Central Galaxy Trampoline Club

FRIVOLTEN CUP - SWEDEN

Results are now available, here are the final placings for club members.  I hope to be able to get a full report in due course.

TRAMPOLINE

U12G Zoe Robinson 26th U12B Oliver Porter 11th 13-14yr G Lauren Pindar 20th; Jessica Cliff 35th

15-16yr G Ellie Clark 28th Junior Boys Dominic Porter 12th; Jack Gordon 15th

DMT

U12G Lauren Pindar 7th Junior Girls Charlotte Pindar 2nd Junior Boys Jack Gordon 3rd

Well done to all who took part, and especially to Charlotte and Jack for bringing home a trophy!

MIDLANDS GRADES 3 – 7

COCKSMOORS WOOD, BIRMINGHAM – 22^nd MARCH 2008

Well done to everyone who took part!  You all did really well. 

Congratulations have to go to Jade O’Shea who qualified for Grade 2 and won her group!  Both Ellie Greene and Kelsey Howell did well in G4 U13G, Ellie placed 3^rd and Kelsey 4^th.  In the G4 U17G group, Leaya Hatzakis was 2^nd and Coral Draper 8^th.  Catherine Tappin again showed not all her routines are 'rubbish'  with a magnificent 3^rd place in the O17G G4.  Charlotte Baynham took 4^th place in the G5 U17B/G.  In G6 U11G, Mia Russell was 4^th, Sophie Armitage 11^th, Siobhan Dugmore 17^th and their team was 3^rd.  Ella Howell finished in 3^rd place in the G7 U9B/G.

The full results are now available from the West Midlands TC site, if I have missed anyone off please let me know!

NATIONAL SCHOOLS FINAL - BIRMININGHAM - SUNDAY 9th MARCH

Congratulations to Dominic Porter for his magnificent 2nd place finish in the U19B Elite group.  Dominic was just 0.1 off the winning score!  Dominic was lucky to get the opportunity to compete, after finishing 4th in the Midland Zonals.  However, after the withdrawl of Midlands Zonals winner Dale Bevan because of the clash with the European trials, Dominic was offered the place.  What a way to justify that place by coming 2nd overall amongst a very strong field!

NEWRY, N.I G1/2 GALA

The Northern Ireland fixture has something of a reputation for the after-party rather than the trampolining, and Dominic and Jack were the clubs sole representatives for the weekend.

After the trials and tribulations of the Eastleigh gala, things could only get better.  And they did.  Dominic proved his ability and despite the small entry he easily achieved nationals and won his group.  Jack missed nationals by 0.3; however he retained G1 and took 2^nd place in the U19B.

Jack also performed well in the DMT, taking 1^st place and qualifying for nationals.

The boys paired up to compete in the Synchro which they won convincingly and gained 10 points.

BOURNEMOUTH G1/2 GALA            DMT VIDEO!  TRAMP VIDEO!

Another weekend and the 3^rd gala competition of 2008.  For our pains a trip to the south coast and the Littledown Centre in Bournemouth.

Our Grade 2’s competed on Saturday.  First to compete was Nicole.  She performed a beautiful set routine, but her nerves got to her and she fell after her 2^nd move.  Chances gone.  Emma also performed well, and with the pressure off, competed her double back routine for the first time!  Emma went into the final in 5^th place, repeated her double back routine, managing to pull up a place to 4^th, well done!  Lauren was next to compete in the O19’s group.  She too performed a lovely set routine, and to ensure she got nationals qualification repeated her set routine as her vol.  This proved to be a wise move as she easily qualified and got into the final!  With just a slight change to her vol she performed well but remained in 8^th place.  Matthew was to compete late in the day; he too performed well, easily achieving nationals qualifying.

Jack competed DMT on Saturday, he is hoping to gain a place in the Europeans this year.  In 6^th place after the prelims, he competed his 3^rd pass and overbalanced on his landing stepping off of the mat.  This cost him valuable marks.  His 4^th pass did not go to plan and earns him ‘null’ points.  Bad luck Jack.

Dominic and Jack competed in the G1 on Sunday.  Jack, who couldn’t quite find the form he had in Ireland, managed 7^th place in the U19B.  Dominic took part in the Youth Trials; unfortunately for him he was feeling under the weather and so did not compete at his best.

