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.

CASC Registration

Thanks to the efforts of our chairman the club has now been registered with HMRC as a 'Community Amateur Sports Club' (registration number 04613). This brings a number of tax advantages the most significant of which is that any donations made to the club can attract Gift Aid. More can be found at the cascinfo website operated by the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR). The CCPR are currently lobbying government, through their 'Subs for Clubs Campaign', to further improve CASC benefits by making children's subscriptions also subject to tax relief!

BG Competition Handbook 2008

BG has now issued an updated competition handbook for 2008 with some minor changes to some under/over 17 grade 2 & 3 routines and a number of changes to qualifying scores. They have also dispensed with the under-9 age group for grades 3 & 4 which now have a requirements that competitors must be aged 9 in the year of the competition.

The new routines and qualification scores can be found here on our website as can a copy of the new handbook.

Competitions 2008

All competition dates we know of, and expect to be attending, have now been updated on our website on the competitions page here. As a new feature we have now included a link to 'Live Search Maps' recommended driving route from Brentwood School Sports Centre to the venue in each case.

Happy Christmas Game

Have you tried the new Christmas Game on our website? See if you can beat our webmaster's score!

Minutes from the AGM and photo's from our party are now online as well at our website here.