January 2011 Newsletter

Gym Mark
The club had to update its Gym Mark accreditation in October last year. This meant providing evidence of the coaching structure, Coaches CRB status and current qualifications. All of the clubs coaches have CRB clearance with one or two just about to renew their applications as this has to be completed every 3 years.

New GYM MARK accreditation was awarded in October 2010.

This is a great achievement for the club as it is the only Gymnastics club in Cheltenham to have this credited award from British gymnastics which means it has been recognised as a safe and friendly environment for children.

School connections
Strong connections are still being achieved with Bournside and Bishops Cleeve schools. An after school club is being run at Bournside and this has been enhanced with another after school class for some primary school pupils from the local area on a short term basis.

The club is now being sought to deliver after school class at Bishops Cleeve School for years 7 & 8 in the September term. Balcarras School has also shown interest in setting up another after school club in May at Glenfall School.

Links with special needs
Should funds be found to run short courses for the pupils of Bettridge Special Needs School and St Roses of Stroud then the club is eagerly waiting to be involved with these schools again.

Class enquiries
Again a sterling job is being done by you all as the club has received a large number of enquiries for places at the club. Most of the classes are now full and waiting lists are now held. The adult section grows and grows with at least half a dozen members returning to training after many (some after many many) years off training. The bodies eventually letting flics and somersaults to be achieved once more. More news on the adults as some are hoped to be coaxed to do the British Veterans competition later on in the year.

Coach education
Eight of the clubs coaches attended a UKCC update course which would allow them to attend further UKCC courses when time allows for them to enhance their current qualifications. A further 12 attended an Emergency First aid course at the end of February and all passed the day course. This now enhances the capabilities of the club should accidents occur. Others are attending a Safeguarding and Protecting Children course to compliment their current qualifications.

Gymnaestrada
As has been mentioned in previous newsletters the club is involved with the next World Gymnaestrada being held in Lausanne, Switzerland. The club is part of the British Gymnastics contingent going to the event.

As part of the preparation the club had to show off the routine it is taking to the event to British gymnastics representatives on 22 January and it will also have to do a final display for British Gymnastics on 14 May 2011. The routine is now finished and needs a little tidying.

Some of the group are also working on refining another routine, to present to an audience at various towns in the region.
The club wishes the team all the best for the event in July.

It should be realised that all of the team members have funded themselves for the trip.

Gloucestershire Squad
Earlier in the year trials were undertaken to sort out members for the squad in 2011. The club only sent two participants as the criteria this year was very demanding. Jasmine Hart made the Senior Floor and Vault squad which is an excellent result and Molly Johansen made the reserve list in the Mini Squad.

South West Tumbling Prelims results
The club was well represented at this competition which is the deciding competition to see who represents the South West at the Tumbling finals in May at Fenton Manor Leisure Centre in Stoke on Trent.

All performed well with notable results from Robert Penny a Gold medal and chosen to go to the finals, Jasmine Hart a silver medal and a 4th place for Scott Taylor.

Coaching welcome
The club welcomes Ellie Pitt, an ex recreational who will be helping to coach the infant recreational class on a Friday evening.

June 2010 Newsletter

Membership
With your help the club has again expanded and membership coupled with the after school class held at Bournside School means that the club has now over 250 members. This is a great achievement as it now joins the 25% of clubs registered with British Gymnastics with memberships of 250 or more.

The club now has to operate waiting lists for most of the classes and if you know of anyone who is interested then please get them to phone or email Dave (07765377681 or email dave.powell49@btinternet.com

Pre-School
The club, as many of you are aware, operates pre-school classes at SS Philip and James church centre in Cold Pool Lane, Up Hatherley. The club has had the delight of some gymnasts starting in pre-school and going right through to the senior class which I hope is a testament to the club.
These classes are the most changeable as at the end of any one school year, all the members of a particular class could go to school at the same time leaving the class empty. This will happen again at the end of July. If anyone knows of anyone who would be interested in joining one of these classes (either Wednesday 1.00-1.45 pm and 2:00-2:45pm or Saturday 9:30-10:15am) please get them to register their interest with Dave on the above email address. The club has spaces in these three classes for up to 42 participants

Current Classes
After some hard work and a lot of personal recommendations from those in the groups at the beginning of the year the two classes that are run at present are now full. A big thank you to all of the coaches involved and an especial thank you to those parents who have made personal recommendations.

Coaches Welcome
The club welcomes David Jones who travels down from Malvern twice a week to either coach or be part of the team that is hoping to go to the next World Gymnaestrada to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dave is a Level 3 General Coach.

County Squad Selection 2010.
Earlier on in the year the club put forward a number of gymnasts to trial for the County, Development, Mini Squads or Senior Floor and Vault squad operated by the County.
The club had three successful gymnasts in Emma Powling (Senior Floor and Vault Squad), Jasmine Hart (County Development Squad) and Katie Castle (Minnie Squad). Congratulations to all.

Coaching Update.
For the latest coaching structure within the club please see the main notice board. As there have been changes to the coaching team the club is in the process of obtaining photographs of all so that you are aware who is a coach and who is not. The club now offers 1 Level 5 coach, 10 Level 3 coaches, 4 Level 2 coaches, 4 Level 1 coaches and 4 Award Scheme Coaches.
It also has a men’s judge, 2 regional women’s judges, 7 Floor and vault judges, 4 Tumbling judges.

Competition Results.

Tumbling Prelims result.
This was the deciding event to see who would represent the South West in the forthcoming British Tumbling Championships in May.
Jasmine Hart – Gold medal and chosen to represent the SW in the finals.
Scott Taylor – Gold medal and chosen to represent the SW in the finals.
Robin Hedley – Gold medal (unfortunately only just missed out on achieving the cut off score to be able to go to the finals).
Robert Penny – Silver medal.
Samson Hedley – Silver medal.

Well done to all that competed.

British Tumbling Finals.
With new entry criteria from the preliminary rounds this was always going to be a stiff competition.
Jasmine Hart performed well but eventually finished in 10th position in her group. This was a fantastic achievement, considering jasmine is still involved in four piece competitions, 10th in Britain at your level. A brilliant well done.
Scott Taylor was unfortunately plagued with injury the week before and could not recover enough in time to take part. Therefore he had to withdraw but was extremely upset having made the team.

Inter Counties F & V (girls) June 2009
A trial to determine who would be part of the 4 piece team and 2 piece teams to represent Gloucestershire in the above competition was held in May
Jasmine Hart was successful and chosen to be part of the 4 piece team, Emma Powling was chosen to be first reserve and would represent Gloucestershire in the senior floor and vault team in the event that one of the chosen team could not take part.

Boys Inter Counties Floor and Vault Competition
Preparations are being made to get some of the boys ready to hopefully be chosen to represent the County in the forthcoming Inter Counties championships to be held in November this year.

SW Tumbling Championships 5 July 2009.
The club is hoping for some good successes in the forthcoming championships to be held on July 10. It is hoping to send 14 competitors from the club.

Gloucestershire’s Girls Novice Championships.
This competition is to be held on 27 June and the club is sending a record 27 entries. There will be competitors in all of the groups. This has not been achieved before and shows the depth of the squads that the club now has.

The Clubs Schools involvement.

Bournside After School Club
The club is still actively involved with Bournside and is waiting for the new influx of year 7 to hopefully keep the club going.
As part of Bournside’s involvement with Primary Schools, through Helen Pauling the Schools SSCO, the club was proud to be asked to deliver out of school classes for Primary School children from a number of schools. These took place earlier in the year and were well received.

Bettridge Special Needs School.
The club was again pleased to be asked to deliver a set of 6 classes to some pupils at the school. These formed part of the school timetable and reports are that the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Some magnificent support from the school staff was also received.

St Roses School Special needs school.
As part of its partnership with the school it is again delivering a set of six classes at the school. This is a special after school club set up by the club. The participants mainly cope with Cerebral Palsy but proved to be a very lively bunch. It was good to meet one or two that had taken part in the classes last year.

New Competition Groups

A number of the new competition groups that were set up last year are facing their first outside competition, as mentioned above. Everyone is wished the best for the competition on 27 June 2010.

World Gymnaestrada Display Team – Lausanne, Switzerland July 2011.
At the beginning of the year those who showed an interest in going to Switzerland enjoyed their first practice.

30 are currently members of the team and are working hard to get the routine perfected in time for early next year.

Sponsorship.

Last year
Glen Dufty sponsored swim – With this grand effort Glen raised £1580 for the club and a similar amount for a Cancer Charity.
Mr Weaver also approached Mira Showers and was successful obtaining a donation of £250 to the club.

Both of the amounts were saved towards a new tumble track. The new Tumble track has now been ordered and will be arriving shortly.

Many thanks to both for without their help the track could not have been ordered.

An application was made to Dragons Den (Gloucestershire County Council) for funds to be able to deliver disabled extra curriculum classes. This was successfully achieved in the sum of £3000 and classes were held at Milestones Special Needs School, in Gloucester. Some extra small pieces of equipment were also purchased.

A further application was made to the County Council to provide funds to enable another impaired child take part in the mainstream classes. This was successfully achieved and one to one coaching provision provided.

Summer Club Closer 2010.

The club will be closed between 26 July (Monday) and 8 August inclusive. Classes will therefore recommence from Monday 9 August.

July 2009 Newsletter

Membership
With your help the club has again expanded and membership coupled with the after school class held at Bournside School means that membership has now over 250 members. This is a great achievement as it now joins the 25% of clubs registered with British Gymnastics with memberships of 250 or more.
The club now has to operate waiting lists for most of the classes and if you know of anyone who is interested then please get them to phone or email Dave (dave.powell49@btinternet.com)

Pre-School
The club, as many of you are aware, operates pre-school classes at SS Philip and James church centre in Cold Pool Lane, Up Hatherley. The club has had the delight of some gymnasts starting in pre-school and going right through to the senior class which I hope is a testament to the club.
These classes are the most changeable as at the end of any one school year, all the members of a particular class could go to school at the same time leaving the class empty. This will happen again at the end of July. If anyone knows of anyone who would be interested in joining one of these classes (either Wednesday 1.00-1.45 pm and 2:00-2:45pm or Saturday 9:30-10:15am) please get them to register their interest with Dave on the above email address. The club has spaces in these three classes for up to 42 participants.

Coaches Welcome
The club welcomes back Lisa Hallas and Jean Hallas. Lisa has taken on a new young group and is preparing them for the forthcoming Club Championships and hopefully an Inter Club Competition with clubs from Cirencester and Tetbury. Jean is now assisting Dawn Ellis with the Pre School classes on a Saturday morning. On the recreational side Charley Clayton,  Emily Campion have joined the coaching team and are awaiting the opportunity of taking their first exam. We also welcome back Rebecca Kent who has been away at University. Rebecca will be back training and helping with the Saturday morning groups.
On the down side the club has had to say goodbye to Hayley Young who has finished her degree course in Cheltenham and whilst hunting for a job placement has to return home to Plymouth. Hayley will be sadly missed.

County Squad Selection 2009.
The club put forward a number of gymnast to trial for either the County, Development or Mini Squads operated by the County.
The club had three successful gymnasts in that Eleanor Clarke made the Mini squad, Jasmine Hart the Development Squad and Keeley Iddles the County Squad.
Congratulations to all.

Coaching Update.
Dave Webb, Rosie Arnott, Kirsty McKenna and Rod Churchill all successfully passed their Level 2 exams and are now awaiting  a course for Level 3 General which is due to take place at the end of July. Amanda Aston and Carrie Ann Bailey are continuing their coaching qualifications and are currently waiting for there Level 2 General Exam which is due to take place on 12 September 2009. Emily Stephenson upgraded her Level 3 General qualification in December 2008 with a successful pass.
Robert Penny, Mark Underwood and Emma Powling all successfully passed the new Award Scheme Coach course which is the first exam for aspiring young coaches and helpers.
Dave Powell has attended a Level 2 Tutor update which now enables him to tutor at the new level from August 2009.
Other members of the coaching team are looking to reinforce their existing qualifications, all of which can only make the coaching offered more excellent than it already is. The club now offers 1 Level 5 coach, 5 Level 3 coaches, 4 Level 2 coaches, 7 Level 1 coaches and 3 ASC coaches

Competition Results.
County Floor & Vault Levels

Level 5 Age u11	Jessica Laight	4th
Level 5 14+	Emma Elliott	4th
	Larissa Grannell-Lawrence	6th
	Sasha Jacombs	4th
	Emma Elliott	5th
Mod FIG	Jasmine Hart	4th
Novice F&V
Novice1  Age 7	Eleanor Clarke	6th
Novice 1 Age 9	Amber King	2nd
Novice 2 Age	Grace Sheppard	5th
Novice 2 Age 12+	Alexandra Samuel	4th
Novice 3 Age 12+	Ella Green	3rd
	Rubianne Buckland	5th
British Elite Tumbling Championships.
Elite 2 15+	Robert Penny	8th
12/13 age group	Jasmine Hart	23rd
Inter Counties F & V (girls) June 2009
Team Gloucestershire	Jasmine Hart	2nd

British Tumbling Championships
The club for the first time entered two gymnasts in the British Elite Tumbling Championships held at Stoke on Trent in May. Robert Penny and Jasmine Hart were some of the youngest competitors in their various age groups and levels. Robert in his first championship finished a creditable 8th. Jasmine was against some stiff opposition with many 2 yrs older and did not medal on this occasion. Valuable competition experience was gained and Coaches Trevor Roberts and Dave Powell were extremely pleased with the results.

SW Tumbling Championships 5 July 2009.
On Sunday 5 July the SW Tumbling Championships were held in Sherbourne, Dorset.
The club had 10 gymnasts taking part on the day and had a very successful day with seven medals.

Jasmine Hart became the SW champion in the Elite 1, age 11/12 group.
Callum Hart became the SW champion in the boys Elite 1, 13.14 group.
Robert Penny took the bronze medal in the Elite 2, 15+ group.
Samson Hedley took the silver medal in the Nat 2, 12/14 group.
Scott Taylor took the bronze medal in the Nat 2, 12/14 group.
Jessica Laight and Hayley Dreyer in the Nat 1, 7-11 group tied for the bronze medal, excellent for their first competition.
Sasha Jacombs in the Nat 2, 15 + group, came 5th.
Annabel King in the Nat 1, 12/14 group came 10th,  
again her first competition
Rochelle McMahon in the Nat 1, 12/14 group came 12th, again her first competition.
Coaches Dave Powell and Trevor Roberts were extremely pleased with all of the team as most performed their best on the day.

Bournside After School Club
The after school club have again worked hard towards performing in the Bournside Megamix. The group have improved immensely with some now able to flic and somersault. The clubs members showed off their floor routines, vaulting skills and tumbling skills to make it an excellent display of the talent in the club and the after school group.

St Roses School
Hard work by Annette Fidderman in preparing an application for St Roses to become a Special Needs School for the disabled meant partners had to be found to work alongside the school. If the application was successful then the school would have access to various grants made available. The club was invited to be one of the partners to work with St Roses School and accepted the invitation.
Out of this partnership the club has formed an after school club at the school and delivered 6 sessions attended by pupils of the school and one of the outside partners. The classes were well received and all the participants achieved a lot over the six weeks. The school has also given a grant to the club of £2500.00 which was used to replace many of the landing mats which were becoming soft.

New Competition Groups
Robert Penny’s New Squad.
The club is pleased that Jack Young, Daniel Strong, Archie Coleman and Christopher Picken have successfully passed a trial period and have now joined Robert to start preparing for competitions.

Lisa Hallas’s New Squad.
The club is also pleased that Kendra Weaver, Rebecca Arnott, Charlotte Kiernan, Hannah Tilley and Charlotte Rowley have successfully passed their trial period and have now joined Lisa to start preparing for competitions.

Display Teams
At the beginning of the year, the club held trials for over 80 gymnasts to join our display teams this year. Out of those trialled, 18 were selected to join the club’s Dragon’s team and 28 were selected to join the Gangsters team. These teams have been working in preparation for the Welsh Festival of Gymnastics in July and the London Festival of Gymnastics which will be held in October this year.

World Gymnaestrada Meeting/Interest
In 2007 the club had a team represent Great Britain at the World Gymnaestrada held in Austria. It was a brilliant experience for team members, coaches and parent helpers.
The club has already registered its interest with British Gymnastics to take part in the next World Gymnaestrada to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2011. Preparations are already being made by BG with information being sent to the clubs interested, Associated with this are tight timescales as to completion of paperwork by those interested and payment of various deposits that have to be made to sort out accommodation, flights etc.
In line with the last Gymnaestrada it is proposed to hold an information meeting for all those that are interested in becoming part of the next team the club takes to Lausanne. With all of this there are cost implications and BG have indicated that they expect the cost to be between £650 and £700 per person each (team member or helper). Whilst it is short notice the proposed meeting will take place at Bournside Sports Centre commencing at 6.30 pm on 15 July. Please let Dave or Emily know of you are interested and whether you can make the meeting. It is anticipated the meeting will last an hour or less.
Please note that it is considered not appropriate for Pre School members to become part of the team due to the logistics associated with this and the complexities of any proposed routine.

Sponsorship.
St Roses Special Needs School – donation £2500 towards mats.
Glen Dufty sponsored swim – funds raised to be split between the club and a Cancer Charity.
Mr Weaver – has successfully got Mira Showers to sponsor the club and has yet to find out the degree of the award.
More info will follow when Glen and Mr Weaver have finalised the details.

Club Closure.
Monday 10 August to Sunday 23 August inclusive. Classes resume on Monday 24 August. (Note re bank holiday only shut on Monday 31 August).

Sponsorship
Inter Counties Floor and Vault Boys
F & V Judging
Girls Levels Comp Results

Club Christmas Closure
Rec Groups 21 Dec to 3 Jan
Comp Groups 22 Dec to 2 Jan inclusive

December 2008 Newsletter

It has been a great year for the club with some excellent competition results. Robert Penny became the British Champion in the level 2 tumbling National Finals. Robert is primarily coached by Trevor Roberts. Other major successes were two South West Tumbling Champions in Megan Watt and Harrison Iddles. Coaches Trevor Roberts and Dave Powell were extremely pleased with the results justifying all the hard work put in. Rosie Sargeant was crowned the Gloucestershire Floor and Vault Champion earlier on in the year and coach Emily Stephenson also said it was a just reward for all the hard work put in. Simon Measures also took the Gold medal in the Veterans Trampoling National Finals and son John won the silver in his Trampolining competition at the Veterans.
Another notable success was that Dave was nominated by Nicky Picken (Gareth’s mum) for Gloucestershire Disability Coach of the year. After going through a selection and short listing process Dave was awarded with Disability Coach of the year at a ceremony in November. This shows even with the limited facilities that the club enjoys, what can be achieved.

Membership
With your help the club has again expanded and membership coupled with the after school class held at Bournside School means that membership is now around 270. If you know of anyone who is interested then please get them to phone or email Dave (dave.powell49@btinternet.com)

Pre-School
The club, as many of you are aware, operates pre-school classes at SS Philip and James church centre in Cold Pool Lane, Up Hatherley. The club has had the delight of some gymnasts starting in pre-school and going right through to the senior class which I hope is a testament to the club. These classes are the most changeable as at the end of any one school year, all the members of a particular class could go to school at the same time leaving the class empty. If anyone knows of anyone who would be interested in joining one of these classes (either Wednesday 1.00-1.45 pm and 2:00-2:45pm or Saturday 9:30-10:15am) please get them to register their interest with Dave on the above email address. The club has spaces in these three classes for up to 42 participants.

Coaches Welcome
The club welcomes Emma Powling and Mark Underwood who have joined the coaching team of the club. Six other new members in the team mentioned in the July newsletter in Carrie-Anne Bailey, Beth Holland, Rachel Harris, Freya Churchill, Amanda Aston and Finn O’Loughlin all took   their Level 1 coaching exam in August and were successful. Congratulations to all of them. Amanda and Carrie are waiting to take the Level 2 course next year. Rosie Arnott and Rod Churchill also took a Level 2 exam in September this year and again both were successful. Emily Stephenson will be attending an update course to upgrade her existing Club Coach qualification to the new Level 3 in December the club wishes her well with this.

Club Championships Results.
This year saw an initial record entry for the recreational competition However on the day some 20 gymnasts either did not compete or did not arrive. This meant there was a potential shortfall in the funds raised by the fundraisers of some £60 plus entrance fees lost with parents also not arriving. It should be realised that the entry fees and spectator fees had been based on the expected numbers to arrive to cover the cost likely to be incurred.

Thanks go to all the coaches and helpers on the day as this helped the competition to run quite smoothly. However if volunteers are not forthcoming for the tea and coffee side of the day it may not be possible to put this facility on in the future. Many of the coaches were fully occupied during the day and hence were not available to help.

Boys Club Champion – Robert Penny

Girls Club Champion – Annabel King and Emma Powling.

Overall Performance Cup Boys  – Robert Penny

Overall Performance Cup Girls – Annabel King.

Coach of the Year – Kirsty McKenna

Best Club Supporter – Tamsin and Glen Dufty

Most Artistic Floor Routine – Amelia Stanimeros

Girls Championships

Gold – Annabel King/Emma Powling
Bronze – Jasmine Hart

Other Girls Groups.

Floor, Vault and Trampette.
Gold – Rosie Sargeant
Silver – Rosie Arnott
Bronze – Sasha Jacombs

Four Piece
Gold - Larissa Grannell - Lawrence
Silver – Lia Brookes
Bronze – Ella Green

Gold – Courtney Kettlety
Silver – Kiera Aston
Bronze – Alexandra Samuel

Gold – Eleanor Clarke
Silver – Amber King
Bronze – Remi Shah-Thornley

Gold – Beth Dufty
Silver – Annalise Langdon
Bronze – Chloe Smith

Boys Championships

Gold – Robert Penny
Silver – Finn O’Loughlin
Bronze - Tom McGrath

Other Boys Groups

Gold – Ben Bassett
Silver – Joseph Arnott
Bronze – Jordan Lawrence

Gold – Samuel Gunnell
Silver – Taylor Powling

Recreational Championships.

Friday/Saturday Infants.
Gold – Jennifer Arnott
Silver – Tiana-Rose Bailey
Bronze – Georgina Warren

Gold – Pacha Georgson-Ball
Silver – Isla Clayton
Bronze – Amelia Fisher

Gold – Jack Kempson
Silver – Christopher Picken
Bronze – Archie Coleman

Gold – Gareth Picken

Friday Juniors
Gold – Emily Tottman
Silver – Jessica Clark
Bronze – Charlotte Kiernan

Saturday Juniors
Gold – Hannah Tilley
Silver – Zoe West
Bronze – Beatrice Davis

Friday/Saturday Seniors
Gold – Charley Bull
Silver – Elana Gunnell
Bronze – Samantha Costall

South West Tumbling Championships.
The preliminary rounds of this are due to take place on 1 March 2009 at Thomas Richies School, Gloucester

Bournside After School Club
This is still going strong with the club now having to run two shorter classes to accommodate the numbers that want to take part. Some 38 girls are currently registered in the classes.

Bettridge School
The club from information received will be delivering classes next year though details have yet to be finalised.

St Roses School – Stroud.
A partnership has now been formed, with the help of Annette Fidderman, with St Roses. The club is going to be asked to deliver a number of classes over the next four years. Coupled with this partnership is a potential grant which will enable the club to buy some much needed equipment.

New Competition Groups
The new squads have now settled in and have tasted their first competition during the recent club’s championships.
We would also like to welcome another new group of young competition gymnasts to the squad training on a Saturday afternoon with Emily and Carrie. After a month’s trial, the successful members are Jennifer Arnott, Tiana-Rose Bailey, Freya Hartley, Molly Johansen and Minnie Wijesinghe.
In the Sunday morning Boys squad Jack Kempson and Jay Morris have been asked to join the squad. Whilst in the Girls on the Sunday morning group
Georgia Schofield has been asked to join the squad. Congratulations to all.

Display Teams
These have now been decided upon and 18 members have been selected and invited to join the Dragons Display Team and 30 have been invited to join the Gangsters Display Team. Again congratulations to them all.

Club Closure.
Recreational classes will finish on 20 December and recommence on 9 January 2009.
Squad classes will finish on 22 December and recommence on Saturday 3 January 2009. It is hoping that extra classes for those girls being selected to attend the Gloucestershire Girls Squad Trials on 11 January will be arranged over the Christmas break. These girls will be informed independently.

All at Rowan Gymnastics Club wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.