The girls fared better in the National ‘C’ DMT.  U15G - Natalie had a long wait to find out if she had got nationals qualification, and it wasn’t until the results had been published by BG that we knew for sure!  She didn’t make it into the final but has improved on her performance at Eastleigh.  She was 10^th overall.  With 4 girls in the O15G, we had a good chance of a team medal.  Everyone performed well in the prelims; Lauren 8^th, Emma 9^th, Nicole 12^th and Jade 15^th, so it was 2^nd team!  Lauren performed much better in the finals and went away with the 3^rd place trophy!  All the girls achieved national’s qualifications.

VIDEO LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE!

A new year and a new format for the National graded competitions.  Eastleigh was to be the first of the 'gala' weekends.  Fleming Park couldn't have been more convenient, just off the motorway and a short walk from my hotel!

The competition was very well organised, unfortunately there was an accute lack of seating, and what there was meant that you had to climb over people or have people climb over you to get to their seats!

Grade 2 - Saturday

Lauren was the first to compete.  This was the first time she had performed her new set routine but she needn't have worried because she achieved excellant scores, 3rd overall.  Unfortunately her voluntary routine didn't go so well, however she still managed 10th overall and retained.

Emma competed in the afternoon, she performed 2 very good routines, good enough to qualify for Nationals!  She finished 13th.

Matthew performed his set routine well, but was penalised because he hadn't 'star'd' the correct moves, so despite his 7th place he didn't retain.  He won't make the same mistake again!

We would like to thank Paul Coates for his help as coach on the day.

Grade 1 - Sunday

Despite Matthew's misfortune yesterday with his tariff sheet, Dominic also fell foul of this rule! He had performed a lovely set routine, only to have it marked down.  To make matters worse he failed to complete his voluntary routine.

Jack overcame his nerves to complete both routines in his first ever G1 competition.  Didn't manage to get the retaining marks, but a good effort for his first try at G1.  He seemed to enjoy himself anyway!

DMT -Sunday

Natalie competed in the U15 National 'C' girls; and managed a respectable 13th place with 2 good passes.

We had a team in the O15 National 'C' ladies; Jade, Emma and Lauren.  With 32 in the group the competition was always going to be tough, but all 3 girls managed to get both passes in and Lauren and Emma made the final.  After the final 2 passes, Lauren took 2nd place, Emma was 5th and Jade 18th!  They took the 3rd team prize overall.

Matthew and Jack were competing in the FIG 'B' O15 boys group, and both are hoping to achieve qualifying scores for the Europeans.  Again they both managed to land 2 good passes, only Jack made the final finishing in 7th place.  Matthew was 9th.

In summary it was a good weekend for those who competed, although a hard lesson was learnt with regard to the marking of tariff sheets.  The next gala weekend is in two weeks time in Ireland, only Dominic and Jack are going, so we wish them luck!

And here's what you've all been waiting for - the video of the weekends action! Eastleigh Feb 2008

Following on from Saturday's competition, the Midlands hosted this years Central Zonal Schools competition, at the Centre AT7 in Coventry.

Mixed fortunes here as well, and sadly no one qualified for the National Schools.

The competition is always tough at this level, and you have to perform at your best to stand a chance, as only the top 3 individuals go through to the next round.

RESULTS

U 11 G ELITE                                                                                         U13 G ELITE

9.             Harleigh Ryan                                                                        5.             Natalie O’Shea

U 15 G ELITE                                                                                        U 19 B ELITE

8.             Adele Gerry                                                                           4.             Dominic Porter

9.             Lauren Pindar                                                                        6.             Matthew Cardinal

U 19 G ELITE

4.             Nicole Marshall

9.             Emma Armitage

MIDLANDS GRADES – COCKSMOORS – 19/01/08

Full results are now available on the West Midlands web-site, http://www.wmtrampolining.co.uk/

Well done to everyone who took part in this, the first Midlands Grades competition of 2008.  There have been a few changes (getting us ready for the new structure from Oct 08), some age groups have been combined and several groups were mixed, boys and girls.

The DMT competition structure has also changed, with the introduction of Fig A/B, National C and Regional D, groups were also mixed.

Unfortunately no one managed to qualify from 4 to 3, or 3 to 2, but there was plenty to smile about and quite a few got to take home a trophy!

