Two teams from Scarborough Gymnastics Academy travelled to Gloucester to compete in the British National Team Gym Championships 2009. Both team qualified to compete in the British finals after their successful performances at the Northern & Midlands Tournament in March.

May 2009

The first competition was the primary girl’s competition for gymnasts aged between 8 and 12 years. The Scarborough Sparkles were up against tough competition from nine other top qualifying teams from throughout the country. This is the first time the newly formed Sparkles team have competed at the British championships.The Scarborough team consisted of 12 members – Jo Pattison (11), Niamh Sweeney (11), Emily Hansel (11), Caitlin Frith (10), Jace Cappleman (10), Abigail Catherall (11) Coral Rose (10), Maddie Jepson (9), Evie Storr (9), Megan Coates (9), Ellis Miller (9) and Anna Sweeney (10).

The Scarborough Sparkles had a fantastic day, performing confidently and consistently throughout their routines. The initial sight of the large competition arena along with the competition formalities such as standing for the national anthem prior to the competition, created a few more nerves among the team than usual. The team started their competition with their group floor routine, the team scoring a fantastic 7.40, the team then moved on to perform their tumble routine, which they performed without any major faults or falls, scoring 6.23. The routine included six gymnasts performing three separate tumbles in quick succession. The tumbles included performing somersaults in various shapes, straight, & pike with and without twists and using different directions. The team concluded their competition with their trampette routine; this involved six gymnasts performing two separate twisting somersaults from the trampette & one vault using the trampette. The team performed really well and scored 6.90, earning them 3rd place on this piece of apparatus. The competition was extremely close, the primary team came an amazing fourth place overall in the close fought competition with a score or 20.53.

The Junior girls team were next to compete, the team of 11 members aged between 12 and 16 were representing the North. The Scarborough All Stars faced additional strong competition from qualifying teams from the North & South. The Scarborough All Stars consisted of the following members, Amber Atkinson (14), Megan Richardson (14), Millie Bell (14), Zoe Pindar (13), Cana Machen (14) Bobbie Moorhouse (13), Megan Woodward-Hay (12), Molly Owenson (12), Bethany Morley (12), Beate Richings (12) & Amber Wilson (12).

The team opened their competition with their new floor routine which was performed with lots of energy, style & synchronisation. The excellent teamwork throughout the routine earned the team a well deserved score of 7.93. Next the team performed their tumble routine. The team did extremely well performing their new tumbles, earning them a score of 7.16. Lastly the All Stars moved on to perform their trampette routine which was executed with confidence & excellent teamwork, earning them a score of 7.50, taking 3rd place on this piece of apparatus. The competition was a great experience for the Junior team, the All Stars were ranked a very respectable 6th place, with a score of 22.59. The competition was extremely close with only 0.7 separating Scarborough from the medal positions.

The competition was filmed and will appear on British Gymnastics TV in the next couple of weeks. This can be accessed through the British Gymnastics website www.baga.co.uk.

Team Coach Nikii Walker said “Competing in the British Championships at such a high level, is something for everyone to be proud of, the results from this competition are fantastic. The gymnasts have all trained hard this year (some gymnasts training up to 6 days per week) and members of both teams have all really improved. Well done to everyone who took part, “The next team gym competition for both squads is the Newcastle Open Championships in July”

Scarborough Gymnastics Academy is run by Evy & Nikii Walker at the new dedicated gymnastics facility on Barrys Lane. The new specialist gymnastics centre offers lots of exciting classes including general gymnastics, pre school gymnastics (age 14 months to 4 years), trampolining, boys gladiators, competitive gymnastics and adult gymnastics and fitness. If anyone would like any further info about the new classes for children, youths, pre school and adults please Contact Us or phone 01723 366271.

Gymnasts in the teams from areas other than Scarborough are: