January when Sir Steven Redgrave (pictured right towering above those members fortunate to have been present that evening) visited and spent several hours at the club (and afterwards) talking to many members.

New Competition Leotards

After several years of sterling service we have finally decided to change the club leotards. This will not be done in a ‘big-bang’ approach but we are asking that all competitors are in possession of a new leotard by 1st January 2009. The existing leotards will remain suitable for training purposes, indeed we would like to see more members training in leotards in any event.

For those that have not seen the new leotard they can be seen in this picture being modelled by Gemma Phillips and Scott Gregory:

These leotards will be manufactured locally by Star Leotards and will be made to order; prices are :

• girls sizes 22” – 32” at £40.50, sizes 34” – 38” = £41.50, matching scrunchie £2.00;
• boys 24” – 32” = £21.50 and 34” – 40” = £22.50.

Please contact Tina Page to arrange a fitting and to place an order – please note that the sizes are nominal sizes only and all leotards will be made to order only after a fitting so please do allow time for your orders to be fulfilled. Tina can be contacted by telephone on 01708 688376 or by email at Tina@page3340.freeserve.co.uk – she is also at the club most evenings.

Gazette - Club of the Week

We were delighted to be chosen by the Brentwood Gazette as their Club of the Week in the 23rd April edition. Many of the club's members and officials turned out for the photocall and are shown in the picture above.

The full editorial can be read online here.

Ipswich Open - 6th April 2008

On a snowy day several of us set off wondering if we would arrive, fortunately the roads were clear even if the windscreen often was not and everybody made the competition on time.

It was another successful day for us with many more trophies and personal best scores - with 16 competing, 9 achieved podium positions, 4 in 1st place, 2 in 2nd and 3 in 3rd.

To find out more visit the main competition report here.

Hull Gala Weekend

A mixed weekend for our grade 1 & 2 bouncers but, on balance, some excellent results.

With grade 1's bouncing on the Saturday, Scott Gregory withdrew from the individual competition to rest an ankle strain although competed with Stephen Williams of Liverpool in the Men's Synchro. The pair performed stunningly with desynch scores consistently in high 9's and victory over the next pair by a good margin. Natasha Holme put her recent run of poor form behind her to final in the under-17 group, finishing in 5th place with a National Finals qualification; Gemma Phillips finished 5 places behind 'Tash securing FIG B qualification for next season but narrowly missed Nationals qualification. Stephen Page also competed but, unusually for him, managed to not complete either set or voluntary routine.

Sunday saw just two of our grade 2 competitors in action with Kensie Sherlock running out a clear winner in the under-11 group and Hannah McCann running away with the under-13 group 2 points clear of the 2nd placed girl. Both girls also easily qualified to National Finals and National C competition next season.

Brentwood Grading - 23rd March

What a successful day we had. The competition finished on time which is always good news and our helpers and officials were fantastic but our performers really excelled.

With 23 competing only seven fell outside a top 3 place with 4 winners, 8 taking 2nd place and 4 in 3rd. Read more about the results on our website here.

Jack Petchey - February Winner

Abbie-Jo Goldsmith is clearly a very determined individual and her commitment and consistent efforts to improve have stood out for some time now. If she carries this through in her other pursuits Abbie-Jo will undoubtedly be very successful in her life!

Jack Petchey - January Winner

Not one of our most advanced trampolinists, but an increasingly confident and capable Assistant Coach - Catherine ('Cat') Zalicks was a deserving winner of our first award in 2008. Cat has impressed the coaching staff with her assured manner and analysis - the kids she coaches seem to like her as well!

Bournemouth Gala Weekend 1st & 2nd March 2008

What a fantastic weekend. With 3 wins, a 2nd place and 3 other good performances our Grade 1 & 2 competitors excelled.

Winners were:

• Scott Gregory - European Trial;
• Stephen Page - Under 17 male grade 1 - new personal best scores;
• Hannah McCann - Under 13 Grade 1 Validation;

Anthony Williams performed strongly in coming second in the Over 17 Grade 2 (qualifying to Nationals & National C in the process) with new personal best scores.