G3 U13/15 G/B                                                                                  G3 U17 G

2.            Jessica Cliff                                                                     2.            Ellie Clark

3.            Lauren Pindar                                                                    3.            Jade O’Shea

4.            Zoë Robinson                                                                    11.          Adele Gerry

G4 U11 B/G                                                                                        G4 U13 B

4.            Harleigh Ryan                                                                    5.            Oliver Porter

G4 U13 G                                                                                             G4 U15 G

2.            Kelsey Howell                                                                    13.          Lauren Bayliss

3.            Ellie Green

G4 U17 G                                                                                             G4 O17 G

10.          Coral Draper                                                                       4.            Charlotte Pindar

                                                                                                         5.            Catherine Tappin

G6 U11 G                                                                                             G7 U9 B/G

3.            Sophie Armitage                                                                  5.            Ella Howell

                                                                                                          8.            Connor Brown

G7 U11/13 G

3.            Mia Russell

DMT RESULTS

FIG A/B ALL                                                                                        NAT C ALL

1.       Jack Gordon                                                                               1.            Nicole Marshall

3.       Matthew Cardinal                                                                       2.            Charlotte Pindar

4.       Lauren Pindar

REG D ALL

2.       Jessica Cliff

Well done to everyone who took part, we had a fantastic competition and as the competition is purely based on form scores, this can be particularly challenging for some of our more experienced bouncers!

Major trophy winners were:

Eccersley Shield (for helpers, etc) - Paul & Mark Howell                                  Galaxy Shield (Grade 2 performer) - Emma Armitage

Thompson Shield (novice improver) - Harleigh Ryan                                          Burlton Shield (most improved) - Jack Gordon

Well done to everyone who took part in Saturdays competition.  As usual the standard is high, particularly in the Elite groups, so it was great to see so many club members excel themselves and book their places in the Zonal round. 

We have 2 Midlands Champions; Emma Armitage in Elite U19G and Dominic Porter, Elite U19B!

Harleigh Ryan performed extremly well to take 3rd place in U11G Elite.

In the U13G Elite, Natalie O'Shea was 3rd, Jessica Cliff 6th and Kelsey Howell 10th.  Oliver Porter just missed out on a podium place taking 4th in the U13B Elite.

We had 2 podium finishers in the U15G Elite class, Adele Gerry 2nd and Lauren Pindar 3rd.

Matthew Cardinal took 3rd place in the U19B Elite, whilst in the U19G Elite new member Nicole Marshall was 2nd, Jade O'shea 5th and Ellie Clark 9th.

All those in the top three from each group will now be heading for the Zonal round.  The date and venue for the Zonal round is 20th January 2008 at the Haybridge Leisure Centre, Brake Lane, Hagley, West Midlands. 

The National Schools will be held 9^th March 2008 at Cocksmoors Woods LC.

The GEMTEC Arena was again the venue for the Grade 2 National Trampoline Finals and the National Synchro and DMT Finals.

The synchro and DMT finals were held on Saturday 24th November.

We had quite a big team entered for Saturdays competition.  As is usual the whole thing was a little chaotic and the day was very long.

Madison Jordan (Altair) teamed up with Natalie  to compete in the U13g synchro.  After sets and vols they were lying in 3rd place, which was very good as the group was quite large with 17 pairs.  The girls held their nerves and performed very well in the final and after a nail biting wait they emerged as the winners!  Their final score was 109.70, 0.20 ahead of the 2nd place pair.

Emma teamed up with Nicole Marshall (Smiths Wood Airborne) for the U17g synchro.  They also made the final going in in 5th place which was where they stayed.  Final score 106.20.  Well done girls.

Dominic and Jack got together for the U17b synchro.  This is another fairly new partnership, and despite the lack of training the boys put up a very good show against some top class performers.  They went into the final in 3rd place and finished in 2nd!  Well done.

The DMT was also very competitive across all age groups.

New member Lauren Pindar competed in the G1 U15g group, unfortunately the results do not seem to be available at the moment.  Jack performed very well in the G1 U17 b, unfortunately he just missed out on a medal (given to first 5 places only).

Results are available for the G2 DMT groups.  Unfortunately for both Natalie and Lauren, things did not go to plan.  Natalie caught the edge of the DMT in her 2nd pass resulting in no marks being given.  Lauren performed and landed her 2nd pass (double full) and then promptly fell on her bottom!

Things went better for our U17g.  Nicole Marshall emerged the very worthy winner, and with Emma 6th, Jade 7th and Charlotte Pindar 12th.  The girls were overall team winners!

The Grade 2 Trampoline Finals were held on Sunday 25th November.

In U17g Emma finished in 10th place, missing out on the final, but with a respectable score of 52.00.  Donna and Helen faced tough competition in the U19g, finishing in 19th (49.00) and 21st (48.80) places respectively.  Matthew was competing in the U19b, a smaller group of just 8, so guaranteed a place in the final, still he finished in 4th place with an overall score of 78.80.

