November 08

Pictured are members of the squad with 2 members of the Russian squad in Vienna.

18 of the club travelled to Vienna on the 23rd to take part in 3 days of exciting competition
The Southport team did an amazing job, it was an exhausting 5 days but worth every minute!
Many of the squad gained personal best scores and beat off tough competition from 16 other nations.
Outstanding achievement for this event goes to Katy Longden who scored 17.400 in the qualifying round- not only a personal best score- not only a score that got her into the finals but also a score that was the highest of any GB competitor !

We all had a great time sightseeing  in Vienna which is a beautiful city! Although not able to see some of the planned attractions we had a spooky and interesting visit to the catacombs under St Stephen's church......................not to be missed!

Achievements

We are coming to the end of a very eventful year for our club, a year that has seen 4 gymnasts compete at the Suzuki world cup in July, 11 gymnasts compete at the Austrian open in October and a full squad attending 4 National competitions and training events all over the country.
We have been very lucky this year to have received funding from lots of different sources allowing us to take up these fantastic opportunities.

Congratulations

5 of our gymnasts have achieved the benchmark score to move into FIG for next year they are

Keimoy St Hill, Rachael Briscoe,Gabrielle MacDonald, Chloe Molyneaux and Naomi Parkinson

Fantastic achievement

2 of our gymnasts have been selected for the National squad they are

Skye Shotton and Katy Longden
who will be part of the GB team  for 2009.

The 2009 squad will have the benefit of extra funding allowing us to bring in elite coaches from other countries.
Next year sees a big shake up in the way the club trains with leading coaches taking responsibility for their squads development.

We are now working towards the Christmas show 12th December at the Southport arts centre. Tickets for this event cost £7 per adult and £4 for a child or OAP.
This event is an opportunity for the club to perform for family and friends and for us to present awards and certificates.

Please come and support us
Sara

June 08

The Welsh open proved to be yet again a rollercoaster of emotions over 3 days of competition!
With the foundation and ND categories competing early on Friday afternoon it was a long weekend!
There were some mistakes but it was pleasing to know that the majority of our club would have scored in the top of every category!

Congratulations go to

Rachael Briscoe and Gabby Macdonald for gaining gold in the pairs- this victory was especially good as they beat off 7 other clubs to win!

Well done to both Gabby and Olivia for their first competition [ hope you enjoyed it girls]

Special well done to the following- Skye-ND trio Skye,Emily,Katie and FIG trio Shannon,Keimoy,Christie for scoring all their difficulty!! This means you pulled off all your elements!

The highest score of the comp for our club was Katy Longden with Katy also gaining the highest artistic score as well  7.5. The highest execution score from our club was Naomi Parkinson 7.4

Congratulations to the group 2 trio Danielle/Louisa and Olivia for gaining a bronze and to the ND trio Skye,Katie,Emily for their silver .

Some of you were so close to the top of your categories-an exceptional score for Becky Wall of 15.350 a massive achievement in her second only competition!! and a PB for Chloe Molyneaux 15.250

Personal best scores also: Rea,Louisa,Eleasha,Naomi,Skye,Emily,Katie T,

Well done to Erin who was 4th with the highest artistic score in the category [again!]

Lastly-  a fantastic achievement for the FIG group 1 trio 15.450 Christie was outstanding and performed her heart out catching up with Shannon and Keimoy. Not only did they score all the difficulty but the combination has had very little opportunity to work together so, to gain that score at that level makes me very proud!!

I think everyone will agree that Kelsie did a tremendous job supporting you all  she ran around all weekend making sure that someone took you on the floor and met you at the other end.Thanks also to Rea for all her help and support!
Many thanks to Janet for volunteering to judge, not easy over 3 days and that made my life slightly easier!

There are only 3 places at the top, your score is what's important- the scores over the weekend ranged from
10.850 to 18.900 ! So it didn't matter what day you went on or in what category your score is based on your personal achievement not a comparison to other competitors.

Well done to all of you and a BIG thankyou to all the parents who came over at the weekend and supported the club, without YOUR commitment we wouldn't have a club!

OTHER NEWS
Kelsie has been selected by BG to attend a young leaders training camp in August. The camp is a residential event over 3 days giving coaches the opportunity to develop their skills through practical and theory sessions- Good luck!
Rachel Gaskell should now be sitting in the sun somewhere in Perth Australia. She will be coaching at a gymnastics club for the next 2 months gaining knowledge and experience before she starts university in September. Good luck to her!

Some of the club are looking forward to a weekend of training sessions with Aero-gyms Graham Davies. A squad of 10 will be attending a workshop held by Graham over 2 days at the end of July.

Finally, as many of you know Keshia auditioned for the National Youth theatre in February of this year and has since been awarded a place in the company This is a fantastic achievement for Keshia and an exciting opportunity to learn the trade from top actors in London. She heads off for a 2 week intensive school in August followed by many opportunities to work with the National youth theatre in their productions!!

So it's all good!!
Sara