Those not achieving medal position also performed well with:

• Matthew Wright ending in 4th place in Men's Grade 1 but qualifying for Nationals and FIG A;
• Gemma Phillips & Natasha Holme both qualifying for FIG B and narrowly missing National Finals qualification as well.

The full competition report can be read here.

Well done all!

Eastleigh Gala Weekend 9th & 10th Feb

Results were mixed at this competition, the first of the new format gala weekends, with some excellent and some poor but the prospects seem bright for the rest of the year.

Hannah McCann and Anthony Williams, both competed in the grade 2 competition. Hannah came away a convincing winner and qualified to National C (for next year) and the National Finals (for this year). Anthony also qualified for National C.

Scott Gregory, Stephen Page, Gemma Phillips & Natasha Holme all competed in the grade 1 competition. Scott (2nd place) & Stephen (6th) excelled, both qualifying for FIG B and National Finals whilst Gemma and Natasha had a tough day.

Pictured are Gemma & Scott in their new competition leotards and, below, Hannah with her trophy at Eastleigh.

You can read the full competition report and scores here and the associated press release here.

New BG Competition Routines

BG's Trampoline Technical Committee has now announced the routines that will be used for all grades from September onwards. These are required for the new structure previously announced (details here) and the routines can be seen on our website here.

These routines will be completed by all ages and competitions are likely to be split into only two age groups - over-15 and under-15. With grades 6 & 7 being replaced by club grades H & I, these routines include no somersault and restrictions on the number of body landings or somersaults in a voluntary (which will not be tariffed).

The first regional grade (G) introduces two set routines, either of which can be competed, and somewhat more difficulty than current grade 5's might experience. For voluntary this grade also has restrictions on how many somersaults and body landings but with no tariff being awarded.

Regional F also has two set routines to chose from and less restrictions although, for the first time, tariff will be awarded. From Regional D upwards the set routine is based on a set of rules against which competitors will develop their own set.

Senior Coaches

Following attendance at a 4-day course during September last year and an exam in early December Graham Parker and Dave Kingaby were delighted to be told recently that they had passed their Level 4 exams.

This qualification is sufficient for them to be able to coach up to double somersaults with or without half twist and multiple twisting single somersaults.

Letchworth Grading - 13th January

An excellent day for the club as a whole with many medallists, some qualifying to higher levels of competition and others just missing out - some simply did well picking up some new personal best scores on the way.

• Abbie Goldsmith - 2nd place & 2 new PBs
• Anthony Williams - 1st place and new PB2 & PB3
• Charlotte Hussey - a new PB1
• Charlotte Toms - 3rd place and a new PB2
• Chrissie Law - 1st place - team winner
• Eleanor Clarke - 3rd place - team winner
• Elizabeth Nicholls - team winner
• Harriet Gill - 3rd place and new PB2 and PB3
• Harry Gannon - 1st place
• Heidi Bartlett - 1st place, new PB2 & PB3 and qualification to grade 3
• Kallum Sherlock - 1st place and a clean sweep of new PBs
• Lauren Wylie - 2nd place, a clean sweep of new PBs and qualification to grade 3
• Mark Hardiman - 2nd place
• Rebecca Martin - 2nd place, 2 new PBs and narrowly missing qualifying by just 0.1

Full results are here. Accompanying Press Release is here.

Special thanks to our officials for the day who judged (Tina & Olive) - without such volunteers we are unable to enter competitions.

Congratulations to 13

13 of our teenage members successfully completed the exam for the Assistant Coach (Level 1) qualification on Sunday following attendance at the course, which took place in December, and a (in some cases extended) period of 'mentored' coaching. The qualification becomes official once the administration etc... has been completed although more will start to become involved almost immediately undertaking further 'mentored' coaching (i.e. coaching under the general guidance of a higher qualified coach such as Paul, Graham or Dave). The successful members were:

Catherine Zalicks Eleanor Law Emma Richardson Juliette Raison Lauren Raison Scott Gregory Stephen Page

Chris Hawkins Emily Kingaby Gemma Phillips Laura Studd Mark Hardiman Sophie Banks &

This course was also the first BG course to be run by the club at our training venue and further courses are expected to be run later this year for both judges, level 2 and level 1 coaches.