Well what a dramatic weekend!  First the venue is changed from Newtownards to Belfast, then the organisers are told that the building has to be vacated by 5pm!  Not to mention that the Midlands grades had to be changed from the Saturday to Sunday, I hear that something similar happened in Wales!

This competition proved to be a mixed bag, and those competing in the afternoon seemed to fare somewhat better than those who competed in the morning.  However, not to take anything away from anyone's achievements, Jack surprised himself by validating for Grade 1 at only his 2nd Grade 2 competition, very well done Jack!  Helen and Matthew both achived Nationals qualification, with Matthew winning his group, well done to you too!  Not so good was that Lauren missed validating again, a bit of travel and some poor moves did not achieve the required set score, however she made up for that with a very good voluntary routine; "frustrating, I know I can do it" she said.  Jessica performed well in her first Grade 2 in what was a large group compared to what she would normally compete in at Grade 3, unfortunately she didn't retain, but with Scotland and Wales to go, who knows?  Neither Jade or Ellie retained, sadly for Ellie she only managed to complete 8 moves in her voluntary routine.  Lauren Pindar in only her 2nd Grade 2 also missed the retaining mark.  Don't give up girls, just think about that leotard! 

So, next week will see the penultimate chance to achieve those all important scores up in Perth, Scotland.  All that remains is to wish you all 'Good Luck'.

Well done to both Jason and Dominic for qualifying for the British Championships.

This years competition was again organised by the West Midlands region, some changes were made to the format, bringing it more into line with International competitions.  The NIA is a great venue for the competition and everyone involved had a really good weekend.

The competition was very tough, which is to be expected at this level, and the Mens & Ladies competitions were very close, with Claire Wright prevailing over Jamie Moore.  The Mens was more closely fought, with James Higgins of NTGA winning on countback over former champion Gary Smith.

In the U17 boys Dominic performed a good set routine, but unfortunately fell during the latter part of his voluntary routine, this meant that sadly Dominic would miss out on Sunday's finals.  In the O19 mens, Jason survived a shakey start, in which he fell and hurt his foot whilst straight bouncing (luckily!).  His nerves were getting the better of him, and we did not expect him to complete his vol, however he did, and performed it well enough to finish the day in 8th position, good enough to earn him a place in the finals!

Sundays finals were a tense affair, each performer competing individually and in reverse order.  Jason again had an attack of nerves, however he managed to completed his routine but was unable to finish higher than 8th.

The competition was concluded by a march on of competitors and officials, followed by the presentations.

Well done to everyone who competed!  This was a very big competition, and it was also a very hot day.  The club did very well, with some outstanding individual performances.  There were too many of you to mention all by name however.

Jessica Cliff and Ryan Howell both won their groups and qualified for Grade 2!  Looks like a big trip to Northern Ireland in October.

Zoe Robinson came 1^st in U13G Grade 4, missing qualifying for grade 3 by 0.5, let’s hope she makes it next time.

In Grade 5, Ellie Green came 1^st (U13G) and qualified for Grade 4, whilst Harleigh Ryan was also 1^st (U9G) but just missed out on that all important qualifying mark.

In the DMT competition Zoe Robinson came 2^nd in Grade 2

Finally we would like to thank everyone who helped on the day, either as an official, a coach, as a spotter (vitally important job) or just supporting the competitors from the club.

Just one panel at this competition meant that everyone performed in the spotlight.  For some of the gymnasts this brought out their best, for others the nerves got too much.

Dominic performed two very good routines which put him in 1st place and he achieved the qualifying marks for Mens & Ladies.  His final routine was not so good, he dropped back into 2nd.

Jason was performing in Mens, his Set routine was excellent and like Dominic was placed 1st.  However too much travel in his final meant he too dropped back into 2nd.

Natalie performed both routines very well, achieving Nationals set score and she managed to attain the retaining mark, so well done Natalie!

This hastily arranged Grade 2 competition (due in part to complaints about the lack of competition on the mainland), meant that many who had gone to Northern Ireland the previous day were too late to rearrange things to enter this competition.  The venue was rather dark and dingy, sitting under the fly-over at the Aston Villa Football Club, however this was a very well run competition and judging appeared to be much fairer.

Emma improves at each competition and finished 5th easily achieving Nationals qualification.  Jade took a tumble in her set but performed a very nice voluntary routine, unfortunately the mistake in her set cost her the chance of qualification.  Ellie missed retaining by .1, however she was heartened by her performance which continues to improve.  Matthew finished in 6th, disappointing for him as he tries to qualify for Nationals.  Lauren was again trying to validate, warm-ups went well, unfortunately she fell onto the mat after the first move so scored zero.  She pulled herself up by the socks to compete a nice voluntary routine.

With so many Grade 2 competitions in Northern Ireland this year, you have to take the opportunity to compete when you can.

Lauren and Ellie made the trip to Newton Ards, the venue changed at the last minute from Belfast, however the use of two panels meant that the day was shorter.

From all accounts marking was hard and Ellie once again missed out on retaining, although she performed two nice routines.  Very few qualified at this competition.  Lauren was trying to validate and achieved the set score, but an error in her voluntary routine meant she lowered her tariff and so did not qualify.  She did at least manage to retain.

At last a competition on our doorstep!

Natalie again struggled with her voluntary routine and fell.  Still her set routine was good and only .5 off Nationals requirement.  Dominic managed to finish one place higher in 11th and again achieved Nationals qualification.  Jason performed very well despite his lack of training, and went into the final round in 3rd place!  Unfortunately he was pipped at the post, just missed out on 3rd overall but was content in the knowledge that not only had he qualified for Nationals in his age group, but had achieved qualification for Mens & Ladies!

For most gymnasts the first competition of the season is something of a test.  A test to see how well you can perform that new routine at a competition (or even the same one as last season!), a test to see how the judges will be marking, a test as to how well you can hold your nerve.  And so this competition was no different.

Of our seasoned Grade 1 gymnasts only Dominic competed (something to do with a birthday party), and things went very well.  Dominic had moved up into U17 this year and managed to qualify easily for Nationals!  He didn't make the final but finished in 12th place.  Well done.

For Natalie and Aisha this competition proved to be a steep learning curve.  Both had just moved up from G2, and Aisha had also moved up an age group.  Natalie fell performing her voluntary routine, and both girls missed the retaining score.  Still it's early days and more opportunities await them.   

This was the first big Grade 2 of the season and quite a few gymnasts from the club were entered.

Donna had a great start to the year, having qualified for Nationals and finishing in 6th place overall in U19 girls.  Matthew didn't quite make Nationals, and missed retaining by 0.4 and went home with a 2nd place trophy!  We had a team in the U17 girls, and Emma improved on her Northern Ireland performance with 6th place and Nationals qualification!  Things didn't go so well for Jade and Ellie both missing the retaining score, but by way of consolation the girls took the 2nd team trophy.  Lauren was poorly so she missed her chance on the Validation panel.

This year's Grade 2 competitions kicked off in Northern Ireland, and Emma and Ellie decided to try their luck accross the water.  For Ellie this was to be her first Grade 2 competition and after all those months of learning new moves, a chance to see what the judges might think.

Being a small competition with just one panel put more pressure on, as each gymnast came under the spotlight individually.  Emma came 3rd and attained the retaining score.  Ellie was 5th but missed retaining by 1.1.  Still it was a good test for her and both girls enjoyed their trip.

A good time was had by all.  Special thanks go to all those involved in organising the event; the staff at the AT7; Jason and his dad Kevin for the disco; all those who provided the food, and of course the club members for coming and bringing along parents and friends.

The club also held it's AGM, and we must welcome the new additions duly elected to the Committee - Bernard Porter, Chairman; Trevor Robinson, Vice Chairman; Connie Cliff, Health & Safety; and Jason Harvey, Volunteer Coordinator.

The results of the previous weekends' Club Competition were also revealed, along with the individual trophy winners, outstanding amongst these must be Natalie O'Shea, who achieved 3rd place U11 Girls Open at the National Schools; 1st place and National Grade 2 Champion and now qualified to compete at Grade 1.  As mentioned in Irene's report, several club members competed internationally, some representing the West Midlands Squad in Portugal.  Jason Harvey also competed DMT in Belgium as part of the British squad, he also reached the Grade 1 National Finals along with Dominic Porter, Dominic came 6th overall in the U15 Boys.

Not to forget Irene's nomination as the "Unsung Hero",  she was selected as one of the five Midlands finalists, but unfortunately lost out to the eventual overall winner of the award, well done to her anyway!

AND NOW FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT: A SHORT VIDEO FROM THE CHRISTMAS PARTY 2006!  ENJOY